Paramount Global CEO Robert Bakish saw his executive compensation fall 2.1 percent last year, according to a financial filing made with federal regulators on Thursday.
The filing, a proxy statement distributed to shareholders and submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, revealed Bakish’s total compensation to be $31.257 million for 2023, down from the $32.048 million he received one year prior.
His core cash compensation was $3.1 million in 2023, which was unchanged from the prior two years. The lower overall compensation was tied mostly to fewer stock awards and non-equity incentive plan compensation, which slipped to $15.535 million and $12.817 million respectively.
Like other executives, Bakish’s stock options and non-equity incentive compensation are tied to certain metrics, including the performance of Paramount’s stock price. The company’s stock fell nearly 22.5 percent during 2023, according to historical closing prices reviewed by The Desk.
Bakish’s total executive compensation is about 274 times higher than that of the average Paramount employee, according to financial materials reviewed by The Desk. Paramount employed around 22,300 full-time, part-time and temporary workers throughout the year; those employees earned a median salary of around $114,250 in cash, stock and certain health benefits.
Bakish became the CEO of Paramount Global in 2019, shortly after CBS Corporation merged with Viacom to become the present-day company. He oversees all aspects of Paramount’s business, including its film and television production studios, direct-to-consumer services like Paramount Plus with Showtime and Pluto TV, international TV operations like Network 10 in Australia and Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, and linear broadcast and cable divisions like CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, CBS Sports, Showtime and CBS News and Stations.
Bakish’s employment contract runs through December 2025.
Paramount is in the midst of selling off or merging some or all of its media and entertainment businesses, with David Ellison’s Skydance Media emerging as the likely suitor to unite with the company.
Earlier this month, media reports indicated Paramount’s board of directors had entered into exclusive pre-merger discussions with Skydance to explore ways to finance the deal, a move that has rankled some shareholders.
In letters fired off to Paramount’s board this week, two groups of shareholders — Matrix Asset Advisors and Aspen Sky Trust — accused the company’s directors of exploring the Skydance deal over other bids made by Apollo Global Management, Allen Media Group and others.
The letters claim a merger with Skydance would be financially funded by shareholders to the benefit of Shari Redstone, whose National Amusements holds a controlling stake in Paramount’s stock.
Both investment firms say the Paramount board has a fiduciary responsibility to weigh those deals in the best interest of the company and its shareholders. On Wednesday, an attorney representing Aspen Sky Trust took things a step further by sending Redstone a cease-and-desist letter urging her to refrain from pushing the Paramount board to explore the Skydance deal and threatening to sue her and Paramount if those discussions do not stop.
Prior to the Paramount board’s decision to explore a deal with Skydance, Bakish reportedly held discussions with his counterparts at Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) about a merger involving certain entertainment-related assets, according to reports. Those talks ultimately went nowhere, but were referenced in letters sent by the two investment firms this week.
