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Paramount Global pushed out CEO Bob Bakish on Monday — removing a major opponent to the media giant’s possible merger with Skydance Media.

Bakish, who had run Paramount since 2019, will be replaced by a three-headed “Office of the CEO” –consisting of George Cheeks, President and CEO of CBS; Chris McCarthy, President and CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks; and Brian Robbins, President and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, the company said.

I have tremendous confidence in George, Chris and Brian, Paramount board chair Shari Redstone said in a written statement after cutting ties with Bakish, long viewed as her right hand.

They have both the ability to develop and execute on a new strategic plan and to work together as true partners.”

The announcement came shorty before the debt-saddled company announced its quarterly earnings after the bell.

As expected, Bakish did not lead the earnings call, which kicked off at 4:30p ET and abruptly ended 10 minutes later.

The media conglomerate — home to CBS, MTV, BET, Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures and the Paramount+ streaming service — informed investors that it would not be taking questions from analysts, a staple of any earnings call, as it reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations.

Cheeks kicked off the call by thanking Bakish, and emphasizing that “Paramount Global has the greatest content in the world.”

“Everything will be built from that,” he added.

Shares of the company rose nearly 1% in after-hours trading to $12.36.

Bakish’s golden parachute will be roughly $50 million, two sources told The Post.

He was paid $31.3 million in 2023 compensationand has a contract that runsthrough December 4, 2025, according to public filings.

Redstone thanked Bakish for his many contributions over his long career, including in the formation of the combined company as well as his successful efforts to rebuild the great culture Paramount has long been known for.

Nonetheless, his ouster comes after he reportedly clashed with Redstone, who controls Paramount through her family holding business, National Amusements. The daughter of the late media mogul Sumner Redstone has questionedwhether Bakish pursued strategic opportunitiesfor the company aggressively enough, including a potential sale of the Showtime channel, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bakish, 60, also has privately argued against Redstone’s sweetheart deal with Skydance — the independent movie studio run by tech heir David Ellison, the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison — because it dilutes common shareholders, according to reports.

The two companies have engaged in exclusive 30-day talks that expire Friday. Skydance planned to buy Redstone’s 77% stake in National Amusement for as much as $2 billion.

The purported payout has led to an outcry from large common shareholders including Mario Gabellis Gamco Investors, Ariel Investments, Matrix and Aspen Sky Trust.

Gabelli whose firm through super voting shares and common Paramount stock is the second leading voting shareholder next to Redstone  recently told The Post that he preferred that Bakish continue his turnaround strategy over a sale.

That includes a deal with Skydance or a sale to private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which has offered $26 billion and is now mulling a partnership with Sony as part of its Paramount acquisition.

In order to quell shareholders, Bloomberg reported Sunday that Redstone and David Ellison have both offered concessions to make the deal more palatable to Paramount’s other investors.

Ellison has put his best and final offer on the table with the offer to buy a block of Paramount shares.

On Monday, The New York Times reported that Skydance had offered to provide the combined company with a $3 billion cash infusion in recent days that it could use to pay down an estimated $14 billion in debt and buy back stock. 

Redstone, who owns a majority of the companys voting shares, has also agreed to let nonvoting shareholders have a say on whether any transaction should be approved.

Should a deal go through, privately-owned Skydance would be valued at $5 billion and merged with Paramount.

Ellison, along with private equity firms KKR and Redbird, plan to raise about $4.5 billion to $5 billion in new equity, according to reports.5

If a deal gets inked, Ellison is expected be named CEO of Paramount Global and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell as president, CNBC said.

Bakish joined Viacom in 1997 and took on roles of increasing seniority across the company’s operations, grabbing the reins of Viacom in 2016 and becoming the CEO of Paramount Global after Viacom merged with CBS. 

As Redstone and the Paramount board inch closer to a deal with Skydance, which has produced blockbusters for Paramount like Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning, and Top Gun: Maverick, Bakish has sought out alternatives.

One such deal included a potential streaming partnership with NBCUniversal-parent Comcast, without keeping Redstone or the board in the loop, The Journal said.

Meanwhile, Redstone had grown tired of Bakish, blaming him for the companys overall predicament and what she views as missed chances to strike sound deals, The Journal said.

