The LA Times has an inteview with Sumner Redstone, Chief Executive of the soon-to-be Viacom and CBS Inc. What he says in his interview is astounding:
Q: How will Viacom change without you as CEO?
A: My role really won’t change at all. I still control both companies. Les and Tom do not make a move without calling me and discussing it. They work for me. The management style of Viacom, in terms of its culture, attitude and personality, reflects my own views. […]
Q: Some say that your daughter Shari threw her support behind splitting the company only after she made you promise to make her vice chairwoman.
A: Absolutely, positively not. You know what I would have said? “I can’t do it, you’re not going to be vice chairman.” No one’s going to threaten me. I’ve spent my whole life building this company. Shari would never do that. Never.
Q: Is Shari’s becoming vice chairwoman a sign you’ll retire?
A: Look, sooner or later, no matter how good I look and how good my vital signs are, I’m gonna die and control of the company is likely to pass to Shari. I hope nobody inherits my power for another 20 years. I eat the right stuff. I swim every day.
Q: Naked, I hear.
A: [Laughter] Paula has helped me enjoy life a little more. She is a wonderful wife. I am more determined to live than ever before. But my hand will reach up from the grave….
Remember, Mr. Redstone is currently 82; his wife Paula is 42, and his daughter Shari, the new “Non-Executive Vice President”, is 51. In showing this to ellipticcurve, we thought this would be a great horror movie: The Hand of Sumner Redstone Returns. I can just see it now: it will be produced by Paramount, and shown on MTV or perhaps Shotime Extreme.
