It has been one year since Shari Redstone, daughter of Sumner Redstone, prevailed in an epic battle for control of her father’s business empire. Since then, she has made some decisive moves, promoting Bob Bakish to CEO and bringing in Jim Gianopulos to revitalize her father’s beloved Paramount Pictures. But the stock price has not responded, and in fact has plunged another 30% since CEO Philippe Dauman’s departure on Aug. 20. As of Aug. 25, Viacom was trading below $30.
Media mogul Shari Redstone on Wednesday acknowledged the media landscape is increasingly challenged — but she believes she made the right call late last year when she decided not to merge the two media companies her family controls: Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. Instead, she wanted to give Viacom CEO Bob Bakish a chance to turn around the struggling media company, which owns Paramount Pictures and cable networks including MTV, Nickelodeon and BET.
Shari Redstone withdrew her proposed merger of CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. today, ending negotiations for a deal that would have recombined her family’s media holdings to create a new colossus in the television industry.
The two main pieces of the family’s $40 billion media empire — Viacom and CBS — are set to spend tens of millions of dollars on an army of bankers, lawyers and advisers as the companies work to determine if a merger of the two companies is feasible.
Shari Redstone and her father, Sumner, have made great strides in their personal relationship and the fight for control of his $40 billion media empire.
Shari Redstone has taken control at Viacom after vanquishing challengers. Now comes the hard part: deciding what to do with all that power. The daughter of 93-year-old billionaire Sumner Redstone, whose frail health ignited the power struggle in which she triumphed, is considering recombining Viacom with CBS Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.
Exclusives
Talks have accelerated to end the bitter boardroom dispute between Sumner and Shari Redstone and Viacom’s top officers, with CEO Philippe Dauman expected to leave with a generous exit package, according to three people close to the situation.
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman and the media conglomerate’s owners — Sumner and Shari Redstone — have restarted negotiations aimed at ending a months-long feud over who will control large pieces of the Redstones’ $43 billion media empire.
Viacom Inc. CEO Philippe Dauman and COO Thomas Dooley have reserved their legal right to resign “with good reason” in a move to protect tens of millions of dollars in potential severance pay. According to regulatory filings made public on Monday, Dauman and Dooley sent letters reserving the right to resign if a judge issues a final order approving Sumner Redstone’s action last month to remove Dauman and four other directors from Viacom’s board.
Viacom Inc.’s plan to sell a stake in its historic Hollywood movie studio, Paramount Pictures, suffered another setback Friday when the Redstone family publicly reaffirmed its opposition. Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman has reportedly been negotiating with Chinese entertainment giant Dalian Wanda Group over the studio.
The battle over Sumner Redstone’s $40 billion Viacom empire resumed arguments at a Massachusetts courthouse on Thursday. Lawyers for the plaintiffs, Philippe Dauman and George Abrams, argued that Redstone, 93 and in failing health, was mentally incapacitated and had been unduly influenced by his daughter Shari Redstone. Redstone’s side argued that their client had the mental capacity to make decisions regarding his entertainment conglomerate, which includes Viacom and CBS.
Former Viacom chief Tom Freston is adding to the chorus of critics calling for Philippe Dauman to be replaced as chairman-CEO of Viacom. Preston gave a lengthy interview Wednesday to CNBC in which he didn’t hold back on his assessment of the state of the company he helped build during his more than 25 years at MTV Networks.
Shari Redstone has long been on the sidelines of her father’s $40-billion media empire. But in the last month she has emerged as a central figure in the battle over the future of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. The 62-year-old vice chair of the two media companies was widely suspected as the force behind Sumner Redstone’s unexpected decision last week to oust his longtime lieutenant, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, from the trust that will eventually determine the future of CBS and Viacom.
She says she has patched up her relationship with her media mogul father, Sumner Redstone of Viacom and CBS, as a legal battle looms over money and power in the family business.
Shari Redstone is emerging from the long shadow of her larger-than-life father, Sumner Redstone. The feisty 61-year-old former attorney is stepping into the spotlight to exert her influence in the affairs of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. — even if it means bucking her father’s wishes for who should lead one of the storied media companies.
Shari Redstone is in line to succeed her father, Sumner Redstone, at CBS and Viacom, according to details that emerged Wednesday about the structure of the trust that will collect controlling stakes in the two media titans. Shari, 61, will become the irrevocable chairman of CBS, worth $30.7 billion, and Viacom, worth $27.4 billion, sources close to the situation say.
