Global Courant
Paramount Global has inked a contract extension with its chief financial officer, Naveen Chopra, which will keep the exec in the role for three more years, the company disclosed Friday.
Chopra joined the Bob Bakish-led and Shari Redstone-controlled media conglomerate in August 2020 from Amazon, where he was CFO of the e-commerce giant’s Devices and Services unit for a year. The exec also previously served as CFO and interim CEO of the audio streaming service Pandora and earlier spent more than a decade at DVR maker TiVo.
The Paramount CFO’s new contract runs through June 20, 2026 and he’ll receive $1.4 million in base salary, a target annual cash bonus of $2.4 million and target annual grants of equity compensation of $4.15 million.
At the time Chopra joined Paramount, it was still named ViacomCBS and in the midst of pivoting to a streaming-first mentality. That approach prioritized its video-based assets like Paramount Pictures and collection of TV networks (CBS, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV) as it prepared what would become a relaunched streaming service in Paramount+, which now has 60 million subscribers globally.
As part of a plan to slim down its asset portfolio to scale up its entertainment ambitions, Paramount shed tech site CNET for $500 million in 2020, CBS’ New York BlackRock headquarters building for $760 million and CBS’ Studio City lot for $1.85 billion in 2021 The company has put a “for sale” sign on Simon & Schuster yet hasn’t closed a deal after a US judge blocked a $2.175 billion deal for Paramount to sell the publisher to rival Penguin Random House.
During a Deutsche Bank investor conference in March, Chopra was asked about the progress of Paramount’s portfolio strategy pivot to streaming. “We finished 2022 with a revenue run rate for our direct-to-consumer businesses of $5.5 billion versus where we started a couple of years ago was significantly lower than that,” the CFO noted, adding, “Our focus now is going from that top line growth to start to deliver on the path to profitability for streaming.”
To that point, the conglomerate officially folded Showtime’s streaming presence in to Paramount+ with the change going into effect on June 27, bringing together titles like Yellowjackets, Dexter and Billions with Star Trek: Discovery, 1883 and The Good Fight. “Doing things like integrating Showtime and Paramount+,” Chopra added in March, “unlocks opportunity, frankly, on both the top end and the bottom line.” The move also accompanied layoffs in Paramount’s TV Networks division as it consolidated its Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios units and shut down MTV News.
Year to date, Paramount Global stock is down nearly 7 percent, to $15.91 a share.
