(Reuters) – Paramount Global controlling shareholder Shari Redstone received the fewest votes of any director in elections to the company’s board of directors, data showed on Friday.
Redstone received 32.2 million votes for her election to the board, the lowest of the six candidates, and also received the most votes against her election, more than 905,000.
Paramount’s annual shareholder meeting took place Tuesday, where the company’s CEOs unveiled a restructuring plan that included annualized cost cuts of $500 million, a potential asset sale and a possible joint venture or other partnership for the Paramount+ streaming service.
The company is struggling with a decline in its traditional TV business, while the video streaming service it launched to attract viewers has yet to recover lost revenue.
Paramount and independent studio Skydance Media have been in talks to merge the two companies for months.
Skydance CEO David Ellison cut his initial $2.5 billion offer for National Amusements, which owns the Redstone family’s stake in Paramount, to provide additional cash to the company’s non-voting shareholders, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources.
Redstone was unhappy with the reduced offer, which gave competitors the opportunity to prove their case.