Viacom’s Redstone Moves to Take Dauman, Others Off Board

Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements removed five members of the Viacom Inc. board Thursday — including Chairman Philippe Dauman as the billionaire continues to reassert control of the media giant and take steps to replace Dauman as chief executive officer. George Abrams, Blythe McGarvie, Frederic Salerno and William Schwartz were also ousted from the board, according to a statement Thursday from National Amusements Inc., Redstone’s theater chain and the controlling shareholder in Viacom. The changes are subject to approval by a court in Delaware, where Viacom is incorporated.
By replacing several of Redstone’s oldest associates, National Amusements has stacked up enough votes to change Viacom’s management, which has been criticized for lagging stock performance over the past two years.