The messy fight between Sumner Redstone and Philippe Dauman appears to be over as a pretrial settlement agreement has been reached.
Earlier this year 93-year-old Sumner Redstone defeated a bid by an ex-girlfriend to have him declared mentally incompetent. That victory, however, did not stop Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman from initiating another legal challenge to have Redstone declared incompetent.
Dauman’s case rattled investors as it left the future of Redstone’s media empire in doubt. They can rest easier now as Redstone has won again.
The Los Angeles Times reports the story in “The Redstones' war with Viacom ends: Philippe Dauman resigns, Tom Dooley elected new CEO.”
It appears Dauman and the Viacom board members backing him realized they did not have the resources to successfully wage a protracted battle against Redstone. Thus, for the sake of the company, they
The messy fight between Sumner Redstone and Philippe Dauman appears to be over as a pretrial settlement agreement has been reached.
Earlier this year 93-year-old Sumner Redstone defeated a bid by an ex-girlfriend to have him declared mentally incompetent. That victory, however, did not stop Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman from initiating another legal challenge to have Redstone declared incompetent.
Dauman’s case rattled investors as it left the future of Redstone’s media empire in doubt. They can rest easier now as Redstone has won again.
The Los Angeles Times reports the story in “The Redstones' war with Viacom ends: Philippe Dauman resigns, Tom Dooley elected new CEO.”
It appears Dauman and the Viacom board members backing him realized they did not have the resources to successfully wage a protracted battle against Redstone. Thus, for the sake of the company, they decided to give up the fight.
Under the terms of the agreement, Dauman will resign as Viacom’s CEO and receive a $72 million golden parachute negotiated in his last contrast with the company. Dauman will also be allowed to argue to the board that Viacom should sell off a large part of its stake in Paramount Pictures, a move which Redstone opposes.
The challenges to Redstone’s competency began when his formerly estranged daughter came back into his life and was given a prominent role in his affairs and the family trust. The daughter was accused of using undue influence over Redstone to get him to change his plans.
It is not known whether there will be any more challenges from others who were pushed aside by the daughter’s reemergence.
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Reference: Los Angeles Times (Aug. 20, 2016) “The Redstones' war with Viacom ends: Philippe Dauman resigns, Tom Dooley elected new CEO.”
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