ViacomCBS Exec Chair SUMNER REDSTONE, the billionaire entrepreneur who "saw business as combat and his advancing years as no obstacle in building a media empire," died yesterday at the age of 97, according to Jonathan Kandell of the N.Y. TIMES. Redstone negotiated, sued and otherwise "fought to amass holdings that over time included CBS, the Paramount film and television studios, the publisher Simon & Schuster, the video retail giant Blockbuster and a host of cable channels." Toward the end of his life, he controlled about 80% of the "voting stock in Viacom and CBS, presiding over both through National Amusements." Redstone had "vowed never to give up the reins of his sprawling conglomerate," but in February '16 he stepped away from managing it, and his daughter, ViacomCBS Chair SHARI REDSTONE, "took control of day-to-day affairs." Sumner Redstone’s last years were "marked by court disputes that questioned whether he was still mentally competent enough to make decisions about his health care and preside over his media empire" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/12).
