As very much expected, Paramount Global has officially announced that Bob Bakish, its CEO for the last eight year, is stepping aside.
But here’s the surprise — the company's board of directors on Monday named a trio of executives to lead the struggling media company as it works to sell itself, likely in a deal with Skydance Media and David Ellison.
George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS; Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks; and Brian Robbins, president and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon will combine to lead what Paramount is calling “the office of the CEO.”
”I have tremendous confidence in George, Chris and Brian,“ Shari Redstone, chair of the Paramount Global board, said in a statement. “They have both the ability to develop and execute on a new strategic plan and to work together as true partners. I am extremely excited for what their combined leadership means for Paramount Global and for the opportunities that lie ahead.”
(Here's the Paramount announcement.)
According to widely published reports, Bakish “lost the trust” of Redstone as she entered advanced M&A talks with Skydance. Redstone reportedly wanted to make a CEO change before Paramount entered its pivotal pay TV licensing renewal negotiations with top U.S. operator Charter Communications.
The trio spoke briefly at the beginning of Paramount's first-quarter earnings call Monday afternoon. Each executive spoke to their long collaboration, with Robbins promising to disclose how the odd splitting of power will actually work at a later date.
Paramount said there will be no Q&A period made available to equity analysts during Monday’s call.
