Dive Brief:

• Departing Paramount Global CFO Naveen Chopra is set to receive $6 million in cash bonuses when he takes the top financial seat at immersive game platform Roblox, according to a Tuesday securities filing. Chopra is set to take Roblox’s top finance seat on June 30, the San Mateo, Calif.-based game platform said.
• The bonuses that Chopra, 51, is set to receive from his new employer will be comprised of a $3 million cash signing bonus, which will vest and be paid throughout a three-year period, as well as a second, $3 million signing bonus, “1/36 of which will be earned for each month of completed service,” according to Roblox. His compensation will also include an annual base salary of $735,000.
• The New York-based media and entertainment conglomerate Paramount appointed Andrew Warren, currently serving as the strategic advisor to the Office of the CEO to the role of interim CFO upon Chopra’s departure, Paramount said in a Monday press release. Chopra will from his role effective June 27 after a four-year tenure as Paramount’s finance chief, the company said.

Dive Insight:

The incoming finance chief will also receive an award of restricted stock units with a value of $28 million, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Roblox has also earmarked $15,000 per month for temporary housing reimbursement through Aug. 31, 2026, with a maximum of $900,000 in relocation expenses for the new CFO, per the filing.

As CFO for the Roblox platform, which enables users to both program and play games, Chopra will succeed Michael Guthrie, Roblox said in a Tuesday filing. Guthrie will remain to provide “advisory transitional services” to Roblox for a one-month period, the company said.

An alum large companies including Amazon and music streaming service Pandora, Chopra has served as Paramount Global’s CFO beginning in August 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to joining Paramount, he served as CFO, Amazon Devices and Services for the e-commerce company, and served as CFO and interim CEO for Pandora. He also held various executive roles during a 13-year career at TiVo.

The CFO appointment comes as Roblox looks to entice new users to its platform, with the company reporting a surge in its daily active users (DAU) for its Q1 2025 ended Mar. 31. The company saw 97.8 million DAUs in the period, a 26% jump year-over-year, according to its earnings report published May 8.

Roblox also reported just over $1 billion in revenue for its Q1, a 29% increase YoY, as well as a 31% YoY rise in bookings to reach $1.2 billion, according to its earning report.

Despite its most recent growth, Roblox has struggled to reassure investors about its potential for profitability. The company reported a consolidated net loss of $216.3 million for its Q1 2025, after posting a full-year consolidated net loss for 2024 of just over $940 million, according to earnings reports.

The company has also faced questions regarding the safety of its platform, especially regarding its use by children: last October, now-defunct shortseller Hindenburg Research published a report accusing the platform of both inflating its user numbers and of being a “pedophile hellscape for kids.”

Questions about the platform’s safety have repeatedly surfaced among both parents and other users, with digital behavior researchers Revealing Reality reporting the current safety measures employed by the platform remained “limited in their effectiveness,” The Guardian reported in April.

At Paramount, the CFO switch comes as the entertainment platform is seeking to navigate its own set of challenges after reconstituting its executive leadership last April — now led by a triumvirate of top executives in the Office of the CEO, including George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins.

Chopra’s departure comes as Paramount is reportedly gearing up to lay off about 3.5% of its workforce, CNBC reported Tuesday, citing a company memo. Last year Paramount moved to cut about 15% of its workforce in a three-phase plan, as part of a strategy to reduce its annual costs by $500 million, CNBC reported at the time.

The cost-cutting moves also come as Paramount still seeks approval for its stalled $8 billion merger with Skydance, which has also been grappling with President Donald Trump’s ongoing $20 billion lawsuit against 60 Minutes.  

Roblox and Paramount declined to comment beyond its press release.