People close to Redstone said the mogul was open to selling premium channel Showtime, home to Billions, Dexter and Yellowjackets, but that Bakish turned down bids  even rejecting a $3 billion offer from former Showtime CEO David Nevins last year. Instead, Bakish folded Showtime and its content into Paramount+.

Bakish supporters beg to differ, saying that the exec put the company on the map with streaming via its Paramount+ launch, acquisition of Pluto TV, an ad-supported TV streaming service, as well as maintaining CBSs strong industry position, among other things.

But the companys market value has plunged by half since the Viacom-CBS merger as the legacy TV business shrinks and losses pile up in streaming.  

For the quarter that ended in March, Paramount reported adjusted earnings per share of 62 cents, well ahead of the 36 cents consensus of analysts — boosted mainly from revenue generated by hosting the Super Bowl in February.

Still, revenue came in shy of expectations at $7.69 billion. Wall Street had forecast $7.73 billion, according to LSEG data.

During the abbreviated conference, McCarthy underscored that the newly-formed leadership troika has “worked together for years” and that they have “deep respect” for one and other.

He added that the execs are “building a plan” which will “make the most out of our hit content.”

Robbins also attested to his long-standing business relationships with McCarthy and Cheeks.

“We will come back to you in short order with our plans,” he added.

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Chancellor admits tax rises and spending cuts considered for budget

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Chancellor admits tax rises and spending cuts considered for budget

Rachel Reeves has told Sky News she is looking at both tax rises and spending cuts in the budget, in her first interview since being briefed on the scale of the fiscal black hole she faces.

“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well,” the chancellor said when asked how she would deal with the country’s economic challenges in her 26 November statement.

Politics Hub: Follow latest updates

Ms Reeves was shown the first draft of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) report, revealing the size of the black hole she must fill next month, on Friday 3 October.

She has never previously publicly confirmed tax rises are on the cards in the budget, going out of her way to avoid mentioning tax in interviews two weeks ago.

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Chancellor pledges not to raise VAT

Cabinet ministers had previously indicated they did not expect future spending cuts would be used to ensure the chancellor met her fiscal rules.

Ms Reeves also responded to questions about whether the economy was in a “doom loop” of annual tax rises to fill annual black holes. She appeared to concede she is trapped in such a loop.

Asked if she could promise she won’t allow the economy to get stuck in a doom loop cycle, Ms Reeves replied: “Nobody wants that cycle to end more than I do.”

She said that is why she is trying to grow the economy, and only when pushed a third time did she suggest she “would not use those (doom loop) words” because the UK had the strongest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year.

What’s facing Reeves?

Ms Reeves is expected to have to find up to £30bn at the budget to balance the books, after a U-turn on winter fuel and welfare reforms and a big productivity downgrade by the OBR, which means Britain is expected to earn less in future than previously predicted.

Yesterday, the IMF upgraded UK growth projections by 0.1 percentage points to 1.3% of GDP this year – but also trimmed its forecast by 0.1% next year, also putting it at 1.3%.

The UK growth prospects are 0.4 percentage points worse off than the IMF’s projects last autumn. The 1.3% GDP growth would be the second-fastest in the G7, behind the US.

Last night, the chancellor arrived in Washington for the annual IMF and World Bank conference.

Read more:
Jobs market continues to slow
Banks step up lobbying over threat of tax hikes

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

The big issues facing the UK economy

‘I won’t duck challenges’

In her Sky News interview, Ms Reeves said multiple challenges meant there was a fresh need to balance the books.

“I was really clear during the general election campaign – and we discussed this many times – that I would always make sure the numbers add up,” she said.

“Challenges are being thrown our way – whether that is the geopolitical uncertainties, the conflicts around the world, the increased tariffs and barriers to trade. And now this (OBR) review is looking at how productive our economy has been in the past and then projecting that forward.”

She was clear that relaxing the fiscal rules (the main one being that from 2029-30, the government’s day-to-day spending needs to rely on taxation alone, not borrowing) was not an option, making tax rises all but inevitable.

“I won’t duck those challenges,” she said.

“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well, but the numbers will always add up with me as chancellor because we saw just three years ago what happens when a government, where the Conservatives, lost control of the public finances: inflation and interest rates went through the roof.”

