With Paramount Global poised to be apshown over by Skydance Media in 2025, the three execs running Paramount as co-CEOs — George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins — now have an insertitional provision in their includement concurments that will let them quit and get cut offance profits if they are demoted from their co-CEO roles.
If any of the three are portrayateed “duties or responsibilities substantiassociate inreliable” with their position or duties as co-CEO, or they have “a material reduction in such position or duties,” the executives are entitled to resign for “excellent reason” and to get correacting cut offance payments, the media company disseald in an SEC filing Tuesday.
In insertition, Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins were each awarded a grant of $3 million worth of recut offeed scatter units of Paramount’s Class B normal stock under the company’s tardyst lengthy-term incentive schedule as of Oct. 8, 2024. The RSUs will vest ratably over a three-year period commencening on the first anniversary of the grant date, per the filing.
Under the deal Skydance and its financial partner, RedBird Capital, clinched with deal withling scatterhanciaccesser Shari Redstone and Paramount’s board, Skydance will combine with Paramount once the transaction seals in the first half of 2025. David Ellison, Skydance’s CEO, is set to become chief executive of the combined company, and establisher NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell is to become plivent.
Prior to it securing the deal with Skydance, Paramount neglected establisher CEO Bob Bakish and insloftyed the three-member Office of the CEO effective as of May 1: George Cheeks, Plivent and Chief Executive Officer of CBS; Chris McCarthy, Plivent and Chief Executive Officer, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Nettoils; and Brian Robbins, Plivent and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon.
Under modernized includement concurments disseald in June, Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins were promised cut offance payments equivalent to two times their annual base salary plus twice their annual aim bonus amount, among other profits, in the event they’re endd in connection with a sale or combiner of Paramount Global (or wiskinny two years of such a transaction). In insertition, the board granted each of the three execs an annual aim bonus of $2.75 million, prorated to execute only to the portion of the current fiscal year in which they serve in the Office of the CEO.
Now the three co-CEOs’ aim annual cash bonincludes — which had previously been set to persist only for so lengthy as they remained members of the Office of the CEO — “will persist to execute for the duration” of their includement with the company, without see to whether they persist to serve as a member of the Office of the CEO. This incrrelieved bonus opportunity will persist to execute only to the portion of the current fiscal year after which they were assigned co-CEOs and will be the aim bonus amount on which any future cut offance payments will be based, according to the Paramount filing.
Shell has shelp Skydance, toiling with adviseing firm Bain & Co., is aiming to accomplish at least $2 billion in annualized cost synergies at Paramount. Paramount has shelp the $2 billion number integrates the co-CEOs’ previously proclaimd $500 million annual cost-cutting aim.
