Skydance Corp., formed from the megamerger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, is bringing new blood to its board of directors.
On Tuesday, the company announced that Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president of Emerson Collective, and Bobby Kotick, founder and former CEO of Activision, are joining the board as independent directors.
In addition, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair will join Skydance as a board adviser. Blair will be acting in a personal capacity. He currently serves as executive chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a not-for-profit organization.
The Board will include all current members of Paramount’s Board, along with three new additions: Ynon Kreiz, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Skydance, David Ellison will chair the Board and continue to serve as Skydance’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Powell Jobs is a visionary entrepreneur and one of the most influential leaders in business and philanthropy. She is also a committed investor in journalism and media, supporting quality, independent reporting and storytelling at both the national and local levels. She built her career on creating institutions that endure and drive meaningful change. Her leadership extends across education, climate and community-driven initiatives. As founder and president of Emerson Collective, she pioneered a groundbreaking model that unites venture investing and philanthropic grant-making to tackle society’s most complex challenges, and she has shown a rare gift for identifying bold ideas early and scaling them into lasting impact. That dedication, together with her extensive experience in investing and philanthropy, makes her a valuable addition to Skydance’s board.
Bobby Kotick brings more than three decades of public-company leadership, having served as CEO of Activision for 32 years and built it into one of the world’s most successful video game companies. He paired bold strategic moves, including the company’s merger with Vivendi Games, with disciplined capital allocation and a consistent record of rewarding shareholders. That record culminated in the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft for $68.7 billion, the largest transaction in the history of the video game industry. Throughout his tenure, he showed a rare ability to anticipate shifts in how consumers engage with entertainment, investing in new platforms, new business models and new ways of reaching fans while keeping creative excellence at the center of the enterprise. His experience scaling a franchise-driven business, managing the complexity of a global public company and steering major industry transitions will serve Skydance well as it navigates an evolving media and entertainment landscape.
His global leadership experience and commitment to innovation position him as an invaluable advisor in shaping Skydance’s strategic priorities.
The Skydance board director-designees are as follows:
By: Todd Spangler