Pic: PA
Image:
Pic: PA

Blame it on the B word?

Ms Reeves also lay responsibility for the scale of the black hole she’s facing at Brexit, along with austerity and the mini-budget.

This could risk a confrontation with the party’s own voters – one in five (19%) Leave voters backed Labour at the last election, playing a big role in assuring the party’s landslide victory.

The chancellor said: “Austerity, Brexit, and the ongoing impact of Liz Truss’s mini-budget, all of those things have weighed heavily on the UK economy.

“Already, people thought that the UK economy would be 4% smaller because of Brexit.

“Now, of course, we are undoing some of that damage by the deal that we did with the EU earlier this year on food and farming, goods moving between us and the continent, on energy and electricity trading, on an ambitious youth mobility scheme, but there is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long-lasting.”

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Politics

Chancellor admits tax rises and spending cuts considered for budget

Published

on

By

Chancellor admits tax rises and spending cuts considered for budget

Rachel Reeves has told Sky News she is looking at both tax rises and spending cuts in the budget, in her first interview since being briefed on the scale of the fiscal black hole she faces.

“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well,” the chancellor said when asked how she would deal with the country’s economic challenges in her 26 November statement.

Politics Hub: Follow latest updates

Ms Reeves was shown the first draft of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) report, revealing the size of the black hole she must fill next month, on Friday 3 October.

She has never previously publicly confirmed tax rises are on the cards in the budget, going out of her way to avoid mentioning tax in interviews two weeks ago.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Chancellor pledges not to raise VAT

Cabinet ministers had previously indicated they did not expect future spending cuts would be used to ensure the chancellor met her fiscal rules.

Ms Reeves also responded to questions about whether the economy was in a “doom loop” of annual tax rises to fill annual black holes. She appeared to concede she is trapped in such a loop.

Asked if she could promise she won’t allow the economy to get stuck in a doom loop cycle, Ms Reeves replied: “Nobody wants that cycle to end more than I do.”

She said that is why she is trying to grow the economy, and only when pushed a third time did she suggest she “would not use those (doom loop) words” because the UK had the strongest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year.

What’s facing Reeves?

Ms Reeves is expected to have to find up to £30bn at the budget to balance the books, after a U-turn on winter fuel and welfare reforms and a big productivity downgrade by the OBR, which means Britain is expected to earn less in future than previously predicted.

Yesterday, the IMF upgraded UK growth projections by 0.1 percentage points to 1.3% of GDP this year – but also trimmed its forecast by 0.1% next year, also putting it at 1.3%.

The UK growth prospects are 0.4 percentage points worse off than the IMF’s projects last autumn. The 1.3% GDP growth would be the second-fastest in the G7, behind the US.

Last night, the chancellor arrived in Washington for the annual IMF and World Bank conference.

Read more:
Jobs market continues to slow
Banks step up lobbying over threat of tax hikes

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

The big issues facing the UK economy

‘I won’t duck challenges’

In her Sky News interview, Ms Reeves said multiple challenges meant there was a fresh need to balance the books.

“I was really clear during the general election campaign – and we discussed this many times – that I would always make sure the numbers add up,” she said.

“Challenges are being thrown our way – whether that is the geopolitical uncertainties, the conflicts around the world, the increased tariffs and barriers to trade. And now this (OBR) review is looking at how productive our economy has been in the past and then projecting that forward.”

She was clear that relaxing the fiscal rules (the main one being that from 2029-30, the government’s day-to-day spending needs to rely on taxation alone, not borrowing) was not an option, making tax rises all but inevitable.

“I won’t duck those challenges,” she said.

“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well, but the numbers will always add up with me as chancellor because we saw just three years ago what happens when a government, where the Conservatives, lost control of the public finances: inflation and interest rates went through the roof.”

Pic: PA
Image:
Pic: PA

Blame it on the B word?

Ms Reeves also lay responsibility for the scale of the black hole she’s facing at Brexit, along with austerity and the mini-budget.

This could risk a confrontation with the party’s own voters – one in five (19%) Leave voters backed Labour at the last election, playing a big role in assuring the party’s landslide victory.

