Paramount Global, which is set to be acquired by David Ellison’s Skydance Media, has disclosed 2024 compensation details for its top executives, led by its three-person Office of the CEO.
The company filed its annual proxy statement, disclosing the pay packages for co-CEOs George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS, Brian Robbins, president and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, and Chris McCarthy, president and CEO, Showtime & MTV Entertainment Studios.
Cheeks’ compensation for 2024 amounted to $22.1 million, Robbins’ to $19.6 million million, and McCarthy’s to $19.5 million, according to the regulatory filing. Combined, the compensation packages for the three men totaled more than $61 million.
Their compensation packages included their earnings before they were elevated to the co-CEO roles, and the discrepancies between them reflect the differences in the divisions of the company that each oversees. The filing indicates that their compensation specific to their work in the office of the CEO was $6 million each.
The proxy notes that the co-CEOs received bonuses that reflected things like new carriage deals, improved cashflow, and 33 percent revenue growth at Paramount+, among other factors.
The proxy also revealed the compensation for former Paramount CEO Bob Bakish, whose exit from the company was announced a year ago. Bakish stayed on as an advisor through October. Per the filing, Bakish’s total compensation in 2024 totaled $87 million, inclusive of his earnings before his exit, his advisory compensation, and his severance, which was about $69.3 million.
Paramount, controlled by chair Shari Redstone via holding company National Amusements, last year ousted former CEO Bob Bakish whose 2023 pay package had amounted to $31.3 million.
In 2024, Paramount shares fell 27 percent, while the entertainment conglomerate’s annual revenue was nearly unchanged, its loss per share widened, but its adjusted earnings rose.
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