How famed money manager Mario Gabelli is trying to set things right with the Paramount-Skydance merger

Paramount has been mostly out of the news lately,  but that doesn’t mean nothing is going on behind the scenes in its messy, years-long attempt to sell itself before settling on a merger with Skydance Media.As is already known, Paramount owner Shari Redstone extracted a significant, nearly $2 billion payday before agreeing to a deal with the independent studio led by David Ellison, producer of “Top Gun: Maverick” and son of Oracle ­co-founder Larry Ellison.What’s less known is the level of anger the complex deal created among other shareholders who feel they got stiffed in the process.Generational wealth was transferred to the ruling Redstone family.

Other shareholders got, on a relative basis, pennies on the dollar.Sign up to receive On The Money by Charlie Gasparino in your inbox every Thursday.

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Never miss a story.One of the largest shareholders, the famed and famously cantankerous money manager Mario Gabelli, tells me his reps are taking what appear to be definitive steps to set things right.

They’ve been meeting with major law firms for what can best be described as early-stage talks to sue the newly combined company and extract a big payday for his clients.Most own the same controlling “Class A” shares as Redstone, but many also own the “Class B” or non-voting common stock.

All of them, he fears, are being treated like roadkill as a result of the deal valued at around $28 billion for Paramount, one of the world’s most storied ­media franchises.Gabelli is no fool; he’s been managing money successfully longer than the 41-year-old David Ellison has been alive.He’s one of the last of the great value investors who does deep-dive research into companies to extract the highest possible return for his clients.

He’s been eyeing a payout from his Paramount inve...