Late Sunday night, after the consortium led by David Ellison’s Skydance sealed the deal to ultimately gain control of Paramount Global, Ellison spoke with Shari Redstone, who controlled the company through her family’s National Amusements and ultimately made the call to sell the family business.
Redstone “was incredibly gracious and kind,” Ellison recalls.
The Skydance mogul spoke to reporters Monday, joined by Jeff Shell, who will be president of the new Paramount, as well as Gerry Cardinale, the founder of RedBird Capital, which backed the deal.
“What’s very important for Shari and her family is the protection of her family’s legacy,” Cardinale says. “And the way to do that is you recapitalize this over 100 year old business, and you keep it as Paramount, you don’t take it private, break it up, kill it. And so that’s what,…
