As the Sumner Turns

About twelve years ago, while I was still working for him at CBS, I read Sumner Redstone's autobiography. It was published by Simon & Schuster, which was also owned by Sumner, and it clearly wasn't edited in any meaningful way. My guess is that the people working for him were afraid to tell him that he came off as one of the most unlikable human beings on the planet. He aired sixty year old grudges, ripped his underlings (and his family), threatened to destroy people for the most inane slights, bragged about his wealth, and displayed a truly disgusting and unquenchable greed. There were literally times my mouth dropped open while I was reading. He was like a Charles Dickens character--blackhearted and evil, with no redeeming qualities of any kind. And this is how he was describing himself! It was an autobiography!

That book was one of my inspirations for writing the novel "$everance".

Ever since then I've followed his life closely; his feuds with his kids, his squiring of young girlfriends, his attempts at buying a place in heaven with late-in-life charitable contributions, and his total inability to give up control of the only that matters to him, his media conglomerate.

Today's episode of his soap opera life involves the inescapable march toward his final days, and how much the angry ol' coot is fighting a fate that you just know he thinks is beneath someone of his stature--death. From Tom Taylor's NOW column...

At 92, Sumner Redstone is “alert and cognizant” but “has a bad speech impediment.” That makes the CBS patriarch “angry and frustrated when he can’t be understood,” says his personal attorney Leah Bishop. She says the speech problem “has gotten worse” in the last year or so, but she says “it’s very clear to me that he understands everything that we are talking about” – and specifically what happens after he’s no longer on the scene. Bishop says “careful planning has been done so that estate taxes will not require a forced sale of the assets.” Through National Amusements, Sumner wields voting control over both CBS and Viacom, and you’ve already read here that his control passes to a seven-member trust. His daughter Shari’s on the board of the trust and so is Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, a longtime trusted executive to Sumner. But CBS CEO Les Moonves isn’t on the board, and Sumner’s unusual absence from yesterday’s CBS annual shareholders meeting makes the speculation even more urgent. The Los Angeles Times indicates the melodrama waiting to unfold. Plus there's Redstone’s girlfriend situation – A Vanity Fair feature introduces us to former Sumner Redstone girlfriend Manuela Herzer and current companion Sydney Holland, who was once in the matchmaking business. The LA Times says “several people close to the situation allege that Holland has used her influence to isolate Redstone from people who once played significant roles in his life,” including his daughter Shari, his grandchildren (one of whom is on the board of the National Amusements trust), friends, doctor and a longtime assistant.

If you find yourself feeling sympathy for him, congratulations on being a good human being. Granted, he thinks people like you are suckers, but I commend you for your humanity.

But just know this; this drama can't possibly have a happy ending. If there is anything true about karma, it can't end well.