Viacom Chairman Redstone Blasts Daughter Shari in Letter
By: Greg Levine | Features Editor
The conflict between Sumner Redstone, chairman of Viacom and CBS, and daughter Shari Redstone, vice chairman of the two media companies, grew more bitter on Friday: The paterfamilias chairman publicized his displeasure with Shari's ostensible ambition to succeed him, in a harshly-worded letter to Forbes.
The media mogul declared that Shari's ambition was contrary to "the cardinal rule" of ethical corporate governance.
Click to read the full text of Sumner Redstone's letter.
The elder Redstone was once the chief executive of an older incarnation of Viacom, which included the CBS properties, until the conglomerate was split into two firms.
In a business-history parallel, the old Viacom saw Les Moonves and Tom Freston, the co-presidents of the corporation, allegedly vying for Sumner Redstone's blessing as his successor. That potential fraternal strife was defused when Redstone enacted his spinoff plan, leaving Moonves the CEO of CBS and Freston the chief at Viacom.
