Paramount Co-CEO Chris McCarthy to Exit Following Skydance Merger

Paramount Global Co-CEO Chris McCarthy will exit the company following its merger with Skydance, TheWrap has learned.

Under revised terms of their employment contracts filed with the SEC, the three Paramount co-CEOs have a change of control provision, an incurable provision that is triggered if they’re demoted from being CEO in the event of a Paramount Global sale or merger. Because Skydance announced and filed with the SEC that David Ellison will be the new CEO of the company once the merger is complete, that triggers this provision. Though the CEOs have the option to stay at Paramount if they’re offered a different role, McCarthy is not interested in remaining with the company, an insider told TheWrap.

Previously, McCarthy served as president and CEO for Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks. But following Bob Bakish stepping down from the company in April of 2024, McCarthy took on the role of co-CEO alongside president and CEO of CBS George Cheeks and president and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Brian Robbins.

After a lengthy process that lasted 251 days, the Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount and Skydance Media’s $8 billion merger on Thursday. The approval came just weeks after Paramount settled its lawsuit with Trump, who sued the company for $20 billion over a “60 Minutes” episode. Earlier this month, Paramount agreed to settle for $16 million, roughly the same amount as Disney’s settlement last year.

The Skydance acquisition is a two-step deal, which will start with Skydance acquiring Shari Redstone’s holding company National Amusements, which is the controlling shareholder for Paramount Global. Skydance will then merge with the Hollywood studio.

Though this new chapter will continue without McCarthy, a lot of Paramount’s value came from his decision making. The executive is well-respected for his relationships with talent. When Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” was in danger of being cancelled by Paramount Network, McCarthy vouched for the show. “Yellowstone” went on to become a crown jewel of Paramount Global, securing 13.1 million viewers during its finale and producing the spinoffs “1883” and “1923” as well as four other upcoming spinoffs. Sheridan also made several other shows for Paramount+ under the overall deal he made with McCarthy, including “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Tulsa King,” “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” “Lioness” and “Landman.”

McCarthy is also responsible for bringing Jon Stewart back to “The Daily Show,” extending Paramount’s deal with “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker and signing the first overall deal with “Ford v Ferrari” writer Jez Butterworth, who went on to create “MobLand” and “The Agency.”

In his role at Paramount Global, McCarthy also oversaw streaming at Paramount+, adding 10 million subscribers to the platform in 2024 and growing its revenue by 33%.