Sumner Redstone

A group led by Sumner Redstone, president of Dedham, Mass.-based National Amusements, increased its holdings from the 6.2% reported last June. A Viacom International spokesman was not immediately available for comment, but the company said last June that it believed Redstone purchased his shares on a friendly basis. Last May, New York investor Carl C. Icahn acquired 17% of Viacom's shares before selling the block back to the company at an estimated $21 million profit.

Theater operator Sumner Redstone emerged victorious today in a bidding war for Viacom International Inc. as the large cable and broadcast company agreed to his complicated bid estimated at more than $3 billion. After being pursued for nearly a year by various investors, an independent committee of the Viacom board chose a bid by Redstone's privately held National Amusements Inc. over one submitted by company management. Redstone's group will pay cash of $42.75 a share, preferred stock of $7.

Sumner Redstone, who controls CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc., cut his stake in slot-machine maker WMS Industries Inc. to 4.9% as he continued to sell assets to restructure debt at his National Amusements Inc. family holding company. The investor sold 445,000 WMS shares, lowering his stake to 2.41 million, after disposing of 1.14 million shares Wednesday, according to a regulatory filing. He already sold shares last year, reducing holdings he's held for decades to 4 million as of July 28.

  Paramount Pictures celebrated its 100th anniversary Friday.  The theme song from the classic movie "The Godfather" played over loud speakers as about 250 employees, clutching plastic stemware filled with Champagne, made their way down the well-manicured promenade of the legendary studio. Then, just a few minutes before noon, Paramount's own godfather arrived. Studio employees and a handful of dignitaries gathered to salute Sumner Redstone, the 89-year-old executive chairman of Viacom Inc., parent company of Paramount.

Shari Redstone, the daughter of media mogul Sumner Redstone, resigned Friday as chairwoman of beleaguered Midway Games Inc., saying she needed to focus more attention on negotiations with bankers to restructure the family business' massive $1.6-billion debt. The move underscores the pressure the powerful media family is under to make an $800-million payment by Dec. 19. Shari Redstone has been leading discussions with lenders on behalf of the family holding company, National Amusements Inc.

The conflict between media mogul Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari, broke into open warfare Friday when he publicly disparaged her as having made "little or no contribution" to the entertainment empire he built, which includes Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. Redstone's comments, in a letter to Forbes magazine, and a subsequent statement issued on behalf of his daughter provide new insights into the mounting family feud over control of the media empire.

The wife of media titan Sumner Redstone, chairman and chief executive of Viacom Inc., whose company is in a $37-billion deal to acquire CBS Inc., has filed for divorce and is seeking $3 billion, her attorney said Sunday. Phyllis Redstone, 74, filed in a Boston court for divorce from her 76-year-old husband, according to a Viacom spokesman. They have been married for 52 years.

Viacom Inc., owner of Paramount Pictures film studio and MTV Networks, said fourth-quarter profit fell 69% on costs to cut jobs and write down the value of some assets. Net income dropped to $173 million, or 28 cents a share, Viacom said. The New York media company controlled by Sumner Redstone eliminated jobs as it grapples with an accelerating decline in advertising and slowing DVD sales. Earnings declined from $560 million, or 86 cents, a year earlier. Viacom's sales were little changed at $4.2 billion from a year earlier.

The bitter feud between billionaire Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari, erupted again Tuesday over the murky circumstances surrounding the sale of $233 million in non-voting Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. shares by the family's privately held National Amusements Inc. Friday, National Amusements disclosed that it needed to raise cash to comply with debt covenants on a $1.6-billion loan. The purpose of the loan is unclear, and the firm has declined to provide an explanation.

Viacom is finally appealing to the middle of the country. Tuesday, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it has begun buying stock in Viacom Inc., controlled by billionaire Sumner Redstone. Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said that during the first three months of the year it had acquired nearly 1.6 million shares in Viacom -- a stake worth $75.5 million. The market capitalization for Viacom -- which boasts the MTV Networks, the home of “Jersey Shore,” Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, BET, TV Land and Paramount Pictures -- is nearly $27 billion.