The chancellor said: “Austerity, Brexit, and the ongoing impact of Liz Truss’s mini-budget, all of those things have weighed heavily on the UK economy.

“Already, people thought that the UK economy would be 4% smaller because of Brexit.

“Now, of course, we are undoing some of that damage by the deal that we did with the EU earlier this year on food and farming, goods moving between us and the continent, on energy and electricity trading, on an ambitious youth mobility scheme, but there is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long-lasting.”

Continue Reading

UK

Chancellor admits tax rises and spending cuts considered for budget

Published

on

By

Chancellor admits tax rises and spending cuts considered for budget

Rachel Reeves has told Sky News she is looking at both tax rises and spending cuts in the budget, in her first interview since being briefed on the scale of the fiscal black hole she faces.

“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well,” the chancellor said when asked how she would deal with the country’s economic challenges in her 26 November statement.

Politics Hub: Follow latest updates

Ms Reeves was shown the first draft of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) report, revealing the size of the black hole she must fill next month, on Friday 3 October.

She has never previously publicly confirmed tax rises are on the cards in the budget, going out of her way to avoid mentioning tax in interviews two weeks ago.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Chancellor pledges not to raise VAT

Cabinet ministers had previously indicated they did not expect future spending cuts would be used to ensure the chancellor met her fiscal rules.

Ms Reeves also responded to questions about whether the economy was in a “doom loop” of annual tax rises to fill annual black holes. She appeared to concede she is trapped in such a loop.

Asked if she could promise she won’t allow the economy to get stuck in a doom loop cycle, Ms Reeves replied: “Nobody wants that cycle to end more than I do.”

She said that is why she is trying to grow the economy, and only when pushed a third time did she suggest she “would not use those (doom loop) words” because the UK had the strongest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year.

What’s facing Reeves?

Ms Reeves is expected to have to find up to £30bn at the budget to balance the books, after a U-turn on winter fuel and welfare reforms and a big productivity downgrade by the OBR, which means Britain is expected to earn less in future than previously predicted.

Yesterday, the IMF upgraded UK growth projections by 0.1 percentage points to 1.3% of GDP this year – but also trimmed its forecast by 0.1% next year, also putting it at 1.3%.

The UK growth prospects are 0.4 percentage points worse off than the IMF’s projects last autumn. The 1.3% GDP growth would be the second-fastest in the G7, behind the US.

Last night, the chancellor arrived in Washington for the annual IMF and World Bank conference.

Read more:
Jobs market continues to slow
Banks step up lobbying over threat of tax hikes

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

The big issues facing the UK economy

‘I won’t duck challenges’

In her Sky News interview, Ms Reeves said multiple challenges meant there was a fresh need to balance the books.

“I was really clear during the general election campaign – and we discussed this many times – that I would always make sure the numbers add up,” she said.

“Challenges are being thrown our way – whether that is the geopolitical uncertainties, the conflicts around the world, the increased tariffs and barriers to trade. And now this (OBR) review is looking at how productive our economy has been in the past and then projecting that forward.”

She was clear that relaxing the fiscal rules (the main one being that from 2029-30, the government’s day-to-day spending needs to rely on taxation alone, not borrowing) was not an option, making tax rises all but inevitable.

“I won’t duck those challenges,” she said.

“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well, but the numbers will always add up with me as chancellor because we saw just three years ago what happens when a government, where the Conservatives, lost control of the public finances: inflation and interest rates went through the roof.”

Pic: PA
Image:
Pic: PA

Blame it on the B word?

Ms Reeves also lay responsibility for the scale of the black hole she’s facing at Brexit, along with austerity and the mini-budget.

This could risk a confrontation with the party’s own voters – one in five (19%) Leave voters backed Labour at the last election, playing a big role in assuring the party’s landslide victory.

The chancellor said: “Austerity, Brexit, and the ongoing impact of Liz Truss’s mini-budget, all of those things have weighed heavily on the UK economy.

“Already, people thought that the UK economy would be 4% smaller because of Brexit.

“Now, of course, we are undoing some of that damage by the deal that we did with the EU earlier this year on food and farming, goods moving between us and the continent, on energy and electricity trading, on an ambitious youth mobility scheme, but there is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long-lasting.”

Continue Reading

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