Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
The past few years of Shari Redstone’s life sound like something taken directly from a soap opera after her aging father, Sumner Redstone, fell ill and required a full-time nurse to take care of him.
You probably know Sumner Redstone as the media mogul who ran the National Amusements theater chain (which owns CBS) for more than half a century. When he got sick, Shari kicked his long-time girlfriend out of his mansion, moved in herself, and took control of her father’s media company. Sumner’s girlfriend is suing Shari for having kicked her out and allegedly turned Sumner against her.
But now Shari Redstone has a bigger problem on her hands. Leslie Moonves, the CBS chief executive, has led a sort of a coup against her with other CBS directors. Moonves and the board of directors are suing Redstone for allegedly acting in her own best interests, even when it allegedly went in direct opposition to the best interests of the company’s shareholders. As a result, they are seeking to dilute Redstone’s voting rights as the majority shareholder of CBS and to strip her of much of her control over the media company.
Since Redstone has the power to fire anyone from the board of directors, why would they do all this at the risk of their own jobs? Continue reading ›