With this move Sumner Redstone’s daughter Shari Redstone will have more sway over the remaining board members.
As per two sources who are familiar with the matter at hand, Sumner Redstone, media mogul, has removed Philippe Dauman, Viacom’s CEO and George Abrams, a Viacom board member from the 7 man trust that will decide the fate of CBS and Viacom in the event of his death or incapacitation.
Incidentally, Redstone who will turn 93 next week. This move, essentially bestows upon Shari Redstone, Sumner’s daughter who is also a member of the Trust and Vice Chair of Viacom and CBS, a certain control to charter her father’s $40 billion media empire.
As per a source, Abrams and Dauman have also been removed from the board of National Amusements Inc., a privately held movie company which has a 80% voting rights in Viacom and CBS.
However, a spokesman for Dauman have called these steps which removed him from both boards as “illegal and invalid”.
“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,” said Dauman’s spokesman.
He went on to add, “Sumner Redstone would never have summarily dismissed Philippe Dauman and George Abrams, his trusted friends and advisors for decades.”
Meanwhile Abrams did not immediately respond to requests for comments, while a spokeswoman for Shari Redstone also had no immediate comment to make on this development.
Earlier in February, Shari Redstone had voted against Dauman elevation as executive chairman in Viacom’s board. Dauman and Sumner have worked together for more than thirty years. Redstone even called Dauman “a great friend.”
Earlier this month, Redstone’s former girlfriend had argued that he was not mentally competent to remove her from his advanced healthcare directive. When questioned by the ex-girlfriend’s attorney, as per transcripts of the testimony, Redstone struggled to speak. A judge later dismissed the lawsuit. Nonetheless, the case shed light on Redstone’s mental health.
Now with the removal of Dauman and Abrams, Shari Redstone will have the support of the majority in the trust’s board. In the event of Sumner Redstone’s death, the trust will be in a position to determine all matters that need shareholder’s vote at both companies, including potential mergers and acquisitions.
Both sources have preferred the cover of anonymity since they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.
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