Adobe’s succession vote, plus Paramount’s whistleblower, BP’s new CEO, AI’s proxy tilt

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THE HEADLINES

Jeff Shell, president and board director at Paramount Skydance, is stepping down after allegations of SEC violations

Shell came under scrutiny after gambler and whistleblower R.J. Cipriani filed a $150M lawsuit alleging Shell shared confidential information in violation of SEC rules.

Shell previously left his role as NBCUniversal CEO in 2023 after he admitted to having an “inappropriate relationship” with an employee.

The company said it did not find an SEC violation. Paramount added in a statement that the claims were “baseless” and said Shell is taking “forceful legal action.”

His future at Paramount has been in question since the company beat Netflix in a bidding war in February to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery The acquisition of WBD will bring in many new executives, and Shell, who was not involved in deal talks, didn’t have a defined role at a combined company, CNBC reported last month.

Yesterday, a Separation Agreement was announced: Shell will be getting approximately $16M:

$5M Cash Severance ($3.5M salary + $1.5M bonus)

$11M Equity Acceleration (1,000,000 shares @ $10.95=$10.95M)