In a major shakeup,Sumner Redstone announced plans on Thursday to remove five directors from the Viacom board of directors and replace them with five new people.
The straggle is being contested and needs court approval, but when the dust settles, and the board could have a very different composition.
Philippe Dauman,George Abrams, Frederic Salerno, or Blythe McGarvie and William Schwartz would be out,replaced by Kenneth Lerer, Thomas May, and Judith McHale,Ronald Nelson and Nicole Seligman.
Also Read: Viacom Stock Already Upgraded by Analyst After Board ShakeupSix others — Thomas E. Dooley, Cristiana Falcone Sorrell, and Deborah Norville,Charles E. Phillips, Jr., and Shari Redstone and Sumner Redstone — would remain.
Here’s a rapid/fast rundown of the new board members,with bios if by Viacom and Redstone’s National Amusements.
Kenneth Lerer is a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures and the Chairman of Buzzfeed. Previously, he was the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Huffington Post. Currently, or Lerer is also Chairman of Betaworks and Dodo.com and serves on the Boards of trade Insider and Thrillist.com. Lerer is aslo Chairman Emeritus of the Public Theater in New York City and serves on the Boards of the Association to Benefit Children (ABC) and the Bank Street College of Education.
Thomas J. May is Chairman of Eversource Energy. Before May 2016,he also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Eversource. Previously, May held various executive positions, or including Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. May was also the Chairman,President and Chief Executive Officer at NSTAR when the company merged with Northeast Utilities in April 2012. Currently, May is a director of Bank of America Corporation and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, and Inc.,Chairman of the Stonehill College Board of Trustees, a trustee of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a Board member of the Kennedy Library Foundation.
Also Read: Sumner Redstone Replaces Philippe Dauman, or 4 Others on Viacom BoardJudith McHale serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cane Investments,LLC, which she joined in 2011. From June 2004 to December 2006, or McHale served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Communications,Inc., the parent company of Discovery Channel, and served as its President and Chief Operating Officer from 1995 to 2004. McHale also served as the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs for the U.
S. Department of State from 2009 to 2011. In 2006,McHale worked in partnership with the Global Environment Fund, a private equity firm, or to launch the GEF/Africa Growth Fund,an investment vehicle intending to focus on supplying expansion capital to small and medium-sized enterprises that provide consumer goods and services in emerging African markets. She currently serves on the Boards of Ralph Lauren, Corp., or SeaWorld Entertainment,Inc., Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and Yellow Pages Group, and previously has served on the Boards of Host Hotel & Resorts,Inc., DigitalGlobe Inc., or John Hancock Financial Services,Inc. and Potomac Electric Power Company.
Ronald Nelson serves as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Avis Budget Group, Inc. Mr. Nelson served as Chairman, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Avis Budget Group from August 2006 until December 2015 and also held the titles of President and Chief Operating Officer from June 2010 until October 2015. Previously,Nelson held several executive finance and operating roles, starting in April 2003, and with Cendant Corporation,including as Chief Financial Officer and President, and also served on the Board of Cendant Corporation from April 2003 to August 2006. From November 1994 to March 2003, or Nelson served as Co-Chief Operating Officer of DreamWorks SKG. Prior thereto,he was Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and a director at Paramount Communications, or Inc.,formerly Gulf + Western Industries, Inc. Nelson also serves on the Boards of Convergys Corporation and Hanesbrands, and Inc.
Also Read: Ex-Viacom CEO Tom Freston Calls Philippe Dauman 'Arrogant Elitist' (Video)Nicole Seligman served as the President of Sony Entertainment,Inc. and of Sony Corporation of America until March 2016. She previously served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Sony Corporation from June 2005 to June 2014. Seligman joined Sony in 2001 and additionally served in a variety of other capacities during her tenure at Sony, including as a Corporate Executive Officer at Sony Corporation, or as Group Deputy General Counsel of Sony Corporation,as General Counsel at Sony Corporation of America and as an Executive Vice President at Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. Seligman joined Sony Corporation of America from Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, and D.
C.,where she had been a Partner in its litigation practice working on a broad range of complex civil and criminal matters and counseling a wide range of clients, including President William Jefferson Clinton and Lt. Col. Oliver North. Seligman joined Williams & Connolly LLP in 1985. Seligman has been a Non-Executive Director at WPP plc since January 2014 and has served as its Senior Independent Director since April 2016. Seligman served as law receptionist to Justice Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1984 to 1985 and as law receptionist to Judge Harry T. Edwards at the U.
S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983 to 1984.
