Viacom Exec Changes: All About Sumner

Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone’s September surprise — the firing of Tom Freston and the hiring of Philippe Dauman to replace him — is being dissected every which way.
WSJ (sub. req.): “By mid-August, Mr. Redstone had decided Mr. Freston had to go. Mr. Dauman, who is a Viacom director and had been involved in the board’s deliberations, says Mr. Redstone called him about three weeks ago and offered him the job. … At 5 p.m. on Monday, Viacom’s board convened by telephone and voted to buy out Mr. Freston’s contract for $60 million.”
NYT: “What shocked people today was the re-emergence of Mr. Redstone,â