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The Shari Nightmare Scenario

It’s not at all clear where Shari Redstone would come up with the $550 million she would owe her creditors if the Skydance-Paramount deal falls through—and the consequences are mind-boggling.

shari redstone
While Shari focuses on returning to good health, her primary professional concern is F.C.C. approval, but Bill reports that people connected to the deal expect that Trump won’t let the F.C.C. even consider the Skydance acquisition until the CBS News/60 Minutes lawsuit is resolved. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
June 8, 2025

It’s been a bit of a rough patch, objectively speaking, for Shari Redstone, the principal owner of Paramount Global. She and her top executives have been trying to settle a ridiculous $20 billion lawsuit brought by Donald Trump against CBS News, a division of Paramount Global; at the same time, they’re waiting for the president’s F.C.C. to approve the sale of the whole company to Skydance’s David Ellison and RedBird Capital, which would net Shari and her family $2.4 billion upon closing. All other approvals but for the F.C.C.’s have been obtained.