Paramount Global boss Shari Redstone is reportedly banking on her friendly relationship with President-elect Donald Trump to help the media giant skirt any FCC issues in its merger with Skydance — and help her walk away with a windfall.
Redstone, the daughter of the late media titan Sumner Redstone, has “has gotten along” with Trump over the years and the two still talk from time to time, the Wall Street Journal reported.
That relationship could be tested after Trump slapped Paramount-owned CBS with a $10 billion lawsuit over its handling of a “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
The lawsuit alleges the program “deceptively” edited the interview, which aired just month before the election, to help his Democratic foe.
Brendan Carr, Trump’s incoming nominee for Federal Communications Commission chairman, has not ruled out a probe into whether CBS violated standards that require broadcasters to act in the public interest.
Redstone has told people in her inner circle that she understands Trump’s frustration with CBS, even though she doesn’t support the lawsuit, the Journal reported.
CBS has denied any wrongdoing.
Trump was also supportive of Redstone in court battles that helped her gain control of Paramount several years ago, according to the Journal.
The media mogul is also hoping that Trump’s longstanding relationship with Larry Ellison — the billionaire co-founder of Oracle and father of Skydance CEO David Ellison — will help pave the way for the $8 billion deal.
Redstone, who controls Paramount through her majority stake in National Amusements, will walk away with $1.75 billion, as The Post previously reported.
While Redstone, 70, may be stepping away from Paramount, she will be rewarded with some of the trappings of her high-flying life, The Journal reported.
Skydance and its investors, which include RedBird Capital Partners, agreed to take on National Amusements’ financial obligations and pay for the remainder of Redstone’s lease for her private jet, according to the Journal.
The Hollywood production company also will cover the expenses for her Central Park-area apartment in New York City for the next few years, the report added.
To help appease Paramount’s nonvoting investors, Skydance agreed to provide $4.5 billion that Paramount can use for an offer to buy out about 50% of nonvoting shares.
Barring any FCC hiccups, the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025.
It merges Paramount’s iconic namesake studio, which was behind “The Godfather” and “Titanic,” CBS and cable networks like MTV with Skydance, whose credits include TV shows such as Amazon’s “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” and movies like “Top Gun: Maverick” and the latest installments in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.
David Ellison and Redbird’s Jeff Shell, the former NBCUniversal CEO, have already begun carving out plans for the merged entity, and are looking for over $2 billion in cost cuts, The Journal reported.
They are also drawing up plans for the company’s management team, and are expected to tap former Netflix executive Cindy Holland to oversee streaming. George Cheeks, who is one of Paramount’s three co-CEOs, is expected to head up the TV unit.
Meanwhile Dana Goldberg, chief creative officer at Skydance, is expected to oversee the combined studio. Brian Robbins, another one of Paramount’s co-CEOs, is expected to depart.
Bloomberg earlier reported some of the expected management changes.
Neither Redstone nor her son Tyler Korff, will join the board of the combined company, according to sources close to the situation.
Despite that, Redstone has made it clear that she will not recede entirely from the media scene.
“One thing I promised everybody in the company is I will never disappear in terms of being your advocate and in terms of helping you be who you need to be, who you want to be in this company,” Redstone said at Advertising Week New York in October, when addressing a controversy at CBS News.
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