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New Executive Chairman at MTV owner

By | Published on Friday 5 February 2016

Viacom

MTV owner Viacom has a new Executive Chairman in the form of Philippe Dauman, who adds the title to his existing list of President and CEO of the media firm.

A long-time Viacom exec, Dauman takes over from Sumner Redstone, the company’s long-time chief and majority shareholder. There has been much speculation about Redstone’s health of late, and he also stood down this week from the Chairman role at his other media business, CBS Corp. He will remain as Chairman Emeritus of both companies.

The news that Dauman would simply extend his remit and replace Redstone at the top of Viacom was not especially well received by all of the company’s investors, many of whom had been pushing for someone more independent to occupy the Chairman’s seat. And Redstone’s daughter Shari, who turned down the Executive Chairman post herself, remaining as Vice-Chair instead, was also reportedly of the opinion that the role should not go to someone “intertwined in Redstone family matters”. That would include Dauman, because he sits on the board of her father’s trust.

However, William Schwartz, who leads the governance and nominating committee of Viacom’s board, said: “Philippe has been instrumental with Sumner in every aspect of Viacom’s success for nearly 30 years and most recently as CEO has taken on the tough task of navigating our future in a time of unprecedented innovation and disruption. He has laid out a strategic long-term vision for the company that we fully endorse. We have complete confidence that his dedication to Viacom, his global experience and his determination to further our culture of creativity and innovation will continue to serve the interests of all shareholders and build long-term value”.



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