Paramount giveth, and Paramount taketh away: Paramount Global will receive a $167.5 million settlement from a shareholder lawsuit over CBS’ merger with Viacom, less than two months after paying out $122.5 million in a separate settlement revealed last month.
The latest exchange of hundreds of millions was noted Friday in a securities filing. CBS shareholders had alleged that it overpaid for Viacom in 2019 so that Shari Redstone could consolidate her family’s media empire.
According to a securities filing Friday, the company will be paid $167.5 million to settle the suit. It is separate from another settlement revealed in March, in which former Viacom shareholders received $122.5 million from the company.
In the latest settlement, the CBS shareholders alleged that the company overpaid for Viacom so that Redstone (the controlling shareholder of both companies) could consolidate her family’s media empire. It also took issue with “waste and unjust enrichment in connection with certain aspects of … compensation awards” for Joe Ianniello, former CEO of CBS after the exit of Les Moonves. The filings said Ianniello pulled the cord on a $125 million golden parachute upon leaving the company.
In March, former Viacom shareholders belonging to a California pension fund were awarded $122.5 million after claiming the 2019 merger was unfair to them.
