Sumner Redstone: Daughter Shari Will Not Succeed Me

SUN VALLEY, Idaho -- Sumner M. Redstone, the chairman and controlling shareholder of Viacom and CBS, is usually a ubiquitous figure here at the investment bank Allen & Company's annual conference, but even in his absence Mr. Redstone is likely to be the talk of this longtime playground for the well-heeled.

In a CNBC television interview to be shown on Thursday, Mr. Redstone apparently reignited a long-running dispute with his daughter, Shari, over future control of the family media empire as father and daughter challenged each other's version of events. The New York Times, which has an online relationship with CNBC, was provided a copy of the transcript upon request.

In the interview, Mr. Redstone said flatly that his daughter was no longer the company's heir apparent and that she would leave the board as part of an agreement he had reached with her.

"Will she succeed you?" David Faber, a CNBC correspondent, asked on the program "Business Nation," which he moderates. Mr. Redstone replied, "No."

"The reason she won't succeed me is not she -- that she isn't qualified," he added, comparing CBS and Viacom with National Amusements, the movie theater company where his daughter is president. "But I have made it clear that good governance requires -- these are two public companies, they're not private like National -- that two companies, the boards should decide who succeeds me. I'm not worried about it 'cause it's going to be another 20, 30 years."

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