Word: karmazin
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Redstone has said he fully intends to be CEO when Karmazin's current contract expires. "Look, Sumner Redstone is one of the four or five corporate geniuses," says radio icon and longtime Karmazin friend Don Imus. "And Mel is in that class with Rupert, Ted and Eisner. We'll see what sort of relationship they have...
...Karmazin has no problem with the free flow of information in a democracy. In fact, he's all for a diversity of voices: CBS has long owned competing news-radio stations in the same markets. But in the modern American media world--Viacom's world--the free flow of information had better be accompanied by the free flow of cash...
...plunks down $36 bil for CBS. What changed? Better to ask what didn't change, and the answer is that at age 76, Redstone, whose heart rate is lower than that of many pro athletes, remains a driven dealmaker obsessed with staying ahead of the pack. CBS chief Mel Karmazin may have "seduced" Redstone into this merger, as both sides note. But Redstone was looking for love. He almost always...
...Karmazin, a shareholder-first kind of guy, like Redstone--and one reason Redstone could dump his own team. He praises Karmazin's "easy, nonarrogant" style and bristles at the notion that he can't work with a strong No. 2. "There's only one time it didn't work out," he says, referring to former heir apparent Frank Biondi...
That doesn't mean Karmazin will necessarily get Redstone's job down the line. "This was not a decision on succession," Redstone says, making it clear that with a majority of Viacom's voting stock and a personal stake in the company worth $9.3 billion, he remains firmly in charge. "I love what I'm doing. I really think I'm at the top of my game." If you're Karmazin eyeing the corner office, that should give you pause. And if you're a media company, it's probably time to stop going for that head fake...