Paramount Global chief Shari Redstone is reportedly banking on her friendly relationship with President-elect Donald Trump to help the media giant avoid any FCC problems in its merger with Skydance — and help it walk away with a windfall.
Redstone, the daughter of the late media titan Sumner Redstone, has “got along” with Trump over the years and the two still speak occasionally, the Wall Street Journal reported.
That relationship could be tested after Trump hit 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 a month before the election, to help his Democratic foe.
Brendan Carr, Trump’s next nominee to head the Federal Communications Commission, has not ruled out an investigation 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, although she does not support the lawsuit, the Journal reported.
CBS has denied any wrongdoing.
Trump was also supportive of Redstone in the court battles that helped him win control of Paramount several years ago, according to the Journal.
The media mogul also hopes that Trump’s long-standing 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, which controls Paramount through its majority stake in National Amusements, will walk away with $1.75 billion, The Post previously reported.
While Redstone, 70, may be leaving 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 assume National Amusements’ financial obligations and pay for the remainder of Redstone’s lease on her private jet, according to the Journal.
The Hollywood production company will also cover expenses for its apartment in New York City’s Central Park area for the next several years, the report added.
To help appease Paramount’s non-voting investors, Skydance agreed to provide $4.5 billion that Paramount can use for a bid to buy about 50% of the non-voting shares.
Barring any FCC hiccups, the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025.
It brings together the iconic Paramount studio, which was behind “The Godfather” and “Titanic,” CBS and cable networks like MTV with Skydance, whose credits include TV shows like Amazon’s “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” and movies like “Top Gun: Maverick”. ” and the latest installments in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.
Redbird’s David Ellison and Jeff Shell, the former CEO of NBCUniversal, have already begun drawing up plans for the merged entity and are seeking more than $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 the television unit.
Meanwhile, Dana Goldberg, chief creative officer at Skydance, is expected to oversee the combined studio. Brian Robbins, another of Paramount’s co-CEOs, is expected to leave.
Bloomberg previously 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 this, Redstone has made it clear that he will not retire from the media scene entirely.
“One thing I’ve promised everyone at the company is that I will never disappear in terms of being your advocate and helping you be who you need to be, who you want to be in this company,” Redstone said. at New York Advertising Week. in October, when he addressed a controversy on CBS News.
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