Connect with us

Business

Jeff Shell steps down as Paramount president after legal battle with gambler

Published

on

Jeff Shell steps down as Paramount president after legal battle with gambler

Jeff Shell agreed to step down as president of Paramount Skydance after becoming entangled in a legal battle with a controversial Las Vegas gambler and self-styled “fixer.”

Paramount announced Shell’s departure Wednesday after the two sides negotiated an amicable resolution to the drama. Paramount said its external review into Shell’s conduct, initiated by Paramount’s board of directors, found no violation of securities laws.

Shell also resigned as a Paramount board member to focus on his legal skirmish, the company said.

His departure comes after just eight months on the job.

Paramount Skydance “is grateful for Mr. Shell’s many contributions and to have relied on him as a valued advisor,” the company said in its statement.

Advertisement

The veteran entertainment executive officially joined the media company with David Ellison’s takeover in August, though he had been a key member of Ellison’s team for nearly two years as the group worked to assemble the pieces of the tech scion’s growing empire. Ellison’s Skydance Media acquired Paramount and then pulled off a stunning $111-billion deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in late February.

Shell brought substantial experience running a media company to Ellison’s inner circle, a group that included former investment bankers and others who haven’t run a large-scale enterprise. But his role within the company long felt awkward because key division managers, including the heads of CBS, the Paramount movie studio and the company’s streaming businesses, reported to Ellison, which left Shell with a nebulous portfolio.

He wasn’t planning to stay on after the company acquires Warner Bros. Discovery, according to two people close to the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly. Paramount hopes to complete that deal this summer.

Shell’s exit this week was prompted by his unlikely association with the high-roller, Robert James “R.J.” Cipriani, who created a public stir after his dealings with Shell went south.

Cipriani sued Shell in Los Angeles County Superior Court on March 9, alleging fraud and breach of an oral contract. Cipriani claimed that he provided Shell with “sophisticated, high-value crisis communications services,” according to his suit.

Advertisement

He alleged Shell spilled corporate secrets, which Shell has denied. Cipriani said he reported Shell to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission because Shell allegedly had discussed highly sensitive Paramount information with him: Paramount’s $7.7-billion deal last summer to bring UFC mixed-martial arts fights to CBS and other Paramount outlets.

Cipriani accused Shell of failing to deliver on a verbal pledge to help him produce an English-language version of a Roku TV Spanish music show.

Shell maintained Cipriani fictionalized the two men’s dealings, then spread “false and salacious lies to extract a massive payday,” according to a counterclaim filed by Shell. Cipriani has been seeking $150 million in damages.

In his court documents, Shell said the two men met only twice and that Shell owed him nothing.

But the Cipriani controversy made Shell’s future at Paramount untenable, the sources told The Times.

Advertisement

There was just “too much noise,” one of the sources said.

The Ellisons wanted to stay focused on building Paramount and completing their Warner Bros. takeover. The company needs to line up regulatory approvals in the U.S. and abroad.

Jeff Shell, Paramount Skydance president.

(Paramount / Skydance)

Advertisement

Paramount’s board last month hired the Gibson Dunn law firm to look into Cipriani’s allegations.

The firm conducted a “complete and thorough” review, Paramount said.

“The facts demonstrated that [Cipriani’s] allegations do not establish a securities law violation,” Paramount said. “Mr. Shell promptly notified PSKY of these accusations and is taking forceful legal action.”

Paramount Skydance, and its board members also named in Cipriani’s lawsuit, plan to respond “to the frivolous and baseless claims against PSKY and its named board members and stockholders,” the company said.

The firm attributed Shell’s decision to step down as “consistent with Mr. Shell’s commitment to prioritizing PSKY’s success.”

Advertisement

His departure comes three years after he was ousted as NBCUniversal chief executive.

NBCUniversal-owner Comcast hired a law firm to investigate him after a CNBC anchor filed an internal sexual harassment claim against him. Shell stepped down, acknowledging that he’d had an “inappropriate relationship” with the journalist, who has since left the company.

The job at Paramount was envisioned to be his second act.

Shell’s dealings with Cipriani began with an August 2024 meeting at litigator Patty Glaser’s Century City office.

At the time, Glaser represented both men and urged Cipriani to “cease” his efforts to drum up damaging stories about Shell, who was trying to recover from the scandal that cost him his job at NBC.

Advertisement
Robert James "R.J." Cipriani in Amazon Prime Video's 2025 series, "Cocaine Quarterback."

Robert James “R.J.” Cipriani in Amazon Prime Video’s 2025 series, “Cocaine Quarterback.”

