CBS CEO will keep the top job but still get $100 million in severance
- Media giants CBS and Viacom are planning to rejoin after years apart.
- Although Viacom's CEO will lead the new company, CBS chief Joe Ianniello will stay on and get a hefty severance to sweeten the deal, Anders Melin and Lucas Shaw reported for Bloomberg.
- Ianniello has been acting CEO since Les Moonves stepped down in 2018 and will start a new contract after the merger despite a contentious history with the Redstone family.
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Acting CBS CEO Joe Ianniello will stay on after the proposed tie-up of CBS and Viacom but in an unusual arrangement, will still collect $100 million in severance, Anders Melin and Lucas Shaw reported for Bloomberg.
The former CBS chief operating officer took over as interim CEO when Les Moonves left the company after 20 years in 2018. Ianniello won't get the top job after the proposed merger but will get $100 million and a new contract promising tens of millions of dollars more, according to Bloomberg.
Ianniello will report to Viacom CEO Robert Bakish, Bloomberg reported, but will remain chief of CBS and get other merger bonuses as part of the CBS effort to keep his support as the companies combine.
When the merger closes, Ianniello will bring in $79 million in cash and about $20 million in equity, Bloomberg reported. Then he'll start new 15-month contract at ViacomCBS with a salary of $22.5 million including bonuses.
Before Ianniello was CEO and COO of CBS, he spent years in several financial roles including chief financial officer since starting with the company in 1997, Business Insider reported.
Analysts predicted Ianniello wouldn't last long as CEO because of his close relationship with Moonves, his predecessor who was involved in CBS' legal battle with controlling shareholder National Amusements, which is owned by the Redstone family, Lynch reported.
Moonves stepped down after being accused of sexual harassment, but was in favor of a board vote to implement a stock dividend diluting the Redstone family's voting control of the company, Lynch reported.
Standing by Moonves hurt Ianniello's standing with Shari Redstone, according to Bloomberg.
Shari Redstone has been vice chair of the CBS and Viacom boards since the companies parted ways and will be chair of the combined companies, a position that was once her father Sumner Redstone's, Business Insider reported.
Once completed, the merger will position ViacomCBS as a media giant with about $28 billion in revenue.