On Wednesday, CBS announced that Moonves, 66, had succeeded Redstone as CBS chairman. Redstone is now chairman emeritus, while his daughter Shari Redstone, 61, remains vice chairman. She said in a statement that no trustee of the family trust -- including herself and Dauman, also 61 -- should get the Viacom chairman’s job. The trust will inherit the elder Redstone’s shares in CBS and Viacom when he dies.
Succession questions dogged both companies as Redstone aged, sounding feeble on conference calls with investors before he stopped appearing on them at all. Questions about his mental condition arose last year, when he was sued by a former girlfriend, Manuela Herzer. She claimed he was incompetent when he kicked her out of his house and put Dauman in charge of making health-care decisions if he could no longer make them on his own.
The results of Redstone’s examination by a geriatric psychiatrist retained by Herzer haven’t been made public, and CBS didn’t mention it in announcing Redstone’s resignation.