Paramount Global Inc. controlling shareholder Shari Redstone received the fewest votes of any other director in the company’s director elections, a filing showed on Friday.
Redstone received 32.2 million votes for election to the board, the lowest number of any of the six candidates, but also received the most votes against him, more than 905,000.
Paramount’s annual shareholder meeting was held on Tuesday, where the company’s co-chief executives laid out a restructuring plan that includes $500 million in annual cost cuts, potential asset sales and a possible joint venture or other partnership for its Paramount+ streaming service.
The company has struggled with the decline of its traditional TV business, and the video streaming service it launched to attract viewers has yet to recover lost revenue.
Paramount and independent studio Skydance Media have been in talks for months about merging the two companies.
Skydance CEO David Ellison has reduced his original $2.5 billion takeover offer for National Amusements, which owns the Redstone family’s stake in Paramount, and will offer additional cash to the company’s non-voting shareholders, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Redstone expressed dissatisfaction with the lowered bid, paving the way for rival bidders to make their case.
