A Warren-Shari Mystery & Ackman’s Icahnfreude

It’s not clear what our friend Warren was thinking when he invested in what is now known as Paramount Global.
It’s not clear what our friend Warren was thinking when he invested in what is now known as Paramount Global. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
May 7, 2023

Paramount Global shed about a quarter of its market value this week after reporting a huge first quarter loss, which it is attempting to reverse with drastic actions to blunt the hemorrhaging and restore investor confidence: slashing the dividend by 80 percent; selling off BET, as had already been announced; restarting talks to offload Simon & Schuster again; “significant” cost saving measures, etcetera etcetera, as the company tries to pivot to the streaming age. C.E.O. Bob Bakish said this year will represent peak losses for Paramount—the company took a one time impairment charge of $1.67 billion for combining its two streamers, Paramount+ and Showtime—but the stock keeps selling off. 

Questions abound: Is this healthy retrenchment? A prelude to the chop shop? Is Aryeh on speed dial? But here’s the one that most fascinates me: What does Warren Buffet make of all this?