Over 3 Decades Later, Barry Diller Takes Another Swing at Paramount | Analysis

Legendary media mogul Barry Diller is taking one more crack at Paramount, the studio that got away.

In the early 1990s, Diller lost a bid to buy the studio — to then-Viacom chief Sumner Redstone.

Now 82, Diller is back in the game, exploring a bid to take control of a far more-troubled Paramount Global, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap on Monday.

Diller’s company IAC has signed nondisclosure agreements with National Amusements, the holding company of Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, an individual confirmed to TheWrap. The New York Times first reported the story.

The potential bid comes after Redstone, who is Sumner Redstone’s daughter, scrapped a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance Media last month to acquire NAI and merge with the Hollywood studio.