The internal conflicts at Viacom between Sumner Redstone and board members have reached a boiling point, as Mr. Redstone has removed 5 members of Viacom’s board.  One of these members includes CEO Philippe Dauman, who has been Redstone’s biggest target for months.  Their relationship took a turn for the worse when Dauman elected to sell a minority stake in Paramount Pictures.

The other four directors removed include George Abrams, Fred Salerno, William Schwartz, and Blythe McGarvie.  Redstone is 93 years old, and many speculate that he has grown too senile to be able to make decisions for the company.  There are also rumors circulating that Shari, Mr. Redstone’s daughter, is using her father so that she can take over control of Viacom.

New board members include Kenneth Lerer, co-founder of the Huffington Post, Nicole Seligman, a former executive at Sony, Judith McHale, former head of Discovery Communications, Ron Nelson, who used to work at Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Studios, and Thomas May, chairman of Eversource Energy.

Some of Viacom’s directors have voiced their disapproval of the board reshuffling, saying that Shari Redstone is going against her father’s wishes by undermining the board’s ability to manage Viacom in a way that is reflective of the best interests of shareholders.  The ousted directors plan on contesting their removal from the board in court.

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