Word: tisch
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...that role Tisch is sure to be forceful. He is, as one CBS board member puts it, "a tough, gut fighter who wants his way." One of the first things Tisch wanted was the resignation of CBS News Division President Van Gordon Sauter, 51, a close ally of Wyman's who had drawn increasing criticism within CBS for eroding his division's cherished autonomy and injecting too much show biz into the news. According to one network insider, Paley and Tisch ousted Sauter without conferring with the board of directors' management committee, a move that irked members of that group...
...part of his takeover defense, Wyman went looking for a "white squire" who would buy a major portion of CBS in case a hostile bid seemed likely to succeed. He found Tisch, largely at the urging of CBS Board Member James Wolfensohn, a friend of the billionaire's who is also a former partner at the Salomon Brothers investment firm. According to Wolfensohn, Tisch had become interested in CBS during the Helms takeover crusade, which the investor deplored...
...according to Journalist Ken Auletta, Wyman telephoned Tisch at his Manhattan offices down the block from CBS headquarters and chatted about the Turner bid. By the end of July Tisch had accumulated a 7% stake in the communications company. Even as the Turner threat waned, Wyman apparently continued to feel insecure about further raids on the corporation. He prodded Tisch to buy more CBS stock, up to 25%, and by mid-October last year Tisch had agreed...
...Wyman was perhaps more alarmed by Tisch. Says Paul Kagan, publisher of the industry newsletter Broadcast Investor: "It was pretty obvious early on that Tisch was something more than the man Wyman invited in to help stop a takeover." Along with some $750 million that he has poured into CBS stock, Tisch had made a strong and still growing commitment of his personal attention to the network. Wyman and his supporters on the CBS board -- at one time they numbered at least eight -- began to worry that their white squire was a serious takeover threat...
Those concerns grew in March, when Tisch's brother Bob, in an interview with USA Today, declared that the eventual goal of Tisch's policy "is to control CBS." When pressed by CBS board members, Laurence reportedly did not disavow the remark. When pressed further to put into writing his oral commitment to Wyman that he would never buy more than 25% of CBS's stock, he also refused...