Will Sumner Redstone pay his daughter $1.6 billion to make her go away?

Peter Cohan — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 07:30:00 EST

Filed under: Viacom (VIA), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS), Rich in America

Sumner Redstone, Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) and CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS),Chairman, has now admitted what he and his daughter, Shari, previously denied -- she will leave Viacom and CBS if Sumner can come up with the money. The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reports that Shari will sell her 20% stake in the family holding company, National Amusements, for $1.6 billion.

Sumner's disputes suggest that being rich does not necessarily mean being happy. Unless by happy you mean getting into fights with your family and close business associates and then taking those battles into the legal system.

National Amusements owns 100 movie theaters around the world and the Redstone family stakes in Viacom and CBS. And Shari, in a statement issued last night, claimed that National Amusements had been "publicly" valued at $8 billion.

Meanwhile, in a letter posted on the Forbes web site, Sumner suggests that he will buy out Shari at a price that is "acceptable." But he leaves his kindest cut for the last sentence -- pointing out that he gave his children their stakes in National Amusements and it is he "with little or no help on their part" who built "these great media companies."

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Will Sumner Redstone pay his daughter $1.6 billion to make her go away? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 21 Jul 2007 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Redstone family fueding; Shari to quit Viacom board

Jonathan Berr — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:40:00 EST

Filed under: Deals, From the Boards, Management, Insiders, Industry, Competitive Strategy, Employees, Viacom (VIA), New York Times'A' (NYT), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), News Corp'B' (NWS), Dow Jones and Co (DJ)

Shari Redstone, has clashed with her cantankerous father Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) Chairman Sumner Redstone over the future of the family's National Amusements theater chain and plans to leave the media company's board, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sumner Redstone wants to cash out of the theater business and focus on casinos while Shari Redstone is "confident" in the future of the business, the paper said. But for VIacom, there is more at stake than just family pride. The 84-year-old Redstone has no designated successor which raises questions about the future of Viacom because to put it bluntly the tycoon isn't going to live forever.

Shari and Sumner Redstone are far from the only family fued at large media companies. In fact, Redstone has also had a falling out with his son Brent who later filed suit and got bought out of the family business, something which his sister also wants, according to the Journal.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) CEO Rupert Murdoch has had a rocky relationship with his children. Of course, the Bancroft family that controls Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) has been squabbling about Murdoch's efforts to buy the publisher of the Journal. Then there's the Dolans of Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) whose family fights are always entertaining.

There are exceptions. The Washington Post Co.'s (NYSE: WPO) Grahams seem to be a content lot and with Warren Buffett helping run their family business who can blame them. The Sulzberger clan of the New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) also seem to keep their dirty laundry private. Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Chief Executive Brian Roberts and his father Ralph, who built the cable empire, seem to get along just fine as well.

But unless Dr. Phil can bring father and daughter together, the Viacom fight won't be solved any time soon. That's reason enough to avoid the stock.

Redstone family fueding; Shari to quit Viacom board originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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