Bob Bakish had a golden parachute worth a whopping $69.3 million in severance compensation, which he received after the longtime exec was dismissed by Paramount Global as CEO in April 2024.
Details of Bakish’s severance package were disclosed in a Paramount filing Friday with the SEC. All told, Bakish’s compensation from Paramount for 2024 totaled $86.96 million, compared with $31.3 million the year prior. That included salary of $2.61 million (through the time of his departure from the company) and stock awards worth $15.1 million, per the filing.
Bakish, who worked at Paramount and predecessor company Viacom for nearly three decades, was shown the door as the media conglomerate’s board and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone were in the midst of trying to clinch the deal to merge with David Ellison’s Skydance Media. On July 7, 2024, after months of on-and-off negotiations, the $8 billion pact was signed — and it’s still awaiting FCC approval.
With Bakish’s exit, Paramount established a three-exec “Office of the CEO”: 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.
In 2024, each of that trio received a $6 million bonus in connection with their roles as co-CEOs. Last fall, Paramount added a provision to their employment agreements that will let them quit and receive severance benefits if they are demoted. The three each also had an annual base salary of $2.75 million.
Cheeks’ total compensation last year was $22.15 million, which included stock awards of $8 million. McCarthy’s pay package was $19.48 million (and he also received $8 million in stock), and Robbins’ was $19.6 million (including $8.14 million in stock). The compensation for the three executives was not disclosed by Paramount, as they were not named executive officers prior to 2024.
In the filing, which was an amendment to its 10-K for 2024, the Paramount board’s compensation committee discussed the co-CEOs’ overall performance against the company’s 2024 qualitative performance goals.
Among the criteria it cited: Paramount+ revenue grew 33% and added 10 million new subscribers to reach 77.5 million as of year-end; Paramount Pictures had five No. 1 films at the domestic box office last year: “Mean Girls,” “Bob Marley: One Love,” “IF,” “Smile 2” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3”; and the company inked successful renewals with distribution and affiliate partners including Charter, Nexstar and Scripps.
Under the leadership of the co-CEOs, the compensation committee wrote, “We strengthened the balance sheet, including generating net operating cash flow of $752 million — a significant improvement from 2023 — and optimizing our asset mix through our continued divestiture of non-core assets, including the sale of our equity interest in Viacom18, which resulted in an attractive financial return.”
Cheeks, Robbins and McCarthy also “achieved $500 million in annual run-rate cost savings,” according to Paramount, including through several rounds of layoffs across the company.
In the filing, Paramount also disclosed the compensation for CFO Naveen Chopra, which was $8.78 million (); head of HR Nancy Phillips, which was $4.2 million (up ). General counsel Christa D’Alimonte, who exited in June and had a pay package worth $8.92 million in 2024.
Paramount remains in a holding pattern vis-a-vis Skydance. Paramount has been in discussions with the FCC about concessions the agency will require to OK the deal, including a “commitment that the company continues to abstain from particular corporate diversity initiatives,” the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, recently stated that he would block M&A deals for media companies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion programs as he helps execute Trump’s aggressive anti-DEI agenda. Paramount in February said it was changing some of its DEI programs to comply with the Trump administration’s directives. Carr also has said President Trump’s lawsuit against CBS — alleging sections of “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris were deceptively edited — would likely will be a factor during the FCC’s review of the Skydance-Paramount merger. Trump has demanded $20 billion in damages from CBS; Paramount and CBS moved to dismiss Trump’s suit, calling it “an affront to the First Amendment.” The two sides have reportedly selected a mediator to pursue a settlement in the case. On Tuesday, “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens resigned, citing an inability “to make independent decisions based on what was right for ’60 Minutes.’”
The deal between Skydance (and financial partner RedBird Capital Partners) and Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc., expired April 7, at which time the deadline for the agreement to close was automatically extended for another 90 days.
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