How close did Barry Diller come to gaining control of Paramount Global? Closer than some reports might have suggested, if Diller's version of events is to be believed.
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| Barry Diller Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images |
During a Financial Times summit on Friday, Diller explained that he was genuinely and seriously interested in acquiring the studio, stating that it was “more for the symmetry of my life” than any other motivation.
“At 52, I found myself in a bidding war with the Redstones for Paramount but ultimately decided not to place the final bid,” he recalled. “Fast forward another 30 years, and the opportunity arose again. I viewed it as more of a responsibility than a desire. I believed I knew how to handle it.
When you have a company that’s been poorly managed for over 15 years and it’s still operational, albeit barely, that’s a significant opportunity, and we took it very seriously.”
Diller believes that his interest accelerated Skydance’s successful bid for the company (joking that Redstone “ought to send a nice pot of flowers or chicken soup”), and once they completed their deal, he opted to step back.
“Once Skydance closed its deal, the process turned formal, allowing others to outbid them, but you either win or lose. I chose not to participate in that auction,” Diller explained. “I also came to the conclusion that I didn’t truly want it.”
The media mogul also shared his views on the current state of Hollywood, reiterating his belief that legacy studios are facing an uphill battle against tech giants.
“The environment is no longer as favorable,” Diller remarked. “It’s now encountering challenges it’s never faced before. I don’t think legacy companies will go bankrupt, but I do believe their dominance is over.”
“Hollywood no longer holds that dominance,” he added. “What defines Hollywood’s leadership today? The answer is that it has shifted to tech companies. Netflix, Amazon, and Apple are now the key players in the global film and television industry. That’s a massive shift from what we traditionally envisioned Hollywood to be.”
Diller also criticized the idea of consolidation, particularly among companies like Warner Bros. Discovery, calling it misguided.
“I’m not a fan of consolidation. It’s largely a ploy by individuals with inflated egos, believing scale is everything,” Diller said. “As long as you can distribute your content — and today, that’s as simple as hitting a button on a computer and broadcasting to the world — scale isn’t the issue. What matters is creating movies, TV shows, and content that audiences want. If you’re better than your rivals at that, you’ll succeed. But you won’t change the industry’s structure because tech companies hold immense capital.”
He also touched on artificial intelligence, mentioning that he’s seen some of the advanced models in development, and believes, “We’re months, maybe a year, away from true artificial general intelligence. It’s so astonishing, it’s almost beyond comprehension.”
As for the impact on Hollywood, he predicted: “In the animation sector, which employs vast numbers for CGI work — incredibly expensive with hundreds or thousands involved in producing animated films — I don’t think you’ll need those people anymore.”
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