Tom Ryan is stepping down from his role as President and CEO of Paramount Global’s streaming business unit amid the company’s upcoming merger with Skydance Media, he announced in an all-staff memo on Monday.
Ryan will remain in an advisory role with the company while Cindy Holland, the former Vice President of Content Acquisition at Netflix, steps into the role of President and CEO of Paramount Streaming. Holland has served in an advisory role for Skydance Media while its merger with Paramount was pending.
“I leave with deep gratitude and pride for a team I love and admire, and for Pluto TV and Paramount Plus, streaming services that started as bold ideas and have since grown into global powerhouses,” Ryan wrote in an internal memo. “It has been the honor and privilege of my career to lead and work alongside this exceptional team. Thank you for the laughs, the late nights, the karaoke sessions, the bold ideas, and the unwavering belief in what we could do together.”
Ryan had served as president and CEO of Paramount Streaming since October 2020, when then-Viacom Corporation acquired free, ad-supported streaming TV service Pluto TV. He worked to relaunch the streaming service CBS All Access into the powerhouse platform Paramount Plus while growing Pluto TV’s business to include licensing deals with other platforms like Samsung TV Plus, Plex and Dish Network’s Sling Freestream, among others.
Outside of Paramount, Ryan chairs Struck Studio, a startup venture studio he launched in 2022. He also sits on the boards of Telly and Smule, and advises venture capital firms Signal Fire and Felix Capital.
Holland’s hiring was announced by Skydance Media David Ellison in a separate note on Monday, through which he revealed a number of other executives who will join the company when the Paramount merger closes later this week.
Andrew Warren will remain interim Chief Financial Officer of Paramount-Skydance, while Dana Goldberg and Jeff Greenstein will serve as co-chairs of Paramount Pictures. George Cheeks will continue as chair of the TV media unit. Former NBC Universal CEO Jeffrey Shell was previously reported to be Paramount’s new President, a move that Ellison affirmed on Monday.
“I’m thrilled to introduce our new executive leadership team, backed by deep industry experience, proven track records, and a shared commitment to excellence, this world-class team is uniquely equipped to rise to the occasion and deliver on our bold vision for a new Paramount,” Ellison said. “Each member was chosen to align with our goals and with the intention to drive transformation. Together, we will foster an environment where creative and technical talent collaborate seamlessly, marrying leading technologies with powerful storytelling and artistic vision to unlock Paramount’s full potential and help shape the future of our industry.”
Ryan’s full note to Paramount employees is below:
Team,
After twelve phenomenal years entertaining the planet together, the time has come for me to say goodbye. I leave with deep gratitude and pride for a team I love and admire, and for Pluto TV and Paramount+, streaming services that started as bold ideas and have since grown into global powerhouses.
This has been the journey of a lifetime. From the early days of Pluto TV — born out of a tiny West Hollywood warehouse (that is now, in true LA fashion, a cannabis dispensary) — to the incredible launch and scale of Paramount+, this ride has been nothing short of extraordinary.
When we introduced Pluto TV, we were criticized for betting on a free, linear, ad-supported streaming model, when the world was focused only on paid, on-demand, ad-free services. Launching on April Fool’s Day admittedly didn’t help. But we embraced an underdog spirit, remained steadfast and proved the skeptics wrong when the service was acquired by Viacom just five years later and became sustainably profitable the year following.
Together, we helped pioneer FAST before it had a name. We transformed Pluto TV into a billion-dollar business with over 80 million users. We came together to launch Paramount+ into a crowded market and, against all odds, made it the fastest-growing SVOD in the U.S and one of the top four SVOD platforms worldwide. We scaled to 78 million subscribers, hit profitability milestones ahead of schedule and faster than our peers, and just drove Paramount Streaming to a $2.2 billion quarter. This is remarkable growth compared to $1.8 billion for the entire year when we launched the division less than 5 years ago. Even more impressively, our division also generated $157 million in quarterly profit and achieved global profitability for the first half of 2025. But more than the numbers, we built something that mattered—with heart, hustle, and a whole lot of grit.
What I’ll miss most, though, is you — the people, the team, and the culture we created. Through every challenge, especially the more recent ones, you showed up with courage, creativity, and an unshakable sense of purpose. You’ve inspired me every single day and I’m a better leader for it.
It has been the honor and privilege of my career to lead and work alongside this exceptional team. Thank you for the laughs, the late nights, the karaoke sessions, the bold ideas, and the unwavering belief in what we could do together. While I’ll be stepping away from my day-to-day role following the close of the deal, I’ll be staying on in an advisory capacity to Cindy Holland and the Streaming leadership team to help ensure a smooth and successful transition. I have no doubt that you’ll continue to achieve spectacular things, and I’ll be cheering you on every step of the way.
Tom
