© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Legal Drama Surrounds 93-Year-Old Media Mogul Sumner Redstone

Media mogul Sumner Redstone arrives at the 2013 MOCA Gala celebrating the opening of the Urs Fischer exhibition at MOCA, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Media mogul Sumner Redstone arrives at the 2013 MOCA Gala celebrating the opening of the Urs Fischer exhibition at MOCA, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Sumner Redstone, the 93-year-old media mogul, is at the center of an intense corporate legal drama.

Two weeks ago, Redstone fired Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman and board member George Abrams, both longtime confidantes. He also dismissed two former girlfriends and caregivers, one of whom is also launching legal action. His granddaughter Keryn Redstone alleges that these machinations are the work of Shari Redstone, Sumner’s daughter, who she says has swayed him at a time when he’s incapacitated.

William Cohan, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair who has covered Redstone, joins Here & Now‘s Robin Young to talk about Redstone’s legal woes, as well as how he became the mogul he is today.

Guest

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.