Paramount is set to enact massive job cuts in November following its US$8.4 billion (A$13.07 billion) merger with Skydance.
The layoffs are expected to affect between 2,000 and 3,000 employees and are scheduled to align with when Paramount posts its third-quarter earnings for 2025.
Paramount’s new leaders have signalled publicly that they were hoping to realise more than US$2 billion in cost synergies post-merger.
“We do not want to be a company that has layoffs every quarter,” Paramount president Jeff Shell told the media at the new conglomerate’s presser last week.
“So, it is important for us to get done what we’re doing in one big thing and then be done with it.”
Skydance founder David Ellison has taken over as Paramount Skydance’s CEO and chairman and has instituted a new team of top executives.
As of December 2024, Paramount had 18,600 employees globally, while Skydance had under 2,000.
This comes as Paramount has signed a number of media rights agreements. This includes a seven-year media rights agreement worth an average US$1.1 billion with TKO Group to become the exclusive home of UFC events in the U.S., starting 2026.
Paramount also signed a multi-year deal with the Duffers and, right before the acquisition, signed a US$1.5 billion five-year license deal with South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
At the time of writing, Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ: PSKY) stock was trading at US$16, easing 0.2% from Thursday's close of $16.03. The company's market capitalisation stands at $17.03 billion.
