Media mogul Sumner Redstone has ousted the head of Viacom Inc and another top executive from the trust that manages his business interests, putting his daughter in position to take control of his US$40 billion empire, a source close to the matter said on Saturday.
Redstone, 92, is the controlling shareholder of Viacom and CBS Corp, and his failing health in recent months has set off a power struggle between his family and associates.
Philippe Dauman, chairman and chief executive officer of MTV and Paramount Pictures parent company Viacom, received word in the middle of last week that he would be removed as a member of the National Amusements Inc Trust, the source said, confirming news reports and speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
George Abrams, a member of the Viacom board who is close to Dauman, was also removed from the trust, the source said.
The seven-member trust is meant to manage Redstone’s empire in the event of his death or legal incapacity, and would have enormous power and influence over the future of Viacom and CBS.
The latest development was seen as a victory for Shari Redstone, Sumner Redstone’s daughter, who is a member of the trust and vice president of both the CBS board of directors and Viacom.
Shari Redstone had openly opposed Dauman’s appointment as the head of Viacom after her father stepped down.
After the exits of Dauman and Abrams, Shari Redstone can count on the support of remaining members of the trust, who include her son Tyler Korff and others with links to the family.
Dauman has called his ouster “shameful” and “illegal,” according to news reports.
“The picture is quite clear, Mr Redstone is being manipulated and used by his daughter in an attempt to accomplish her long-held goal, which Mr Redstone has always opposed, of gaining control of National Amusements and Viacom,” a Viacom spokesman said in a statement on Saturday. “The actions taken yesterday in Sumner Redstone’s name are completely inconsistent with his long-expressed wishes and intent and extremely disruptive and damaging to Viacom and all its shareholders.”
Media reports said Sumner Redstone was free to change or replace the members of his trust.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six