Dauman Challenging Removal From Trust

Philippe Dauman

Viacom Inc. Chief Executive Philippe Dauman is challenging the validity of a move by Sumner Redstone’s lawyers to remove him from the trust that will eventually control Mr. Redstone’s media empire, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Dauman and Viacom board member George Abrams were informed that they have been removed from the trust by a law firm claiming to represent Mr. Redstone, according to a spokesman for Mr. Dauman.

“These steps are invalid and illegal,” the spokesman said late Friday. “As court proceedings and other facts have demonstrated, Sumner Redstone now lacks the capacity to have taken these steps. Sumner Redstone would never have summarily dismissed Philippe Dauman and George Abrams, his trusted friends and advisers for decades.”

The two men were also removed from the board of National Amusements Inc., the holding company that owns the controlling shares of Viacom and CBS.

Removing Mr. Dauman would be a big victory for Shari Redstone, Mr. Redstone’s daughter and the vice chairman of Viacom and CBS Corp., who has clashed in the past with the executive and was the lone Viacom board member not to vote for his recent promotion to executive chairman.

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