Over 3 Decades Later, Barry Diller Takes Another Swing at Paramount | Analysis

Available to WrapPRO members

The billionaire behind IAC , who lost a bid to acquire the studio in the early 1990s, has signed an NDA with National Amusements

Barry Diller
Barry Diller (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images)

Legendary media mogul Barry Diller is taking one more crack at Paramount, the studio that got away.

In the early 1990s, Diller lost a bid to buy the studio — to then-Viacom chief Sumner Redstone.

Now 82, Diller is back in the game, exploring a bid to take control of a far more-troubled Paramount Global, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap on Monday.

Diller’s company IAC has signed nondisclosure agreements with National Amusements, the holding company of Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, an individual confirmed to TheWrap. The New York Times first reported the story.

The potential bid comes after Redstone, who is Sumner Redstone’s daughter, scrapped a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance Media last month to acquire NAI and merge with the Hollywood studio.

Alexei Barrionuevo

Alexei Barrionuevo is the Business Editor at TheWrap. He previously served as an editor at Billboard, and before that as a staff writer at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He has worked as a correspondent based in Brazil, Belgium and Venezuela.

Comments