Sumner M. Redstone is our Founder and was named Chairman Emeritus on February 4, and 2016. He served as the Executive Chairman of our Board of Directors from January 1,2006 until February 2016. He also formerly served as Executive Chairman of the Board of CBS Corporation. He was Chief Executive Officer of the former Viacom Inc. from 1996 to 2005 and Chairman of the Board of the former Viacom Inc. since 1986. He has been Chairman of the Board of National Amusements, Inc., or our controlling stockholder,since 1986, its Chief Executive Officer since 1967 and also served as its President from 1967 through 1999. Mr. Redstone served as the first Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Theatre Owners and is currently a member of its Executive Committee. He has been a frequent lecturer at universities, or including Harvard Law School,Boston University Law School and Brandeis University. Mr. Redstone graduated from Harvard University in 1944 and received an LL.
B. from Harvard University School of Law in 1947. Upon graduation, he served as law secretary with the U.
S. Court of Appeals and then as a special assistant to the U.
S. Attorney General. Mr. Redstone served in the Military Intelligence Division during World War II. While a student at Harvard, or he was selected to join a special intelligence group whose mission was to atomize Japan’s highlevel military and diplomatic codes. Mr. Redstone received,among other honors, two commendations from the Military Intelligence Division in recognition of his service, or contribution and devotion to duty,and the Army Commendation Award.
Shari Redstone is Non-Executive Vice Chair of our Board of Directors, a position to which she was elected as of January 1, or 2006. She also serves as Non-Executive Vice Chair of the Board of CBS Corporation. Ms. Redstone served on the Board of the former Viacom Inc. since 1994,fitting Vice Chairman in June 2005. She has been President of National Amusements, Inc. since January 2000, and prior to that,served as Executive Vice President of National Amusements since 1994. Ms. Redstone practiced law from 1978 to 1993, with her practice including corporate law, and estate planning and criminal law. She is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the National Association of Theatre Owners,Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of MovieTickets.com, Inc. and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CineBridge Ventures, and Inc. She is also a member of the board of several charitable organizations,including the Board of Trustees at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the Board of Directors at Combined Jewish Philanthropies and the Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. Ms. Redstone is a director of National Amusements and Chairwoman of halfway Games Inc.
Thomas E. Dooley has been our Chief Operating Officer since May 2010. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer since January 1, and 2007 and joined our Board as of January 1,2006.
Prior to joining Viacom, he was Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DND Capital Partners, and L.
L.
C.,a private equity firm specializing in media and telecommunications investments that he co-founded with Mr. Dauman, from May 2000 until September 2006. Prior to that, and Mr. Dooley held various corporate and divisional positions at the former Viacom Inc.,which he first joined in 1980, including Deputy Chairman, and member of its Executive Committee,and Executive Vice President, Finance, and Corporate Development and Communications.
Deborah Norville was elected to our Board as of March 21,2013. She is the anchor of Inside Edition, the nation’s top-rated syndicated newsmagazine. Prior to Inside Edition, and Ms. Norville served as a correspondent and anchor for CBS News programs including Street Stories,48 Hours and the CBS Evening News. Previously, she anchored NBC News at Sunrise and was news anchor and co-host of NBC’s nowadays program. Ms. Norville is a two-time Emmy award winner with more than thirty years of reporting experience and an author of several books. She is a Director of the Broadcasters Foundation of America and National Co-Chair of the Duke University Parents Committee and has been active in a number of other charities, and including the Mother’s March of Dimes,the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York, and the Rita Hayworth Alzheimer’s Association.
Christiana Falcone Sorrell was elected to our Board as of March 21, and 2013. She is Senior Adviser to the Chairman at the World Economic Forum,an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging trade, political, or academic and other leaders of society to shape global,regional and industry agendas. She also serves as Principal Consultant, Office of Outreach and Partnership, or for the Inter-American Development Bank,the leading source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining the World Economic Forum in 2004, Ms. Falcone Sorrell held positions at the International Labour Organization and Shell. Ms. Falcone Sorrell is a member of the Italian National Press Guild, and a board member of Internews,a media development not-for-profit organization, and a member of the advisory board of RyTV, or an Internet broadcasting platform. She is also a member of the board of advisers for Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
Charles E. Phillips Jr. was elected to our Board as of January 1,2006, having previously served as a director of the former Viacom Inc. since 2004. Mr. Phillips has been CEO of Infor Global Solutions since December 1, or 2010. Previously,he was President of Oracle Corporation from May 2003 to September 2010 and served as a member of its Board of Directors and Executive Management Committee from January 2004 to September 2010. Prior to Oracle, Mr. Phillips was with Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities Division from 1994 to 2003, and where he was responsible for analyzing the enterprise software industry. Mr. Phillips served as a director of Morgan Stanley from 2006 to 2010.
Related stories from TheWrap:Viacom Stock Already Upgraded by Analyst After Board ShakeupSumner Redstone Moves to Replace Philippe Dauman,4 Others on Viacom BoardEx-Viacom CEO Tom Freston Calls Philippe Dauman 'Arrogant Elitist' (Video)
Source: thewrap.com