Century-old American film and television company that has struggled in the streaming era. Since 2019 it has shed $16bn in market value. Its controlling shareholder is Shari Redstone.
Paramount was acquired by Skydance Media, run by David Ellison, in an $8.4bn deal completed in August 2025, mainly financed by Larry Ellison. The Redstone family pocketed $2.4bn. The deal was delayed by the Federal Communications Commission, which withheld its agreement until Paramount settled a legal complaint from Donald Trump about a CBS News report. Safra Catz, Oracle's former chief executive, sits on Paramount's board.
Trump sued Paramount over an interview that CBS conducted during the 2024 election with Kamala Harris. Different portions aired on "Face the Nation" and "60 Minutes"—in one Harris sounded succinct on Israel, in another muddled. Trump alleged distortion in violation of the Lanham Act, which bars deceptive advertising. Most legal analysts thought the suit was weak.
In July 2025 Paramount agreed to pay $16m to Trump's presidential library to settle the case—a deal resembling Disney's earlier $15m commitment to the same library to end a separate defamation suit. As part of the settlement CBS did not apologise but agreed henceforth to release transcripts of its interviews with presidential candidates. The head of "60 Minutes" and the boss of CBS both left in spring 2025.
In April 2025 "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley told viewers on air that "Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways"—an allegation of editorial meddling that exposed a rift between the news brand and its Hollywood owner. Redstone had reportedly sought more editorial oversight in recent months.
Paramount shareholders are preparing to sue Redstone and other board members for breach of duty over the settlement; some have hired Abbe Lowell, a litigator, and will probably demand that Redstone personally cover the payment. Some Democratic senators have called the payment a bribe to a government official.
After months of wrangling, in February 2026 Paramount Skydance prevailed over a rival bid from Netflix to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, pending regulatory approval. The deal would create an entertainment giant and give Gulf sovereign-wealth funds an unprecedented stake in popular culture. Paramount offered $31 per Warner share, valuing the whole company; Netflix had bid for just the studio and streaming services. Combined, Paramount and Warner would have the largest share of the national television-ad market: 35%, compared with Disney's 27%. Their streaming services, Paramount+ and HBO Max, together sell more subscriptions in America than even Netflix. The biggest financial backers were a group of Gulf sovereign-wealth funds: the Ellisons were to put in $12bn while Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia would together contribute $24bn. Apollo and RedBird, a specialist media-and-sport investment firm, are also on board. Affinity Partners, an investment firm run by Jared Kushner, is part of the consortium. The Gulf investors would have no voting rights or board representation. If approved, the deal will enthrone David Ellison as the king of Hollywood. David Zaslav, Warner's boss, stands to collect more than $800m from the transaction.
Paramount is said to be considering Bari Weiss, an opinionated journalist with no television experience, for a big role at CBS. The company spent $7.7bn on the rights to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a martial-arts league with ties to Donald Trump, and plans to broadcast a UFC fight on the White House lawn.
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