Board Shakeup: Sumner Redstone Ousts Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, Four Others

Media mogul Sumner Redstone, 93,  has removed five members of Viacom Inc.’s governing board, including CEO Philippe Dauman. Redstone controls 80 percent of the voting shares for Viacom and former corporate sibling CBS Corp. through his company National Amusements Inc.

The new board members would include Buzzfeed Chairman Kenneth Lerer and former Sony Entertainment Inc. President Nicole Seligman, according to the Redstone family vehicle, National Amusements Inc., which holds controlling shares of Viacom.

“The newly elected directors have deep experience in corporate governance of public companies and will provide valuable expertise to Viacom in the areas of media, entertainment and technology,” National Amusements said in a statement.

 Viacom shares were up from $2.85 to  $3.16, about 7.5 percent, on the news.
The sharp uptick appeared to reflect Wall Street’s optimism that the boardroom civil war is coming to an end at Viacom, a media empire that includes Paramount Pictures and cable channels Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV. For weeks, Dauman has been at odds with the Redstones over his plan to sell a 49% stake in struggling Paramount Pictures to outside investors.