Skydance's David Ellison shakes up Paramount leadership
Ellison will become chairman and chief executive officer of the new Paramount Skydance Corp. with a goal of reviving the legendary entertainment company. The structure will largely be decentralized with Ellison entrusting his division heads with considerable power.
Skydance's $8.4-billion takeover is scheduled to close Thursday.
RedBird Capital Partners executive and former NBCUniversal chief Jeff Shell will be the company's president, overseeing the television businesses.
Only one current top Paramount executive — Co-Chief Executive George Cheeks — will remain . Cheeks becomes chairman of TV media, which includes the CBS properties and cable TV channels, including MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET.
Dana Goldberg, who has worked with Ellison for nearly 15 years, will rise to co-chair of Paramount Pictures alongside Josh Greenstein, who until last week was Sony Pictures' motion pictures president. In addition to overseeing the Melrose Avenue film studio, Goldberg will run Paramount Television Studios and Nickelodeon Films. In recent years, Goldberg has served as Skydance's chief creative officer.
Greenstein moves back to Paramount, where he previously served as marketing president before leaving for Sony in 2014.
Cindy Holland, a former top Netflix programmer, will run the streaming services, Paramount+ and Pluto, making her a major player in the new company.
Holland spent 18 years at Netflix, working on such shows as 'House of Cards,' 'Grace and Frankie,' and 'Stranger Things,' until her 2020 departure. She briefly ran the Elisabeth Murdoch-production studio, Sister, until joining Ellison last year as an advisor.
'This world-class team is uniquely equipped to rise to the occasion and deliver on our bold vision for a new Paramount, Ellison said in a statement.
The new organizational structure comes after the Federal Communications Commission, led by President Trump-appointed Chairman Brendan Carr, approved the Skydance-Paramount merger after a political tug-of-war with the president and his team.
In late July, the FCC voted 2-1 to approve the deal and transfer 28 CBS television station licenses to billionaire Larry Ellison and his family. The sole Democrat on the panel dissented, citing a regulatory review that she said invited abuses of power.
Skydance is buying Paramount with RedBird, which gives the private equity firm considerable sway in managing Paramount. In addition to Shell, former Goldman Sachs banker Andy Gordon — who led RedBird's Los Angeles office as a partner — will become Paramount's chief operating officer and chief strategy officer.
Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, Skydance's general counsel, will join Paramount in the same role, overseeing legal, regulatory, and compliance matters across the company's global operations. She will also serve as acting chief legal officer.
Melissa Zukerman becomes Paramount's chief communications officer, serving as chief spokesperson, head of global communications, social responsibility and a key Ellison advisor.
Former Amazon executive Jim Sterner becomes Paramount's chief people officer, responsible for human resources and shaping the corporate culture that 'fuels innovation and long-term business success,' the company said.
Paramount's other two Co-Chief Executives — Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins — are leaving the company this week.
The Skydance takeover ends 38 years of Redstone control.
Their Hollywood empire was diminished by years of cost-cutting and viewership losses which prompted Shari Redstone to find a buyer in late 2023. Her family was seeking an exit amid their mounting debts.
The daughter of entertainment titan Sumner Redstone and Paramount's board agreed to the Skydance takeover in July 2024 after months of drama and churn among its board of directors.
As part of the transaction, the Redstone family investment firm National Amusements will receive $2.4 billion for their controlling shares in the company. Those shares will pass to Larry Ellison and RedBird, which will hold a minority stake in National Amusements.
The deal is expected to inject $1.5 billion into Paramount's balance sheet to help the firm pay down debt.
The Ellison's Santa Monica based Skydance will eventually be folded into Paramount .
Skydance is expected to usher in additional steep rounds of layoffs at Paramount. RedBird executives have promised Wall Street that it will find $2 billion in cost-savings.
The controversial FCC vote approving the Skydance-Paramount merger came just three weeks after Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle the president's lawsuit over edits to a '60 Minutes' broadcast last fall. Trump had claimed CBS producers deceptively edited the October interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris to enhance her election chances.
CBS denied his allegations, saying the edits were routine. The unedited video showed that while Harris' answer was clipped, she was accurately quoted. 1st Amendment experts and journalists decried the settlement, which will steer much of the money to Trump's future presidential library.
