Trump’s M&A Poison Pill

Donald Trump, Elon Musk
Since the first of the year, roughly coincident with his taking on his new role as the face of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, Musk's net worth has decreased by $112 billion. Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
March 16, 2025

For all those worried that the Skydance deal might get sidetracked by something called Project Rise Partners and its alleged $13.5 billion bid for Paramount Global, fear not. While Project Rise has made some noise, particularly in the Delaware courts, I’m hearing it’s having little impact with the one group that really matters: the special committee of the Paramount Global board of directors, which is charged with evaluating the proposal and changing its recommendation about the Skydance deal if such a change is warranted. I’m told that, barring some drastic and unlikely change to the offer, the special committee is not doing anything of the sort.