Jeff Shell, who resigned Wednesday as president of Paramount Skydance amid a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed against him and the company by a professional gambler, is set to receive $5 million in severance payments plus several million dollars in stock.
On April 8, Paramount entered into a separation agreement with Shell, pursuant to which “Mr. Shell ceased to serve as an employee of PSKY and as a member of the Board of Directors of PSKY, effective as of April 8, 2026,” the company disclosed in an SEC filing Thursday.
Shell will receive an amount in cash equal to his annual base salary of $3.5 million and $1.5 million target annual bonus, payable “in accordance with PSKY’s regular payroll practices for twelve (12) months following the date of separation,” according to the filing.
In addition, Shell will be eligible to receive accelerated vesting of a number of restricted stock units subject to the stock award granted to him on Aug. 7, 2025, “that would have otherwise vested through the twelve (12)-month anniversary of the date of separation (had his employment continued during such time).” Under the terms of his pay package, Shell had a one-time restricted stock grant valued at $75 million each that was scheduled to vest over five years as part of the company’s long-term incentive program.
Shell also will be entitled to company-subsidised health and dental benefit coverage for up to 12 months following his departure from Paramount.
The payments to Shell are “subject to his continued compliance with the Separation Agreement (which includes a release of claims in favor of PSKY and its affiliates) and applicable restrictive covenants,” according to the Paramount filing.
On Wednesday, Paramount Skydance said Shell was departing to “focus” on a lawsuit filed by R.J. Cipriani, a professional gambler who claims Shell owes him $150 million for crisis PR services and alleges the exec shared confidential information about Paramount Skydance in violation of securities laws.
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The company said its board of directors “followed standard practice and, with the assistance of independent counsel, conducted a complete and thorough review of the allegations raised in a recently filed civil complaint that Mr. Shell, PSKY’s President, had violated certain SEC disclosure rules. The facts demonstrated that these allegations do not establish a securities law violation.”
Paramount also said it is “taking forceful legal action” in the litigation filed by Cipriani, which he expanded to include as defendants CEO David Ellison; his father, Larry Ellison; Paramount and its board members; and investment partner RedBird Capital. “PSKY and its named Board members will respond in the proceedings to the frivolous and baseless claims against PSKY and its named Board members and stockholders,” the company said.
Cipriani’s lawsuit alleges that Shell shared with him a belief that Paramount is overpaying for Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount has an agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $111 billion; the deal is pending regulatory approval. Cipriani’s lawsuit also claims Shell shared confidential info about Paramount Skydance including advance word of Paramount’s $7.7 billion UFC rights deal last summer.
Shell filed a countercomplaint, accusing Cipriani of trying to extort and defame him by creating “an utterly false tale that Shell had disclosed confidential details about Paramount’s business.”
Prior to joining Paramount last year as David Ellison’s right-hand man, Shell was chairman of RedBird Sports and Media, where led the firm’s investments and strategy across sports and entertainment assets.
Before that, Shell was CEO of NBCUniversal. In April 2023, parent company Comcast terminated Shell as NBCU’s chief executive after an internal investigation found he had engaged in an “inappropriate” relationship with an employee; the person had filed a complaint against Shell for sexual harassment and sex discrimination.
From Variety US