Jul 20, 2007 12:50 PM
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Hollywood, 2:13 PM
Tue Feb 9
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Having dispatched nearly all of the greedy blood relations looking to get their filthy little hands on the staggering fortune he's accumulated over centuries of hard work, immortal Viacom pharaoh Sumner Redstone may now find himself locked in battle with his most formidable foe to date. Failing to show adequate appreciation for the precious gift of life he bestowed upon her decades ago, daughter Shari Redstone is reportedly resisting her father's efforts to oust her from the corporate empire she hoped to one day inherit. The LAT reports on the rumored Viacom succession fight:
Unlike the other disputes, however, the father-daughter feud clouds the succession picture. For years, it was practically a given that Shari Redstone would run the company after her father's death.Instead, fractures started showing.
"She'd be in good stead sometimes and sometimes not," a person familiar with the situation said. "That was the roller coaster she was riding."
Through lawyers, father and daughter have been involved for months in negotiations that could lead to Shari Redstone giving up her board seats.Still, a spokeswoman for Shari indicated Thursday that she would resist such an effort. [...]
Asked whether he opposed naming his daughter to succeed him as chairman, he said: "I have always believed and consistently stated that the rules of good governance require that my successor — if I ever die — should be selected by the boards of the two public companies, Viacom and CBS."
Two people familiar with his views said the dispute was really about control of the company after he dies and his daughter's desire to take his place.
Another source suggested that Shari Redstone's concerns were less for her own career than for protecting her children's inheritance. Shari declined to comment.
Since Sumner has made a point of playing coy about his immortality in the past, preferring to perpetuate the lie that he will merely live on another 20 or 50 years, his recognition that he may never die might be taken as a sign that he's feeling genuinely threatened by his daughter's presence in the company. Now, with his feelings of vulnerability exposed, is the time for Shari to attack—she must immediately travel to the secret Tibetan temple where her father was first granted the gift of eternal life and persuade the millennia-old monks there to give her the only thing that can reverse their spell: an ornately decorated, enchanted throw pillow that she must use to snuff out the wizened executive as he naps through a board meeting, finally ending their familial dispute over who will control Viacom's future.
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