Can Skydance Move the Mountain? Team Ellison Needs a Bold Plan to Revive Paramount’s Fortunes
variety.comDavid Ellison started his pursuit of Paramount Global last winter — 30 years nearly to the month after Sumner Redstone and Barry Diller began their long M&A fight for control of one of Hollywood’s foundational studios.
A generation later, Ellison’s Skydance Media and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital are poised to add a new chapter to the history of Paramount, CBS and more, after an equally protracted and hard-fought negotiations with Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc.
So, assuming the $8 billion transaction is completed, what do they plan to do with their prize? The new leadership team, which includes Ellison as chairman-CEO of the merged company and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell as president, sought to answer that question as it made the rounds with analysts and reporters after clinching the sale agreement on July 7.
Ellison, 41, leaned on his roots as a scion of the tech sector to explain how he sees the business challenges ahead. RELATED CONTENT: Can He Save Paramount?
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