Paramount Global Sets $1 Million Payouts To HR & Government Affairs Heads When Skydance Deal Closes

More cash is set to flow for Paramount Global executives as the company said two will each receive bonuses of $1 million when the company’s sale to Skydance closes as part of a “transaction award program.”

Doretha Lea, EVP, Global Public Policy and Government Relations, and Nancy Phillips, EVP, Chief People Officer are eligible for the payouts, which are contingent on the deal closing to “ensure the successful operation of the Company during the period prior to the completion of the Transactions and to promote the retention of certain key employees through the closing date,” Paramount said in an SEC filing this afternoon. The execs must obviously be working at the company when the sale goes through.

Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount from Shari Redstone is expected to close in the first half of 2025.

Last month, the company granted its trio of co-CEOs , Chris McCarthy, George Cheeks and Brian Robbins, new grants of restricted stock valued at $3 million. It also said the enhanced compensation, which previously had been set to continue only as long as they were in the Office of the CEO, would apply for the duration of their employment with Paramount in any capacity, CEO or not — so if they were demoted.

The trio’s compensation was sweetened in June to reflect their new roles, including an increase in their target annual cash bonuses under the company’s short-term incentive plan by an additional 100% of their annual base salaries. 

Paramount has been shedding staff ahead of the merger to cut $500 million in costs. A number of board members have exited ahead of the deal’s close.