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Media titan Sumner Redstone has died at the age of 97. The hard-charging exec, who famously turned his father’s drive-in theater business into a global media conglomerate that now includes Viacom, Paramount Pictures, and CBS, died on Tuesday afternoon at his home in Los Angeles, Variety reports.
Redstone’s private holding company National Amusements, which controls ViacomCBS, confirmed news of his passing early Wednesday. For the past year, the mogul and daughter Shari Redstone oversaw the newly merged ViacomCBS as controlling shareholder and chairman, respectively.
“My father led an extraordinary life that not only shaped entertainment as we know it today, but created an incredible family legacy,” Shari Redstone said in a statement provided to Variety. “Through it all, we shared a great love for one another and he was a wonderful father, grandfather and great-grandfather. I am so proud to be his daughter and I will miss him always.”
“Sumner was a man of unrivaled passion and perseverance, who devoted his life to his belief in the power of content,” National Amusements added. “With his passing, the media industry he loved so dearly loses one of its great champions. Sumner, a loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather, will be greatly missed by his family who take comfort knowing that his legacy will live on for generations to come.”
In the 1980s and 1990s, Redstone, a lawyer and film exhibitor, won control of Viacom and Paramount in a series of tenacious lawsuits against the companies. In 1999, he negotiated a deal to take over CBS, but in 2006, he famously split them up once again, but continued to serve as chairman of both corporations.
In recent years, Redstone’s legacy was tarnished by allegations that he paid former girlfriends millions of dollars in exchange for “sexual favors” (his legal team denied the allegations).
In early 2016, he was forced to step down as chairman of CBS and Viacom after shareholders called his mental acuity into fitness, but he declined to choose a successor, kicking off a long battle between Shari and longtime associates. According to Variety, Redstone’s assets will now be taken over by the family trust, which will manage his controlling stake in ViacomCBS. Shari Redstone and other family members will serve as trustees, solidifying control of the company with his family.
