Shari Redstone: Last News

Allen & Co.’s annual Sun Valley Conference is known for drawing an A-list roster of execs from across the media and tech realms, with a generous sprinkling of sports commissioners, politicos and other notables added to the mix.

National Amusements, the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global run by Shari Redstone, has received a $125 million preferred equity investment from BDT Capital Partners.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor National Amusements, the parent company of Paramount Global, has received a $125 million investment from BDT Capital Partners, an investment firm that specializes in supporting family-controlled businesses and estates. The influx of cash is designed to take pressure off of Paramount Global stock price, which has been under water in recent months in part because of concern about National Amusements’ financial health. The deal will allow National Amusements to pay off some existing loans that have been secured by the company’s Paramount Global shares. “Our expanded partnership with BDT & MSD reflects our strong belief in Paramount’s ability to deliver value to all shareholders. Paramount has the best assets in the media industry, with an incredible content library and IP spanning all genres and demographics, as well as the No. 1 broadcast network, the leading free ad-supported streaming television service and the fastest-growing pay streaming platform in the U.S.,” said Shari Redstone, Chair, CEO and President of NAI. “NAI has conviction in Paramount’s strategy and execution, and we remain committed to supporting Paramount as it takes the necessary steps to build on its success and capitalize on the strategic opportunities in our industry.”

EXCLUSIVE: Brittney Griner will attend tonight’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, which draws a list of sports and entertainment celebrities, media figures and politicos.

Paramount Global said that, pending court approval, it will receive $167.5 million in settlement of a suit by shareholders of the former CBS Corp. against some of the broadcaster’s former officers and directors, including Shari Redstone and Joseph Ianiello. Called a derivative suit, it’s filed on behalf of the company, whose parent is getting the cash.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Producer Steven Paul has optioned the rights to “Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy,” with plans to develop the nonfiction bestseller by James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams as a TV series. The book, published by Penguin Random House in February, tells the sordid, behind-the-scenes story of the battle for control of Sumner Redstone’s media empire. The book has been the talk of the town in Hollywood as industry insiders learn the unvarnished details behind the recent history of Sumner and Shari Redstone, Viacom, CBS Corp., Leslie Moonves and a host of other prominent figures. Paul is in the process of recruiting a writer to develop the property as a limited series through his SP Media Group. The deal was brokered for Stewart and Abrams by CAA’s Ron Bernstein and SP Media president Scott Karol.

William Earl Former Spotify, Conde Nast and CW executive Dawn Ostroff is set to join the board of directors for Paramount Global in May. Ostroff is poised to join the board as an independent director at Paramount Global’s annual meeting on May 8. Incumbent board members Candace Beinecke and Ronald Nelson will not stand for re-election at that meeting, which will bring the number of board members to 11, including Ostroff. “We are thrilled to welcome Dawn to Paramount’s Board at such an exciting moment in our evolution,” said Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone. “We believe her leadership, diverse expertise in content strategy and her long track record of driving transformation will prove invaluable as we seek to continue building on the success of Paramount’s global multiplatform strategy.”

Dawn Ostroff, a seasoned media executive who most recently served as chief content and advertising business officer at Spotify, will joining the Paramount Global board, the company announced today.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Paramount Global is unveiling today a corporate image campaign that builds on the sentiment of a popular self-help affirmation: You are loved, and you are enough. Just in time for media upfront season, the company’s “Popular is Paramount” marketing push is designed to burnish its image within Hollywood and on Wall Street. Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish wants the town and the Street to know that the company is fielding a new generation of hits – from “Top Gun: Maverick” to “Yellowstone” to “Paw Patrol” — and is not intimidated by having to compete against larger rivals such as Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast. The campaign will include with outdoor advertising in highly trafficked corridors of New York and Los Angeles, as well as on digital and TV platforms, both on and off Paramount’s own air.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Paramount Global disclosed on Friday that it will pay $122.5 million to settle lawsuits from Viacom shareholders arising from the company’s merger with CBS. In a securities filing, the company revealed that it has agreed to settle the class action litigation now pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The settlement still requires judicial approval. The plaintiffs had alleged that Paramount Global’s chairwoman, Shari Redstone, ousted board members in a “tyrannical” effort to merge the two companies. The suit alleged that CBS stock was overpriced in the merger, and that Viacom was undervalued, causing harm to Viacom shareholders.

From the outset, Sumner Redstone was a curiosity.

As Paramount Global prepares to report quarterly earnings Thursday, with CEO Bob Bakish presiding and Shari Redstone happily ensconced as non-executive chair, a new book is bringing forth some interesting (and at times lurid) revelations about the company’s tortuous journey.

Andrew Wallenstein President and Chief Media Analyst What began for a pair of New York Times reporters as an investigation into managerial malfeasance ended up turning into a family drama. While it was the actions of Viacom founder Sumner Redstone and CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves that first attracted James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams to what became their new book, “Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy,” it was a third figure who ultimately loomed larger for Stewart. “We had Shari Redstone, the much under-appreciated — to put it mildly — daughter of Sumner Redstone thrust into a world that was not of her choosing, in an attempt to gain control of the companies and the family legacy,” he said on the latest episode of the Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” “So that became the much bigger story. It’s a corporate story, it is a MeToo story, but it’s much bigger than that.”

Famed investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway knocked Paramount Global shares higher after disclosing that it has raised his stake in the media company.

Tom Brady is riding solo at a wedding!

A solo date? Tom Brady attended a wedding without Gisele Bündchen. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback was seen alone at his former team owner’s wedding in New York City.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSUN VALLEY, Idaho — The Elon Musk watch is on.The first full day of Allen & Co.’s exclusive conference and retreat for the wealthy and well-connected concluded Wednesday at the luxe Sun Valley resort. Even among the assembled 1%-ers, there was anticipation for the arrival of the maverick leader of Tesla and SpaceX, who is expected to make an appearance at the annual meeting of moguls and C-suite titans.Following Tuesday’s many arrivals and some solo morning time, during which Verizon chief Hans Vestberg went for a run around the resort in the 6 a.m.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSUN VALLEY, Idaho — The moguls have arrived.On Tuesday, dozens of titans of the business, media and tech worlds came out to play at the Sun Valley Lodge in Idaho for the start of Allen & Co.’s annual meeting of movers and shakers.The invitation-only conference will include three days of seminars and meetings that are held away from the prying eyes of the public, which kick off Wednesday morning. So today was all about meeting and greeting each other at the posh retreat in Idaho’s picturesque Sawtooth Mountains.Arrivals began at the Sun Valley Lodge around 11 a.m.

The mountains are as gorgeous as ever, the deal climate not so much as boutique investment bank Allen & Co. prepares to host its annual Sun Valley retreat. After guests arrive on Tuesday, official activities get under way Wednesday.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaIt’s that time of year again. That post-July 4th period when media barons and billionaires break out the Brooks Brothers casual and don their sweater vests to hit an idyllic Idaho resort town of Sun Valley for another edition of “lets make a deal.”Many of the names expected to rub elbows next month are familiar ones. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Liberty Media’s John Malone, Comcast chairman Brian Roberts, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple pasha Tim Cook and Berkshire Hathaway guru Warren Buffett are among those who have once again made the cut for Allen & Co.’s annual media conference.

“Scale is not about market cap or about how much money you spend on content. It’s about how much money you spend on content that resonate with audiences,” Shari Redstone told Paramount shareholders, promising the company has the scale to compete in a cutthroat media world that’s seen significant M&A over the past year.