Paramount has chosen a second chief executive officer for the company that will emerge from its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery: Ynon Kreiz, the current chairman and CEO of Mattel. He is expected to join on October 5 and will serve as co-CEO alongside David Ellison as the $110 billion merger awaits completion.
The two executives will have different responsibilities. Ellison will oversee long-term strategy, the creative vision, relationships with talent, partnerships, technology and capital allocation. Kreiz, meanwhile, will be responsible for day-to-day management and the integration of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. During his tenure, the film Barbie, produced together with Warner Bros. Pictures, became one of the biggest box-office successes of recent years.
The appointment comes after a judge approved the agreement between Paramount and several U.S. states that had challenged the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, removing one of the final obstacles to the merger.
Photo Credits: Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
