Bob Bakish is expected to resign as Paramount Global CEO amid merger talks heating up with Skydance, IndieWire has learned and according to multiple media reports.
It’s expected that Bakish, who has been with the company since 1997, could step down as early as Monday, which would be ahead of the company’s earnings call on Monday afternoon. He was named CEO in 2019 back when the company was called ViacomCBS.
Reps for Paramount Global declined comment.
It’s a shocking move that comes just as Skydance is closing in on its acquisition of Shari Redstone‘s National Amusements, the theater company that holds 77 percent of the controlling shares of Paramount Global.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that a Bakish ouster was a possibility, with some board members reportedly souring on his leadership, and CNBC first reported Saturday that his exit could be as soon as Monday. The WSJ says that Paramount is expected to put in place an “Office of the CEO” made up of the company’s various division heads who will lead the company on an interim basis, and CNBC reported that Bakish’s exit was accelerated due to being opposed to the Skydance merger.
It’s expected once a merger between Skydance and Paramount closes, David Ellison would become CEO, and there’s been no illusion that Bakish would have a role in the new company. Bakish does however have a golden parachute in place worth up to $50 million.
Bakish’s recent tenure has been marred by not pursuing a potential $3 billion sale of Showtime, the legacy networks such as CBS, MTV, VH1, BET, and Nickelodeon have continued to suffer in a declining market for linear TV, its credit rating was reduced to “Junk,” and Paramount+ remains far from profitability, with some analysts wondering if Paramount would have been better off not entering streaming and instead becoming an “arms dealer” licensing its content to other streamers. In 2019, Paramount’s market value was $25.3 billion but is now just $8.4 billion.
Looming over Bakish’s potential ouster is Paramount’s negotiations with Charter on a new deal, which proved contentious when Disney’s deal expired with the cable provider and led to a radical new arrangement between the two companies back in September.
Skydance entered into exclusive negotiations with National Amusements on April 3, though talks are expected to extend past the 30-day window. However, Sony alongside Apollo Management Global are waiting in the wings to make their own offer after Redstone passed on Apollo’s offers for both the individual Paramount film and TV studios and Paramount Global as a whole.
Additional reporting by Tony Maglio.
