Read more about Sumner Redstone, who made Viacom a global empire, passes away at 97 on Business Standard. Redstone, as executive chairman of both Viacom and CBS, had controlled the two companies through privately held National Amusements
and CBS Chairman Emeritus Sumner Redstone, the media mogul who took his father’s movie theater chain and built it into an empire that included Paramount Pictures, CBS and MTV, has died at 97, ViacomCBS and National Amusements said on Wednesday. Redstone, as executive chairman of both and CBS, had controlled the two companies through privately held National Amusements. But in his early 90s, the state of Redstone’s physical and mental health set off an avalanche of corporate maneuvering over his media holdings that resulted in him stepping down in 2016 as executive chairman of both firms. CBS and were combined from 2000 to 2006, when Redstone separated them in an attempt to unleash the value of Viacom’s cable channels. His position as one of the world’s leading media moguls had begun fading in 2015 as those close to him began questioning his mental capacity.
