Paramount Global CEO Calls for Staffers to Focus on Business ‘Execution’ as Acquisition Speculation Swirls, Skydance Media Talks Accelerate
variety.comBrian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The CEO of Paramount Global urged staffers at the entertainment conglomerate to focus on their 2024 business goals, even as a handful of industry heavy hitters and investment firms explore a potential acquisition of the company and speculation about looming layoffs intensifies.
In a memo issued to employees Thursday and reviewed by Variety, Bob Bakish acknowledged that Paramount’s future “remains a topic of speculation,” a nod to the fact that a group of investors led by Skydance founder David Ellison have engaged in talks with Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone.
Those talks have contemplated a buyout of Redstone’s investment vehicle, National Amusements Inc., that could then be used to merge Paramount with Skydance, according to people familiar with the matter.
Paramount has also been approached informally by Warner Bros. Discovery, according to people familiar with those talks, though it is not clear that WBD has emerged as a serious suitor.
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