(Courtesy of Prime)

Near the end of that meeting, Cipriani pledged to help Shell keep negative publicity at bay, according to sources and court documents.

The two men communicated via text messages, on-and-off, for about 18 months.

“Nobody believed me,” Cipriani said Wednesday. “The best thing I did was cooperate with Gibson Dunn and showed them that the texts were real.”

Advertisement

It’s unclear whether Ellison will look to bring in other experienced media executives or look to senior Warner Bros. Discovery executives following Paramount’s proposed takeover of that company.

Times staff writer Stacy Perman contributed to this report.

Business

Older AC and fridge chemicals amp up climate change. Trump just rolled back limits on them

Published

on

Older AC and fridge chemicals amp up climate change. Trump just rolled back limits on them

President Trump on Thursday announced that grocery stories and air conditioning companies will be allowed to keep using high-polluting refrigerants for longer than they would have under a law he signed during his first administration.

“This was a tremendous burden, a tremendous cost,” said Trump, surrounded in the Oval Office by executives from supermarket chains including Kroger, Fairway, Neimann Foods and Piggly Wiggly. “It was making the equipment unaffordable, and the actual benefit was nothing.”

The move loosens rules meant to restrict hydroflourocarbons, a class of climate-damaging chemicals used in cooling equipment. HFCs are known as “super pollutants” because their impact on climate change can be tens of thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide during their shorter lifespans.

In the move Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency extends the deadline for companies to comply with a 2023 rule transitioning refrigerators and air conditioners off HFCs and onto new cooling technologies. Reducing these chemicals and moving to cleaner refrigerants has long been a bipartisan issue.

Trump is also proposing exemptions from a rule requiring leak repairs on large-scale refrigeration systems.

Advertisement

The administration framed the changes as part of its effort to bring down high grocery costs. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said the actions will save $2.4 billion for Americans and safeguard 350,000 jobs.

“Americans who wanted to be able to fix their equipment were instead being required to buy far more costly new equipment and that just doesn’t make any sense,” said Zeldin.

David Doniger, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the move will not only harm the climate, but U.S. competitiveness in global refrigerant markets as well.

“The EPA is catering to a small group of straggling companies by derailing the shift away from these climate super-pollutants,” he said. “The industry at large supports the HFC phasedown and has already invested in making new refrigerants and equipment, currently installed in thousands of stores.”

Danielle Wright, executive director of the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council, an environmental nonprofit, said any perceived near-term savings from the rollbacks will be outweighed by the future costs.

Advertisement

“Business owners are far more worried about the escalating cost of keeping aging, high‑global-warming-potential equipment running than they are about the cost of installing new, compliant systems,” she said.

Trump dismissed the climate concerns, saying his changes “are not going to have any impact on the environment.”

He said he wants to get rid of the technology transition rule entirely in the future.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Business

Airbnb to add grocery delivery and car rentals ahead of World Cup

Published

on

Airbnb to add grocery delivery and car rentals ahead of World Cup

Airbnb unveiled a new set of services for guests on Wednesday, adding car rentals, airport pickup and grocery delivery to its online marketplace that connects travelers with local hosts.

Customers can now get groceries delivered to their Airbnb through a partnership with Instacart and have a driver meet them at the airport with Airbnb’s Welcome Pickups. The app is also offering luggage storage in partnership with Bounce and will add in-app car rentals later this summer.

At the same time, Airbnb is ramping up its use of AI by adding AI-powered review summaries and lodging comparisons, the company said.

The company has been expanding beyond lodging since last year, when it introduced Airbnb Experiences and Services, giving guests the option to book private tours and chef-cooked meals through the app.

In an earnings call earlier this month, the company’s chief executive, Brian Chesky, said the company is at “the very, very beginning of how AI is going to change how we all do our jobs.”

Advertisement

The changes are coming in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will take place in 16 cities across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The company said its offering exclusive World Cup experiences, such as watch parties and access to stadiums.

“In terms of what we’ve seen in cumulative bookings heading into the event, the World Cup is slated to be the largest event in Airbnb’s history,” said the company’s chief financial officer, Ellie Mertz, on the earnings call.

Airbnb gained popularity for offering travelers unique and homey stays on other people’s property, but it added boutique hotel bookings to its platform late last year. The move had some customers questioning if the app was straying too far from its original purpose.

In its announcement this week, the company said it is partnering with more independent hotels in 20 top destinations, including New York, London and Singapore. On the earnings call, Chesky said hotels on Airbnb could become a multibillion-dollar revenue business.

The San Francisco-based company was founded in 2007 and gave homeowners the opportunity to earn money by renting out their space to travelers seeking something different from a hotel. Airbnb bookings can range from private bedrooms in a shared home to luxury mansions and yachts.

