Power List
Assuming her grip holds, Redstone will leapfrog those executives, playing a major role in M&A decisions, board membership and CEO-level hiring at the two New York-based companies with a combined market value of $57 billion.
It would take a mutiny by the trustees to derail Redstone. In addition to her, her son and Dauman, those overseeing the trust include four lawyers with longstanding ties to the family, with a responsibility to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries -- Sumner’s five grandchildren.
As CEOs, Moonves and Dauman will answer to corporate directors that could be removed by the trust.
Redstone is conscious of her family’s history. At National Amusements, she supervised the opening of Legacy Place, a $200 million shopping center in Dedham, Massachusetts, built where her grandfather Michael “Mickey” Redstone opened one of his first drive-in theaters. Her son-in-law, Jason Ostheimer, is a partner with her in Advancit.
Family History
“She was always immensely proud of CBS and Viacom and proud of her father and grandfather, and very much into the family reputation,” said Paul Heth, who was a partner of Shari Redstone’s in theater ventures. “She sees Viacom and CBS as a legacy of her family, and it needs to be looked after in the best of ways.”
Redstone and Heth are credited with pioneering higher-end food and seating in cinemas, with the opening of the Bridge cinema in Los Angeles in 2001.
The pair also became partners in a Russian movie-theater venture, sold in 2011 for about $170 million, according to a local newspaper. Redstone was the only U.S. theater executive willing to consider joining him in Russia, Heth said, adding they made a substantial profit.
He recalled her standing up to a Russian executive who wanted her to pay a high rent in his mall.