Trump has said that Skydance is throwing in another $20 million in public service announcements and other free programming as part of the lawsuit settlement. Trump has said on social media the value of his payout was about $36 million.
As part of its agreement with the FCC, Ellison pledged to abandon all diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Paramount.
Skydance also agreed to 'promote transparency and increased accountability' at CBS News. The company said it would install an ombudsman, reporting to Shell, 'to receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS' for at least two years.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
13 minutes ago
- USA Today
'South Park' trolls DHS for using screengrab to recruit ICE agents: 'So we ARE relevant?'
Just when some fans thought the feud between "South Park" and the White House reached an impasse. The raunchy comedy showed no signs of easing up this week, with more jabs at President Donald Trump as a 20-second teaser for its Aug. 6 episode featured an image of Trump sitting at a dinner table with Satan. The moment depicts Trump rubbing Satan's leg under the table before Satan tells him to stop. Despite the ongoing satirical jabs, Homeland Security's official X account shared a screengrab from that trailer to encourage people to apply for jobs at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The still depicts multiple masked and armed ICE agents storming a road in the same direction, with a link to the agency's careers page. "Wait, so we ARE relevant?" the "South Park" X account replied to the Aug. 5 post before telling the agency to "eat a bag of [expletive]." The show's Season 27 premiere last month made a not-so-subtle dig at Trump, who was depicted cuddling in bed with Satan, his lover, using actual photos of the president crudely placed on an animated body. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers later dismissed the episode, calling the Comedy Central staple a "fourth-rate show" that "hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention." The controversial episode, titled "Sermon on the Mount," proved to be a ratings juggernaut, marking the show's most-watched season premiere since 1999, with viewership up 68% from last season's premiere, according to Paramount Global. The Aug. 5 post from Homeland Security comes amid a massive recruitment campaign to hire more than 14,000 immigration agents, attorneys, and other workers. Through his federal spending plan, Trump aims to have enough ICE agents to execute his border crackdown and the goal of deporting 1 million people a year. What time does the next 'South Park' episode drop? The newest episode of "South Park" Season 27 is set to drop Wednesday, Aug. 6, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central. The episode will be available to stream on Paramount+ the following day, Aug. 7, at 6 am ET/3 a.m. PT, according to the streaming platform. Contributing: Brendan Morrow, Trevor Hughes, Sara Chernikoff, and Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Nixing Tailpipe Emissions Rules Will Spike Gas Prices, Trump Admin Report Says
Nixing Tailpipe Emissions Rules Will Spike Gas Prices, Trump Admin Report Says originally appeared on Autoblog. The EPA touted savings for Americans On July 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it was in the process of rescinding the landmark 2009 endangerment finding, a decision that set the course for regulations regarding greenhouse gas emissions, such as those from cars and power plants. In its announcement, the EPA noted that if its proposal is finalized, greenhouse gas emissions regulations for motor vehicles and engines would be repealed, which it claims would restore consumer choice and give Americans the ability to purchase a safe and affordable car for their families, thereby decreasing the overall cost of living. 'With this proposal, the Trump EPA is proposing to end sixteen years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers,' EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. "[...] If finalized, rescinding the Endangerment Finding and resulting regulations would end $1 trillion or more in hidden taxes on American businesses and families." Revoking emissions policies will make gas expensive, the US EIA finds Despite promising $54 billion in annual savings for Americans, a new report from CBS News, using data from the EPA and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), shows that one vital resource that enables everyday transportation will become more expensive over time if the EPA successfully rescinds the 2009 endangerment finding. According to EIA projections cited by both CBS and the EPA, gas prices are expected to increase over time in a scenario where emissions policies are revoked under the Trump administration, as there would be a higher demand for gas-powered cars to travel and fuel to power them. Although gas prices are subject to intense market volatility due to various factors, USEIA data indicate that gas prices would largely fall if the environmental policies of the last administration were to remain intact, and that prices would increase under a proposed rollback of environmental regulations. Under the Biden administration, the EPA set a new goal for new gas-powered cars to achieve 47.1 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2027 and then reach around 61.2 miles per gallon by 2035. Without those Biden-era policies, cars made in 2027 are only expected to meet a lower standard of 43.6 mpg, gradually