Predecessors The company is indirectly derived from
the original Warner Bros. Pictures, which was founded in 1923 by four brothers:
Harry,
Albert,
Sam, and
Jack L. Warner. The company established itself as a leader in the American film industry, before diversifying into animation, television, and video games. Prior to 1992, the film and television production units derived from the original Warner Bros. Pictures were part of the Warner Bros. Inc. subsidiary of what was then
Time Warner. That year, Time Warner transferred most of its film, television production, and cable businesses, including the Warner Bros. assets, into
Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P. (TWEC), a new
limited partnership with
Toshiba and
C. Itoh & Co. where each invested US$500 million for a 6.25% share. The deal was intended to relieve debt pressure from the then-recent merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications. In 1993,
US West joined the partnership with a US$2.5 billion investment for a 25% share. By 1996, TWEC was owned 74.49% by Time Warner and the remainder by US West.
Current entity In March 2003, AOL Time Warner regained full control of the Warner Bros. film and television production assets from TWEC and placed them in the newly formed Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. wholly-owned subsidiary, which had been formed on December 3, 2002. (TWEC retained only
Time Warner Cable, which was eventually spun off.) Warner Bros. Entertainment eventually gained new assets that had been derived from acquisitions. Several were derived from the 1996 acquisition of
Turner Broadcasting System by Time Warner:
Castle Rock Entertainment was moved into Warner Bros. Entertainment in 1997,
Turner Entertainment Co. by 2006,
New Line Cinema in 2008, and
Cartoon Network,
Boomerang,
Adult Swim and
Turner Classic Movies in 2019.
Cartoon Network Studios and
Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe became part of Warner Bros. Entertainment as a result of the 2022 merger with
Discovery, Inc. == Organization ==