National Amusements Seeks Potential Board Members for Viacom
June 10 2016 - 12:40AM
Dow Jones News
A shakeup of Viacom Inc.'s board is in the works.
National Amusements Inc., the holding company through which
media titan Sumner Redstone controls Viacom, has started the
process of recruiting potential board members for the entertainment
giant, people familiar with the matter said.
The move comes just a few weeks after Mr. Redstone last month
ousted Viacom Chairman and Chief Executive Philippe Dauman and
board member George Abrams from the board of National Amusements
and the trust that will oversee the mogul's holdings when he dies
or is declared incapacitated. Their exit has been seen as a
precursor to shaking up the Viacom board and the possible removal
of Mr. Dauman from the company.
Messrs. Dauman and Abrams have filed suit to try to block their
dismissal from the trust and Viacom's independent board members
indicated last week that they are preparing for a legal fight to
keep their seats. The executives and the board members say the
93-year-old Mr. Redstone doesn't have the mental capacity to act on
his own free will.
A spokesman for Mr. Redstone declined to comment Thursday on
possible changes to the Viacom board. Previously, the spokesman
said Mr. Redstone will "make every decision with the same
deliberation and consideration with which he removed Philippe
Dauman and George Abrams as trustees, based on the best interests
of shareholders." Mr. Redstone's doctor last week said he has
"legal mental capacity" to make the decisions he has made.
Among the names under consideration by National Amusements for
the Viacom board are Kenneth Lerer, Nicole Seligman and Judith
McHale, according to people close to the process.
All three are well known in media circles. Mr. Lerer is a former
Time Warner executive, who also is co-founder of the Huffington
Post and is chairman of BuzzFeed. Ms. Seligman is a former
president of Sony Entertainment who acted as one of Bill Clinton's
lawyers during his impeachment hearings. Ms. McHale was for many
years a top executive at Discovery Communications Corp., the cable
programming giant. She also served in the Obama administration as
Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public
Affairs.
Talks between National Amusements and the candidates are
preliminary, one person involved in the matter said. Leading the
effort is Shari Redstone, the daughter of Mr. Redstone and a
trustee as well a National Amusements board member and a vice
chairman of Viacom and CBS Corp., the other media company Mr.
Redstone controls.
According to one candidate, Ms. Redstone made an approach a few
weeks ago. A spokeswoman for Ms. Redstone declined to comment. A
Viacom spokesman declined to comment. News of the possible board
replacements was first reported by the New York Times.
That National Amusements is actively looking to replace the
Viacom board will likely add even more fuel to an already large
fire. Mr. Dauman has accused Ms. Redstone in his lawsuit of
manipulating her father into making these changes. Ms. Redstone has
denied those charges.
Viacom's assets include cable channels MTV, Nickelodeon and
Comedy Central as well as the Paramount Pictures movie studio. The
company has been struggling in recent years and its stock has
fallen significantly during Mr. Dauman's tenure.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 10, 2016 00:25 ET (04:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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