Ellison spoke with CBS journalists on his first day, acknowledging the stresses of the past year and touting the importance of “fact-based journalism,” a person in attendance said.

On the first day as the new owner of Paramount, CEO David Ellison insisted that Skydance was “not involved” in the Donald Trump-Paramount settlement, but deflected questions about a potential Skydance side deal made with Trump to run PSAs.

Paramount has set the base salaries for its new C-suite on the heels of Skydance closing its $8 billion acquisition of the media giant. David Ellison, founder of Skydance and now CEO of Paramount, will receive a base salary of $3.