Sumner Redstone Cut Former Companion From Will, Depriving Her of $70 Million
February 09 2016 - 3:38PM
Dow Jones News
By Keach Hagey
Sumner Redstone's lawyers say he cut his former companion
Manuela Herzer out of his will, depriving her of a $70 million
inheritance, on the same October day that he removed her as his
health-care agent, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Ms. Herzer has sued to be re-instated as the 92-year-old media
mogul's health-care agent, who would take over health-care decision
in the event he is deemed incapacitated, arguing that Mr. Redstone
lacked mental capacity when he made the change. Mr. Redstone's
lawyers have said the case is without merit and have moved to have
it dismissed.
While Mr. Redstone's lawyers have long charged that Ms. Herzer's
true motivations were monetary, the latest filing is the first time
that they have confirmed that Mr. Redstone did indeed make a
decision on that October day that cost Ms. Herzer a substantial
amount of money.
"This is a pre-death trust contest dressed up as health-care
litigation, " wrote Gabrielle Vidal, Mr. Redstone's lawyer at Loeb
& Loeb.
Although Mr. Redstone ceded his titles as executive chairman of
both Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. to the chief executives of both
companies last week, he remains the controlling shareholder of
both, with roughly 80% voting stake in each. That voting stake will
remain in his control until he dies or is deemed incapacitated--a
process that some experts believe Ms. Herzer's suit might
indirectly influence, should the judge ultimately side with
her.
Mr. Redstone had rewritten his will in September following the
end of his relationship with his 44-year-old girlfriend, Sydney
Holland. Under the September version of Mr. Redstone's will, Ms.
Herzer would have received $50 million and Mr. Redstone's Beverly
Park home, which is worth "roughly $20 million," according to the
documents filed Tuesday. Ms. Herzer was thrown out of the house the
following month, according to court documents.
Ms. Herzer's lawyer, Pierce O'Donnell, said in a statement: "The
only reason Manuela is fighting this fight is out of concern for
Sumner's well-being and a desire to honor the decisions he made
when he was competent to do so. The people who've been manipulating
Sumner--most notably his daughter Shari--are trying to insinuate
all sorts of base motives for Manuela's actions, but the fact is
that she is one of the only people around Sumner who has
consistently put his interests first, which is why they regard her
as such a thorn in their side."
Last week, Shari Redstone submitted an affidavit saying that she
and her family had been able to rebuild their relationship with Mr.
Redstone since Ms. Herzer's departure, since Ms. Herzer and Ms.
Holland had "effectively prevented" them from "meaningful access to
my father" while they were living in the mansion. Ms. Redstone also
said that Ms. Herzer had already received more than $70 million in
cash and assets from Mr. Redstone since 2009.
Write to Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 09, 2016 15:23 ET (20:23 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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