Advertisement

The company’s revenue grew 18% year over year to $2.7 billion in the first quarter, while net income increased slightly to $160 million. Airbnb’s new services and offerings could transform it from a home-sharing platform to a holistic travel marketplace, analysts said.

Shares of the company have increased by 14% over the past six months and fell by less than 1% on Thursday.

Continue Reading

Business

SpaceX files to go public in huge IPO deal

Published

on

SpaceX files to go public in huge IPO deal

Elon Musk wants to take investors on a ride to the moon — and beyond.

His pioneering rocket company SpaceX filed Wednesday for what’s expected to be the largest initial public offering in history, potentially raising at least $75 billion and valuing the company at as much as $2 trillion.

The registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an expected public offering next month explicitly sets aside stocks for retail investors, though the exact number will be spelled out in a later filing, as will the offering price and company valuation.

Interest in the stock offering is expected to be high despite the billionaire’s controversial politics, including his involvement last year with the Department of Government Efficiency, the makeshift cost-cutting effort that resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of government jobs.

“Potential investors are probably just as polarized as the electorate is too, given his dabbling in politics,” said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist for BMO Private Wealth. “But it’s not just the SpaceX IPO per se, it’s a bigger, broader excitement among investors for space investment in general.”

Advertisement

Investor interest was piqued by the Artemis II moon mission this year that SpaceX did not participate in, she said. However, the company is expected to play a larger role in future missions that take astronauts to the moon..

Ultimately, Musk, 54, wants to establish a colony on Mars but those plans have been set on the back burner, with NASA now focusing on moon missions.

Musk will remain the company’s chief executive and chairman. Under a dual-class stock structure as a holder of special Class B shares he will be able to control the election of directors, the filing says.

The IPO is expected to be at least twice as large as the current record holder: Saudi Aramco, the state-controlled national oil and gas company of Saudi Arabia, which raised nearly $30 billion in 2019.

Nearly two dozen banks will be underwriting the IPO and offering shares to investors, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Citigroup.

Advertisement

Founded in 2002 in El Segundo, SpaceX has revolutionized the aerospace industry by developing the reusable Falcon 9 rocket that has radically lowered launch costs.

The company moved its headquarters from Hawthorne to Texas in 2024. However, SpaceX retains large operations in the South Bay city and blasts off regularly from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County.

Scores of former SpaceX employees have launched startups in Southern California, including rocket company Relativity Space, hypersonic missile startup Castelion and satellite manufacturer Apex Space.

Since developing its reusable rocket technology, SpaceX has established its Starlink network as the leading satellite-based broadband internet service. It also is moving into satellite-based cellular service and this year merged with Musk’s xAi artificial intelligence company that also included his X social network.

Marco Cáceres, an aerospace analyst at Teal Group, said that the advantage of going public for SpaceX lies in the IPO’s ability to raise a large amount of capital quickly to complete development of its Starship rocket.

Advertisement

“It is going to dominate the market even more than the Falcon 9 is dominating the market now,” he said. “That’s going to be ultimately what’s going to drive their business for the next 10 years.”

The 12th test launch of Starship is set for Friday from the company’s south Texas launch facility. The rocket is the third version of craft, standing more than 400 feet tall and with about three times the payload of the second version.

The regulatory filing claims that the market for its rocket, internet and mobile telephone businesses could be as large as $28.5 trillion.

SpaceX also plans to launch thousands of orbiting data centers powered by the sun that would perform AI calculations.

With the company making massive capital investments, it recorded a $4.28-billion loss in the first quarter. Last year, it recorded $18.7 billion in revenue and lost $4.94 billion, according to the filing.

Advertisement

The public offering is expected to hit the market next month after a “road show,” during which SpaceX will seek to drum up interest from institutional and retail investors.

It will arrive after a fairly quiet year for IPOs that was brightened last week when Cerebras Systems, a Sunnyvale company that makes semiconductors for AI supercomputers, went public.

Shares at Cerebras were offered at $185 and jumped 68% on its opening day. They closed Wednesday at $290.69.

Matt Kennedy, a senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, said the SpaceX offering would dwarf that of Cerebras, as it is expected to raise more than every IPO combined in the last two years.

“A win here or a loss could really impact the IPO market,” he said. “The sheer size of this deal is going to make or lose fortunes.”

Advertisement

Among the oddest disclosures of the IPO is a decision by the company’s board in January to grant Musk 1 billion Class B shares if the company reaches a certain market capitalization and establishes a “permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants.”

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending