Posted on 06/02/2004 8:00:08 AM PDT by Dr. Scarpetta
Mel jumped before he was pushed.
In recent weeks, Viacom President Mel Karmazin realized he was being cut out of the company's succession plans — and decided to vacate his post rather than wait for the board of directors to formalize a succession plan, according to sources.
"Sumner never intended for Mel to be his successor," said one source close to the company.
Relations between Viacom chief Sumner Redstone and his former top deputy are so frigid that Karmazin never told his boss directly about his decision to resign as president of the media giant, which is home to CBS, MTV, Paramount and Infinity Broadcasting.
Last week, Karmazin sent word to Redstone through an intermediary that he had decided to leave his post, and Redstone never sought to keep him at the company, Redstone said yesterday in a conference call.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
In addition, he'll hold on to all his stock options. He holds nearly 11 million shares, including options worth close to $400 million based on current stock prices.
Mel Karmazin made a lot of money at Viacom peddling trash to our kids over the airways. He's been a big Stern supporter. I noticed Imus has been praising the guy.
naming CBS chief Les Moonves and MTV honcho Tom Freston as co-chief operating officers.
I agree. I believe that Viacom also owns BET, which is mostly sex videos.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.