|
|
|
in chilly embrace
Feuding Viacom duo: Okay, we'll try to get along
The two big men of Viacom, Mel Karmazin, its chief operating officer and boss of CBS, and Sumner Redstone, its chairman, have been scrapping in public like two kids, and yesterday Viacom's board told them to put an end to their bickering.
The board's action appears a defeat for Redstone, who was reported to be working to have Karmazin ousted from his position, following repeated clashes over how to run what has grown to become the world's second-largest entertainment conglomerate.
Removing Karmazin would have taken at least 14 of Viacom's 18 board members, and Redstone clearly did not have the votes.
Instead, the board, convening with the two executives after their regularly scheduled meeting, warned them that their public feuding was damaging the company's good standing, especially in the investment community.
Viacom's stock has slid 11 percent this year, in part because of the bickering between the two.
Among investors, Karmazin is generally held in high regard, both as the top executive of CBS who led the merger with Viacom in 1999, and as the logical person to manage the conglomerate under the bristly Redstone.
Karmazin's contract is good for another year and several months, ending in May 2003, and it gives Karmazin full power to run the company.
But whether yesterday's board action will put a permanent damper on the Redstone-Karmazin squabbles is far from certain.
Redstone at 78 is 20 years older than Karmazin but is giving no indication of wanting to retire.
Quite the contrary, by all accounts his ambition is to regain the full control he had of Viacom before the CBS merger, and pushing out Karmazin was seen as the first step.
In the years in which he built up Viacom, Redstone, who still controls 68 percent of the stock, has been obsessive about maintaining control.
But in Karmazin, Redstone has met his match. Karmazin has run the company, making some key decisions without consulting with Redstone and openly disagreeing with Redstone on other matters.
One school of thought had Redstone hoping that Karmazin would quit under all the pressure.
January 31, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
Printer-Friendly
Version | Send
to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact
Us
