Tom Ryan, President & CEO, Paramount Streaming, is departing the company following the merger with Skydance Media as the David Ellison company sets its new management team.
He will continue to support the team in an advisory role to Cindy Holland and streaming leadership to ensure a smooth and successful transition. A trailblazer in the streaming industry, Ryan led the creation and growth of Pluto TV and Paramount+.
The FCC approved the merger July 24. It will formally close on August 4. As reported, Cindy Holland will be Chair of Direct-to-Consumer.
“After twelve phenomenal years entertaining the planet together, the time has come for me to say goodbye. I leave with deep gratitude and pride for a team I love and admire, and for Pluto TV and Paramount+, streaming services that started as bold ideas and have since grown into global powerhouses,” he said in a memo to staff obtained by Deadline.
As co-founder and CEO of Pluto TV, Tom launched the service in April 2014. The ad-supported linear streaming platform turned a profit in 2020 and has remained in the black since, helping to popularize the FAST category, now a multi-billion-dollar global industry. Pluto TV was acquired by Viacom in January 2019 for $340 million. Viacom and CBS merged later that year and ViacomCBS changed its name to Paramount Global in 2022.
Ryan has served as President & CEO of Paramount Streaming since October of 2020, growing the division from $1.8 billion in in 2020 to $7.6 billion in 2024. In the June 2025 quarter, the company’s last before it combines with Skydance, Paramount streaming grew revenue 15% year-on-year to $2.2 billion, an annualized revenue run rate of $8.6 billion. The division increased global profit by over 500% to $157 million and is profitable for the first half of 2025.
Ryan also led the launch of Paramount+ in March of 2021 and has helped the service scale to 78 million subscribers to become one of the top four SVOD players.
He plans to return to his entrepreneurial roots and explore opportunities to create and scale his next venture. He currently serves as chairman of Struck Studio, a startup he helped launch in 2022. Struck has launched over half a dozen AI-enabled startups across industries and raised a $15 million Series A round from investors including Steve Case’s Revolution and USVP, the original lead investor in Pluto TV.
Ryan serves on the boards of Telly and Smule and is an advisor to venture capital firms such as SignalFire and Felix Capital.
Ryan’s memo:
Team,
After twelve phenomenal years entertaining the planet together, the time has come for me to say goodbye. I leave with deep gratitude and pride for a team I love and admire, and for Pluto TV and Paramount+, streaming services that started as bold ideas and have since grown into global powerhouses.
This has been the journey of a lifetime. From the early days of Pluto TV — born out of a tiny West Hollywood warehouse (that is now, in true LA fashion, a cannabis dispensary) — to the incredible launch and scale of Paramount+, this ride has been nothing short of extraordinary.
When we introduced Pluto TV, we were criticized for betting on a free, linear, ad-supported streaming model, when the world was focused only on paid, on-demand, ad-free services. Launching on April Fool’s Day admittedly didn’t help. But we embraced an underdog spirit, remained steadfast and proved the skeptics wrong when the service was acquired by Viacom just five years later and became sustainably profitable the year following.
Together, we helped pioneer FAST befe it had a name. We transformed Pluto TV into a billion-dollar business with over 80 million users. We came together to launch Paramount+ into a crowded market and, against all odds, made it the fastest-growing SVOD in the U.S and one of the top four SVOD platforms worldwide. We scaled to 78 million subscribers, hit profitability milestones ahead of schedule and faster than our peers, and just drove Paramount Streaming to a $2.2 billion quarter. This is remarkable growth compared to $1.8 billion for the entire yearwhen we launched the division less than 5 years ago. Even more impressively, our division also generated $157 million in quarterly profit and achieved global profitability for the first half of 2025. But more than the numbers, we built something that mattered—with heart, hustle, and a whole lot of grit.
What I’ll miss most, though, is you — the people, the team, and the culture we created. Through every challenge, especially the more recent ones, you showed up with courage, creativity, and an unshakable sense of purpose. You’ve inspired me every single day and I’m a better leader for it.
It has been the honor and privilege of my career to lead and work alongside this exceptional team. Thank you for the laughs, the late nights, the karaoke sessions, the bold ideas, and the unwavering belief in what we could do together. While I’ll be stepping away from my day-to-day role following the close of the deal, I’ll be staying on in an advisory capacity to Cindy Holland and the Streaming leadership team to help ensure a smooth and successful transition. I have no doubt that you’ll continue to achieve spectacular things, and I’ll be cheering you on every step of the way.
Tom
