Sumner Redstone’s days as head of Viacom/CBS may be numbered, according to a report in the New York Post.
The 91 year old media titan has been embattled since he was perceived to be weak or ill during a conference call earnings report back on November 13th. Since then the sharks have been circling as investors around the world have been salivating at the thought of a take over of the $60 billion company.
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Companies looking to acquire a stake in Viacom come from every corner of the business world. Liberty Media, AT&T, Verizon, 21st Century Fox, Disney, Time Warner and Asia’s SoftBank and Alibaba are among the rumored suitors.
“The buzzards are buzzing about the opportunity to look at CBS, the trust and Viacom, ” one top media executive told the Post. “They’re talking to every company — for bankers this is the Holy Grail.”
But Redstone is still the controlling shareholder in both CBS and Viacom and so he will need to cooperate in any takeover bid. While he has no clear successor, Redstone’s daughter Shari Redstone is the favorite amongst analysts to replace him someday.
Sumner Redstone was born to a Jewish family in Boston, Massachusetts, to Belle (née Ostrovsky) and Michael Rothstein.
