Sumner Redstone, 93-year-old chairman emeritus of Viacom, is stepping down from the media giant’s board, the company said Friday.
Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Viacom and CBS, will leave the board in February following the company’s annual meeting, but he will continue to participate in meetings in a nonvoting role, according to a Viacom filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Last February, the CBS board announced his resignation as executive chairman and appointed CEO Les Moonves as his successor. A day later, Viacom named Redstone chairman emeritus and CEO Philippe Dauman as his successor as executive chairman.
After a fallout with Redstone and his daughter, Shari, Dauman agreed in August to leave Viacom.
Redstone assumed his role as executive chairman of CBS and Viacom after the separation of the latter in 2006. Prior to that, Redstone served as chairman of the board of Viacom since June 1987.
Redstone’s privately owned National Amusements is the largest shareholder in Viacom and CBS.
The news comes after the company the Redstone’s put a stop to the Viacom-CBS merger. In a letter to both companies boards, Redstone and his daughter, Shari, said the companies should continue on independent paths.
The filing also came two days after Redstone’s 45-year-old ex-girlfriend, Sydney Holland, said in court papers that he had given out millions of dollars to multiple women who had given him sexual favors.
Redstone’s legal team called the allegations “a work of fiction punctuated by not-so-subtle threats of extortion and an overwhelming stench of greed.”
Viacom is set to have the meeting on Feb. 6 at its headquarters in New York.
