(Reuters) – Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone received the fewest votes among other directors in the company’s board elections, a filing showed on Friday.
Redstone received 32.2 million votes for her election to the board, the lowest of the six candidates, while she also received the most votes against her election with more than 905,000.
Paramount’s annual shareholder meeting was held Tuesday, where the company’s co-CEOs presented a restructuring plan that included $500 million in annual cost cuts, potential asset sales and a possible joint venture or other partnerships for its Paramount+ streaming service.
The company is dealing with a decline in its traditional television business, while the video streaming service it launched to attract viewers has yet to make up for lost revenue.
Paramount and independent studio Skydance Media have been negotiating a merger of the two companies for months.
Skydance CEO David Ellison cut his initial $2.5 billion bid for National Amusements, which owns the Redstone family’s Paramount stake, to provide additional cash to the company’s non-voting shareholders, Reuters reported on Tuesday based on sources.
Redstone was unhappy with the reduced bid, paving the way for rival bidders to make their case.
