Charles Phillips Resigns From Paramount Global Board

Paramount Global disclosed that Charles Phillips Jr. , who led the board's special committee on M&A that ultimately reached a deal to merge the company with Skydance Media, is exiting the board of directors.

Phillips originally joined the board of Viacom in 2004. He had formerly served as president of Oracle — the software company founded by Larry Ellison, father of Skydance founder and CEO David Ellison. When deal talks broke down in June between Skydance and Shari Redstone's National Amusements Inc. over control of Paramount, Phillips had emerged as a vocal opponent to the pact, Variety reported . But within a month, Paramount's board, NAI and Skydance had come to terms on a revised deal , which is expected to close in the first half of 2025.

Ahead of Paramount's expected merger with Skydance, Phillips is leaving, he said, to devote more time to Recognize, the private-equity investment management company he co-founded and for which he serves as managing partner, according to an SEC filing Friday.

On Monday (Oct. 14), Phillips notified Paramount of his resignation from the board, effective Oct. 31, 2024, per the filing. In addition to leading the special committee on M&A, Phillips was a member of the Paramount board's audit, nominating and governance committees.

This is the full text of Phillips' resignation notice to the Paramount board, according to the SEC filing: "I am resigning from the Paramount Board of Directors, effective the end of this month (October 31, 2024). As my firm Recognize launches a second fund next month, the expansion and growth unfortunately leave less time for outside commitments. It's been an honor to serve on the Viacom, ViacomCBS, and Paramount boards in a dynamic industry. I wish the company and its many talented employees well in the future."

Prior to co-founding New York-based Recognize, which launched in 2020, Phillips was CEO and chairman of enterprise software vendor Infor. He served as president at Oracle from 2003-2010 and before that was a managing director at Morgan Stanley in the technology group and served on its board of directors.

Phillips is a member of the board of directors of Bloomberg LP, American Express, Compass Inc. and the Apollo Theater. He served on President Obama's Economic Recovery Board and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.