increasing to 50.5 mpg by 2035. In an emailed statement to CBS News, former EIA administrator Joseph DeCarolis explained that if the EPA under the Trump administration "disincentivizes electric vehicle purchases, more consumers will purchase gasoline vehicles, resulting in higher gasoline consumption and high gasoline prices for everyone." "There's a clear causal connection between rescinding measures promoting electric vehicles, such as EPA tailpipe standards, and the projection of higher gasoline prices," he said. In an interview on CBS's The Takeout with Major Garrett, Zeldin did not address how the plan to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding would affect gas prices. Instead, he argued that the previous administration's policies were costing trillions of dollars, as they were heavily restricting "[…] entire sectors of our economy, and specifically our energy economy.' 'It's important that we are applying common sense," Zeldin said, "that we are cognizant of these economic demands and that, wherever possible, when we can protect the environment and grow the economy that we will choose both." Final Thoughts Be that as it may, the American consumer is already at a penny-pinching point of contention, and experts warn that these proposed EPA rollbacks would add to the already expensive operating costs of gas-powered cars. In a statement to CBS News, Peter Huether, a senior transportation research associate at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, warned that "Drivers would pay thousands of dollars more in fuel and maintenance costs over the life of a vehicle, and businesses could lose billions annually from higher trucking costs" if the Zeldin-led EPA gets its way. He added that the added cost for fuel costs "would ripple through the economy, raising prices for everyday goods and undercutting job growth." Nixing Tailpipe Emissions Rules Will Spike Gas Prices, Trump Admin Report Says first appeared on Autoblog on Aug 6, 2025 This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Aug 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Asian shares track Wall Street lower, dollar rangebound
By Stella Qiu SYDNEY (Reuters) -Asian shares slipped along with Wall Street on Wednesday, after weak U.S. data highlighted the damage tariffs were having on economic activity and earnings, while the dollar struggled with the drag from lower bond yields. U.S. services sector activity unexpectedly flatlined in July, data showed on Tuesday. Employment further weakened and input costs climbed by the most in nearly three years, underscoring the impact from President Donald Trump's tariff policy. Second-quarter earnings results also revealed pressure from Trump's tariff wars. Taco Bell parent Yum Brands missed expectations as steep trade duties dent consumer spending, while Caterpillar warned that U.S. tariffs would cost it up to $1.5 billion this year. "It paints a picture of a stagflationary dynamic, which although still far from truly coming to fruition, raises the risk of a toxic mix of rising joblessness and prices as tariffs filter through the U.S. economy," said Kyle Rodda, senior analyst at MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.2%, while Japan's Nikkei eked out a small 0.2% gain. Both Chinese blue chips and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were flat. Nasdaq futures fell 0.3% and S&P 500 futures eased 0.1%. Trump on Tuesday said it would announce tariffs on semiconductors and chips in the next week or so, while the U.S. would initially impose a "small tariff" on pharmaceutical imports before increasing it substantially in a year or two. He also said the U.S. was close to a trade deal with China and that he would meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the end of the year if an agreement was struck. However, he threatened to further raise tariffs on goods from India over its Russian oil purchases. In currency markets, the dollar consolidated after sliding from two-month highs last Friday on a weak jobs report that had markets price in a near-certain chance of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six counterparts, was flat at 98.821 and was up 0.1% this week after Friday's 1.4% fall. Fed funds futures imply a 94% chance of a rate cut next month, with at least two cuts priced in for this year, according to the CME's FedWatch. Investors are waiting for Trump's pick to fill a coming vacancy on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. Trump said the decision will be made soon, while ruling out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as a contender to replace current chief Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May 2026. Treasury yields edged up overnight after a $58 billion auction of three-year notes went poorly, but still hovered near multi-month lows. More supply will hit the market this week with $42 billion in 10-year notes on Wednesday and $25 billion in 30-year bonds on Thursday. Two-year Treasury yields rose 1 basis point to 3.7284%, having risen 3.5 bps overnight, while benchmark 10-year yields ticked up 2 bps to 4.2198%, after holding steady overnight. In commodity markets, oil prices edged up after four straight sessions of declines. U.S. crude rose 0.2% to $65.3 per barrel, while Brent was at a one-month low of $67.78 per barrel, up 0.1%. Trump said on Tuesday he will decide on whether to sanction countries who purchase Russian oil after a meeting with Russian officials scheduled for Wednesday. Spot gold prices were flat at $3,381 an ounce.
