Viacom's New CEO Takes The Reins, But He is a Band-aid on a Wound He Helped to Inflict

INTERIM VIACOM CEO TOM DOOLEY

When Viacom's longtime CEO Philippe Dauman reached an agreement with company owner Sumner Redstone last week, it immediately put an end to their very public feud over the future of the company. The agreement called for Mr. Dauman to stand down immediately as CEO, which then lead to the elevation of Mr. Dauman's right hand man, long time Viacom exec and Chief Operating Officer Tom Dooley to CEO. Mr. Dooley is the default choice, not the desired one, especially being that he was at Mr. Dauman's side for the past 10 years as things went south. But for now, he's in charge and is being counted on by his boss Shari Redstone to right the ship Mr. Dauman ran aground. It is believed that now that Mr. Dauman is out, Ms. Redstone will start to put her master plan in motion which some believe is to rejoin Viacom and CBS and putting CBS CEO Les Moonves in charge of the whole thing. Getting to where things are today wasn't easy. Here is a play by play on how it all came to an end for Mr. Dauman and how Viacom is now on a path to what some hope is a speedy recovery.

Shari Redstone told Mr. Dooley she wanted him to be the interim chief executive after Mr. Dauman left, saying that she and her 93-year-old father, ailing mogul Sumner Redstone, had faith in him, people familiar with the call said. Mr. Dooley would be a curious choice as a change agent, given he has ties to Viacom dating back to 1980, but she said he could “get Viacom back to where it needs to be.”

Mr. Dooley said yes and hung up. He then relayed the gist of the conversation to Mr. Dauman.  “If that’s her plan, that’s her plan,” Mr. Dauman said, according to a person familiar with the call.

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