Paramount Global Chairman Shari Redstone will receive $180 million in severance and other benefits, in addition to the millions she made from the sale of her National Amusements stake to Skydance Media. Bloomberg News reported. Thursday.
Redstone reportedly holds a 20 percent stake in Paramount's controlling shareholder, National Amusements, through two trusts in his own name and stands to receive about $350 million from the sale.
Bloomberg added that Skydance CEO David Ellison's group will also pay off debts as part of the acquisition, including a $70 million severance payment to Redstone and $110 million in unfunded pension liabilities.
The same day, Bloomberg reported that Paramount would be run by software billionaire Larry Ellison after Skydance completed its purchase of the Redstone family's stake in the film and television company.
Bloomberg reported, citing a Federal Communications Commission filing, that Larry plans to own 77.5% of National Amusements through a trust and a series of corporations.
Larry's son, David, will become Paramount's chairman and CEO and take control of the business, a Skydance spokesman told Bloomberg.
Paramount Global and Skydance Media did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Skydance closed a deal to acquire Paramount in July in a complicated, two-step process, with Oracle co-founder Larry backing the proposal.
Skydance and its deal partners, including RedBird Capital Partners, will acquire National Amusements for $2.4 billion in cash.
Skydance would then merge with Paramount, offering shareholders $4.5 billion in cash and stock and bringing an additional $1.5 billion to Paramount's balance sheet.
In August, media industry veteran Edgar Bronfman Jr. withdrew from the race to buy Paramount, clearing the way for Skydance to take control of Shari Redstone's media empire, ending one of the most chaotic media acquisition battles in recent history.
