LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Sumner M. Redstone, the billionaire entrepreneur who built a media empire that included both CBS and Viacom and helped to usher in the modern era of media conglomerates, has died. He was 97.
His death was announced in a statement by National Amusements, a private cinema chain and holding company founded by Redstone’s father. No cause of death was disclosed.
Redstone, who was born in Boston, attended Harvard Law and served as special assistant to U.S. Attorney General Tom C. Clark before entering private practice.
In 1954, he joined his father’s theater chain National Amusements and later became president of the company in 1964.
His experience in the film distribution industry convinced him of the importance of content over delivery, and he began to make strategic investments in major studios such as Columbia Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Orion Pictures, and Paramount Pictures.
In 1987, Redstone orchestrated a hostile takeover of Viacom, which included cable television properties such as MTV and Nickelodeon. The Viacom deal was the first in a series of high profile media buys, including Paramount Communications, parent company of Paramount Pictures and Madison Square Garden, which Redstone later sold to Charles Dolan, and television broadcaster CBS.
Toward the latter years of his life, he controlled about 80 percent of the voting stock in Viacom and CBS, but appeared to semi-retire in 2006, after spinning off CBS into a standalone entity.
However, that didnt’ stop him from keeping his hand in the family business, including famously severing Paramount’s ties with the studio’s biggest star, actor Tom Cruise over his close affiliation with the church of scientology.
In he later years of his life, Sumner’s relationship with his children appeared to grow strained. His son Brent sued him in 2006, claiming that he was owed more than $1 billion from the family company National Amusements. According to The New York Times, the suit was later settled for $240 million.
As well, he also became publicly critical of his daughter Shari Redstone, who who was vice chairwoman of both Viacom and CBS and later disagreed over the direction of the company, eventually resulting in the sale of Viacom in 2009.
However, they later appeared to have mended their relationship.
Mr. Redstone is survived by his son and daughter, as well as five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
