Skydance CEO David Ellison takes the reins of a ‘new Paramount’ after merger saga

Skydance Media finally took the reins of Paramount Global on Thursday — capping a long-winding saga after the $8 billion merger risked being derailed by political scrutiny and shareholder concerns.

The new publicly traded company, called Skydance Paramount Corp, combines the media giant’s struggling legacy brands like CBS and MTV, its Paramount+ streaming service, and prized film and TV library, with Skydance’s production and technological capabilities.

Skydance boss David Ellison — who will take over as CEO and chairman of PSky — laid out a host of initiatives as he touted “Day One of a new Paramount.”

“We embark on the exciting next chapter of this legendary company,” said the budding media mogul, who is the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

“Moving forward, we will work with conviction and optimism to transform Paramount into a tech-forward company that blends the creative heart of Hollywood with the innovative spirit of Silicon Valley.”

The company will be restructured into three divisions: studios, direct-to-consumer and TV media.

The finalization of the deal follows the FCC’s July 24 approval, which came shortly after Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to President Trump to settle his lawsuit against CBS over a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, and more than a year after Skydance and Paramount first announced the agreement on July 7 of last year.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr gave the green light only after Skydance agreed to hire an ombudsman to guard against any political bias by CBS News, which Trump had alleged deceptively edited the Harris sit-down to make her look better during the heat of last year’s election race.

Paramount also pulled the plug on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” days after the merger was approved for financial reasons. The the top-rated late-night program reportedly lost $50 million last, The Post previously reported.

During Thursday’s event at Paramount’s headquarters in Times Square, Ellison showered praise on CBS News, calling it the “home to one of the most storied American broadcast journalism legacies in America.”

He also gave a shout-out to “60 Minutes,” which he said has “a long tradition of impactful reporting led by seasoned journalists committed to accuracy, integrity and public trust.”

The merger puts an end to media heiress Shari Redstone’s ties to a company forged by her late legendary father, Sumner Redstone.

As part of the deal, Larry Ellison, Skydance and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital purchased the Redstone family’s controlling 77% stake in Paramount Global through their company National Amusements.

Redstone will receive $180 million in severance and other benefits on top of her stock, and will exit the board of directors. Her 20% stake in National Amusements is worth roughly an additional $350 million.

Overall, Skydance agreed to fork over $2.4 billion for the Redstone family’s stake, $4.5 billion to non-NAI Paramount shareholders and an additional $1.5 billion in new capital to help pay down debt and recapitalize the company’s balance sheet, the company said.

“Our investment in Paramount and long-term partnership with the Ellison family reflects our deep conviction in the value of world-class intellectual property and the potential to unlock substantial growth as these businesses navigate technological disintermediation and evolving consumer preferences,” Cardinale said in a statement Thursday:

“We’ve been collaborating with David Ellison for the last 15 years and made our first investment in Skydance in 2019. Over this period, we’ve seen the power of an owner-operator model that integrates technological sophistication with a talent-friendly passion for producing great original content.”

Earlier this week, Skydance — which has produced blockbuster hits like “Top Gun: Maverick — announced its 10 designated board members for the new Paramount, which will include former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing and Oracle CEO Safra Catz.

It also set its executive leadership team. Jeff Shell, the former CEO of NBCUinversal who was ousted by parent company Comcast in 2023 over allegations of inappropriate conduct with a CNBC reporter, who will serve as president.

Current Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks — who was instrumental in settling Paramount’s lawsuit with Trump — will remain at the new company as the chair of the TV Media division.

Ellison said Thursday the new company would focus on amping up the power of its streaming services and that the Paramount-owned streamers Paramount+ and Pluto TV will operate on a unified technology stack beginning in 2026.

The tech scion was vague on plans for Paramount’s cable networks, which include MTV and VH1.

“On the TV Media side, our challenge is to reinvent our portfolio of brands for a non-linear world. We plan to invest appropriately based on the future business opportunity, thereby maximizing cash flow so we can reinvest in our growth businesses,” he said.