The emperor is always the last one to know

American presidents can serve only two terms. In baseball, even a great slugger is lucky to get a seven-year contract. But at Viacom, Sumner Redstone is apparently king for life. In recent days, the media have been roiling with a new round of eye-rolling tales about the cantankerous Viacom chairman's fights and feuds, from an ugly dispute with his daughter Shari over her succession to the throne to reports that DreamWorks founders David Geffen and Steven Spielberg are still seething over perceived snubs since being acquired by Paramount, a Viacom subsidiary, in late 2005.

What we're really seeing is a cautionary tale about a sultan who, as he grew old, came to believe himself infallible and has become increasingly fearful of handing over the keys to the kingdom.

At 84, Redstone still has no real successor, having chopped off the head of every prince who found himself in line for the Viacom throne. Frank Biondi, an early viceroy who'd come from HBO to oversee Viacom, was summarily dispatched in 1996. The hard-charging Mel Karmazin, who arrived as part of Redstone's acquisition of CBS, quit in 2004 after spending four years in nonstop feuding with his boss. Even Tom Freston, a longtime loyalist and the visionary behind Viacom's MTV cash-cow, got the boot last September, blamed (unfairly, by most accounts) for News Corp. stealing MySpace out from under Viacom's nose. Now Shari Redstone, once considered an heir apparent, is out in the cold.

But Sumner Redstone's overblown ego and tin ear with talent has led to an even bigger headache.

The Viacom chief, who wouldn't talk for this piece, has been embroiled in an ugly dispute with Geffen and Spielberg, the principals of the studio Paramount bought for $1.5 billion. Spielberg has made no secret of his unhappiness, telling the New York Times this year that he "took exception" to Paramount referring to every DreamWorks picture as if it were a Paramount production.

As veteran DreamWorks watchers have often noted, when someone offends or alienates Spielberg, it is Geffen who takes out the long knives, seeing himself as the filmmaker's loyal protector. It was Geffen who persuaded Spielberg to sell the company to Paramount. Spielberg, friends say, didn't want to leave Universal -- in fact, his offices remain there even today.

Geffen, who is out of the country and unavailable for comment, was also furious with Paramount chief Brad Grey, who appeared all too eager to take credit for almost every DreamWorks release.