Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on May 20, 2016 20:28:48 GMT -6
variety.com/2016/biz/news/sumner-redstone-viacom-ceo-philippe-dauman-1201780079/
Sumner Redstone Ousts Viacom CEO From Trust That Will Control Viacom and CBS
Sumner Redstone appears to have moved out two long-time allies as trustees of the group that will determine who controls his corporate empire when he is gone — a move viewed as benefiting his daughter, Shari, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Redstone reportedly sent notices to Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman and to Viacom director George Abrams, informing both that they would no longer serve on the panel that will determine what becomes of the magnate’s shares of National Amusements, the company that holds a controlling interest in both Viacom and CBS, according to the source, who declined to be named.
The news, first reported by Fortune, is likely to help Shari Redstone, an attorney and businesswoman who holds a 20% interest in National Amusements and has served on the boards of both of her father’s companies. The younger Redstone has been feuding with Dauman, with the two reportedly holding divergent views on how Sumner Redstone’s empire should be handled once he is gone.
The businessman, nearing his 93rd birthday, just weathered a trial over his mental competency. Judge David J. Cowan ruled that he would allow the billionaire in charge of his own affairs and found that he clearly wanted long-time companion Manuela Herzer out of his life, with Shari Redstone in charge of overseeing his health care decisions, should he later be deemed incapable of making his own decisions.
A spokesman for Dauman issued a statement Friday evening, challenging the action to oust the Viacom CEO from the National Amusements post.
“These steps are invalid and illegal,” the spokesman said in a statement. “They are a shameful effort by Shari Redstone to seize control by unlawfully using her ailing father Sumner Redstone’s name and signature. As she knows, and as court proceedings and other facts have demonstrated, Sumner Redstone now lacks the capacity to have taken these steps. Sumner Redstone would never have summarily dismissed Philippe Dauman and George Abrams, his trusted friends and advisors for decades.”
Judge Cowan did not make a ruling on Redstone’s mental capacity, though doubts about it were raised following a deposition in which the magnate did not respond to some basic questions, including about a change in his family name, made earlier in his life.
Fortune described the ouster of the two long-time Redstone confidantes from the panel overseeing his holdings “a big victory” for Shari Redstone. Representatives for Sumner Redstone and Shari Redstone could not be immediately reached.