Paramount Global fired CEO Bob Bakish on Monday, eliminating a key opponent of the media giant’s potential merger with Skydance Media.
Bakish, who has led Paramount since 2019, will be succeeded by the CEO Office, which is comprised of three members: George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS; Inaugurated. Chris McCarthy, President and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks. said Brian Robbins, president and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon.
“We have tremendous confidence in George, Chris and Brian,” Paramount board chairwoman Shari Redstone said in a written statement before the debt-laden company released its quarterly results after the bell. .
“They have both the ability to develop and execute new strategic plans and the ability to work together as true partners.”
Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins will work closely with CFO Naveen Chopra and the Board of Directors to “accelerate growth, develop popular content, significantly streamline operations, strengthen our balance sheet and continue to optimize streaming.” The plan is to develop a comprehensive, long-term plan to The company added that it is tentatively considering a new strategy.
The move comes amid conflict with Redstone, who questions whether Bakish has pursued the company’s strategic opportunities “aggressively enough”, including the potential sale of the Showtime channel. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
At the same time, Bakish has reportedly privately opposed a deal with Redstone’s sweetheart Skydance, saying it would dilute value for public shareholders.
Mr. Bakish joined Viacom in 1997 and held seniority roles across the company’s businesses, becoming CEO of Viacom in 2016 and CEO of the combined company after its merger with CBS to form Paramount Global. I was appointed.
Bakish has joined a chorus of large common shareholders in recent weeks, including Mario Gabelli’s Gamco Investors, Ariel Investments, Matrix and Aspen Sky Trust, in condemning the deal as destroying value for common shareholders. did.
To appease shareholders, reported by bloomberg On Sunday, it was announced that Redstone and independent film producer David Ellison had offered concessions to make the deal more attractive to the company’s other investors.
Mr. Ellison proposes buying Paramount stock at a premium to its current price to strengthen the company’s finances.
Redstone, which owns a majority of the company’s voting shares, agreed to give non-voting shareholders a say in whether the deal should be approved.
on monday, The New York Times reported In recent days, Skydance had offered the combined company a $3 billion cash injection that could be used to pay down debt and buy back stock, the people said.
Skydance also proposed giving the media giant’s shareholders more shares in the combined company than originally proposed, the Times reported.
