Page 60 - Forbes - Asia (December 2019 - January 2020)

Central became iconic for offerings like nurse confided he had witnessed emo-
South Park and The Daily Show. tional and financial abuse of the frail
But Dauman lost his touch in 2014, billionaire. While the two women de-
when Viacom’s stock started to decline, nied the allegations, they were removed
in lockstep with television ratings and from the home in 2015, and after a legal
Paramount Filmed Entertainment rev- battle that revealed embarrassing details
enue fell by $557 million—a trend that of Sumner’s sexual and other appetites,
would accelerate the following year. Shari took charge of his care and once
Redstone, who pulled away from Na- again began visiting her father.
tional Amusements, and in 2011 started “Sadly, people came into his life who
a venture firm with her son-in-law, was had a different agenda, and their agenda
growing increasingly concerned. Ex- was to separate us. And in some ways
ecutives past and present were lament- they did a good job,” Redstone says. “It
ing the slow erosion of a culture built never meant we stopped loving each
around her father’s oft-stated mantra, other or caring about each other, but it
“Content is king.” became really hard.”
“The culture and the values that rep- Philippe Dauman; Once they were reconciled, she shared
He was like another
resented everything that Viacom was son to Sumner her concerns about Viacom with her fa-
disappeared under Philippe,” she says. Redstone—and was ther. She talked about his lost legacy, the
pushed out as CEO
“The belief in content, that it matters, flight of talent, including marquee stars
in 2016.
disappeared under Philippe.” Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, and the

DAUMAN WAS NAMED CHIEF EXECUTIVE WHEN CABLE
WAS AT I TS P E AK , BUT HE LOST HIS TO U CH IN 2014,
WHEN VIACOM’S STOCK STARTED TO DECLINE AND

TE LE VI SIO N RAT I NGS D ETERIO RATED.

Dauman declined comment. “We have the best opportunity of
Viacom spent $15 billion on buy- any media company in the world to be
backs in an attempt to prop up the stock, number one going forward,” she recalls
while rivals were acquiring properties saying to the board at the time. “We
that added immense long-term value to own these people. Shame on us if we
their libraries, such as Disney’s purchas- lose them.”
es of Marvel Entertainment and Lucas. But while she found the board indif-
Redstone, who sat on the board, was ferent to her concerns, she says much of Les Moonves;
The CBS chief
constrained without her father’s support. the company was rallying behind her. invigorated a
“Basically, it was really a lot about fi- “People were rooting for me—not for network and was
brought down by
nancial engineering and stock buybacks me, but because they wanted Viacom #MeToo allegations.
and not believing in the people who cre- back,” she says.
ated content, not supporting the people Ailing and struggling with physical
creating content, not creating a culture mobility but still in control, her father loss of viewers to digital platforms. She
of creating content,” Redstone says. “So, proved to be her biggest challenge. For lamented the damaged culture.
I was up against that, and I tried to fight a time, Shari and her family wouldn’t “He asked me a question, and the
that battle for years to no avail.” visit the Beverly Hills mansion that question caused me to say, ‘Look, Dad,
She watched helplessly as the lega- Sumner shared with two women, then- let me tell you what happened at Vi- SYLVAIN GABOURY/PMC/NEWSCOM, DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG
cy Sumner built faded away. MTV and girlfriend Sydney Holland and a former acom.’ And I went through all of the
Nickelodeon were losing relevance as companion, Manuela Herzer, and com- businesses of Viacom, the positions
young audiences turned their gaze on- munication was limited. I had taken on the board, which had
line. Paramount Pictures, the studio She took a more active role in her fa- not necessarily been well received. So
of the Godfather movies was releasing ther’s life after he went through a se- he was only hearing Philippe’s view
duds like Hot Tub Time Machine 2 and ries of hospitalizations in the summer of what was going on at the compa-
a remake of Ben-Hur. of 2014, claiming in a court filing that a ny, what was going on at the board and

58 | FORBES ASIA DECEMBER 2019 / JANUARY 2020