A bombshell new book from two Pulitzer winners reveals some truly shocking storylines within the real-life “Succession” drama that is the Paramount media empire.
He embodied the impolite era of the media mogul, a time before streaming, when movie theaters and cable TV were all the rage.
The titanic battle over media mogul Sumner Redstone’s mental capacity ended with a whimper in a nearly empty Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday. More than three years after the mental capacity of the billionaire was challenged by his former live-in companion — who filed a lawsuit that exposed Redstone’s declining health and the tawdry inner workings of his empire — a judge entered a decision that the Redstone family has long sought.
Sumner Redstone has reached a settlement with his former companion Manuela Herzer, ending a three-year legal battle just days before a second trial over his estate plans was set to begin. Herzer will pay Redstone $3.25 million and agrees she has no say in decisions concerning him.
A probate judge on Monday appointed an independent legal guardian to represent Sumner Redstone, finding he is incapable of representing his interests in a trust battle with his former companion. Redstone, the chairman of National Amusements, Inc., is 95 and suffers from severe speech impairment and diminished mental faculties. Judge David Cowan appointed probate attorney Samuel Ingham to serve as Redstone’s guardian ad litem.
Earlier this month, federal prosecutors investigating possible tax-related financial crimes issued grand jury subpoenas for information regarding Manuela Herzer and the Redstone family — the latest stunning jolt to CBS, a company already reeling from the sudden departure of Les Moonves.
Exclusives
Hollywood and Wall Street has long wondered how much Sumner Redstone really knows about what is being done and said in his name. Now, thanks to an irate filing Tuesday by lawyers for the rarely seen 95-year old media mogul and the legal tenacity of his former companion Manula Herzer, by the end of the week we might know if we are finally going to get a glimpse at the real capacity of the elder Redstone
The Wall Street Journal reports that a Delaware judge said he had concerns about the medical condition of 95-year-old media mogul Sumner Redstone and declined to order that he be deposed in the legal battle between his family’s holding company, National Amusements Inc., and CBS Corp. Journal subscribers can read the full story here.
CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves will be dragged into the legal drama surrounding Sumner Redstone after all, as a California judge switched gears after tentatively granting a motion to quash a subpoena served to him.
Sumner Redstone will step down from the Viacom board of directors in February after the company holds its annual meeting, Viacom said today.
The former Viacom chairman’s lawsuit claims Manuela Herzer and Sydney Holland took advantage of him, leaving him with over $90 million in tax obligations.
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.
After hearing arguments from attorneys, Chancellor Andre Bouchard agreed to put the case on hold until he hears arguments in January on the motion to dismiss and issues his ruling. The shareholder plaintiffs are challenging actions taken by Viacom’s board in renominating Redstone, 93, as a director earlier this year amid concerns about his health and mental capacity, and efforts by Redstone and his daughter Shari to change the company’s bylaws and oust certain directors.
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.
Philippe Dauman, the former Viacom CEO who is still non-executive chairman of the board, has effectively left the conglomerate, waiving a deal where he would present an offer from Dalian Wanda Group to purchase a 49% stake in Paramount Pictures. At the same time, the Viacom board could be facing a potential legal standoff with the top executive at the film studio.
Sumner Redstone’s granddaughter Keryn Redstone did not participate in Viacom’s boardroom settlement last week, and would like an opportunity to weigh in, according to court papers filed Monday morning.
Media mogul Sumner Redstone’s boardroom war for control of Viacom Inc. has ended in victory with the resignation of Chief Executive Philippe Dauman and the installation of new members to the company’s board. Viacom’s board late Thursday elected Thomas Dooley as CEO.
With key court dates approaching, negotiations to bring an end to the bitter struggle at the top of Viacom have taken on new urgency in the past week, according to sources familiar with the situation.
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.
Top Viacom executives recently held discussions with Sumner Redstone’s holding company, National Amusements, to settle litigation surrounding the media mogul’s empire. Discussions fell through last week but included Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman stepping down
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman appears to have won a partial victory in his effort to remain a central player in Sumner Redstone’s media empire. A Massachusetts judge has decided to take a case by Dauman and Viacom director George Abrams challenging Redstone’s ability to restructure his family trust and the board of his National Amusements, which owns 80% of the votes at Viacom and CBS. But the court did not agree with Dauman’s request to order an immediate examination of the 93-year-old.
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.
Lawyers for besieged Viacom boss Philippe Dauman have begun settlement talks with entrenched foes — Shari Redstone and her 93-year-old founder father, Sumner — to try to end the nonstop litigation over who’s running the company.
It’s strike two against Manuela Herzer. A Los Angeles judge on Monday denied a request by Sumner Redstone’s former girlfriend for a new trial that could reinstate her as the ailing mogul’s health-care proxy.
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.
Viacom and its CEO Philippe Dauman asked two courts today to order an immediate exam of controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone to determine whether the 93-year-old is competent to run his media empire. “The necessity of an immediate mental examination cannot be overstated,” Dauman’s lawyers told the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court.
Sumner Redstone moved on Thursday to boot Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman from the company’s board of directors, a harbinger of even more dramatic change. Here are 10 candidates for his successor.
Sumner Redstone-controlled National Amusements just dropped the big one: It says it has replaced five of Viacom’s directors, including CEO Philippe Dauman. The company has said that it would challenge such a decision at the Chancery Court in Delaware, where Viacom is incorporated.
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.
Sumner Redstone’s former companion, Manuela Herzer, is renewing her legal effort to have Redstone declared mentally incompetent, comparing the ailing 93-year-old billionaire media mogul to the bumbling “King Lear” in the William Shakespeare tragedy.
Viacom’s controlling shareholder said Monday it amended the company’s bylaws to require unanimous board approval for any full or partial sale of movie studio Paramount Pictures.
In court papers, Viacom chief executive Philippe Dauman and board member George Abrams have asked the judge to order an immediate medical evaluation of Sumner Redstone. They also ask for a quick trial, arguing that Redstone is suffering from “overwhelming physical ailments,” is unable to speak, stand, walk, eat, write or read, and has a progressive neurological disease characterized by dementia.
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.
The Viacom board might want to lawyer up. The next move by Sumner Redstone, the 92-year-old controlling shareholder of the media giant, could be to shake up the 10-member board.
The mental competency of the ailing 92-year-old media mogul Sumner Redstone is, once again, at the center of a bitter dispute. Viacom and its chief executive, Philippe Dauman, fired back with everything they had on Saturday, attempting to discredit a sudden move by Redstone to change succession plans for his $40 billion media empire.
Viacom’s board of directors voted Wednesday to stop paying chairman emeritus Sumner Redstone. The move follows recent legal actions that questioned the mental capacity of the 92-year-old media mogul, who received $2 million in compensation in 2015.
