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Viacom confirms Dauman replacement

Viacom has replaced president and CEO Philippe Dauman with a veteran of the company on a temporary basis.

Thomas Dooley

Thomas Dooley

Chief operating officer Thomas Dooley has been confirmed as interim president and CEO of Viacom, which controls assets such as MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures and Channel 5 in the UK, until the end of September.

Dauman, who had been CEO for almost a decade, will remain non-executive chairman until the middle of next month when the company will choose a new chairman.

The appointment looks set to bring to an end to the protracted power struggle between Dauman and the company’s board with controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari.

Dauman will be paid in the region of US$72m by National Amusements, the Redstones’ holding company, in return for his resignation, according to reports on Friday.

The settlement will also end all disputes between the parties and create a larger board of directors.

The disagreement began when Dauman raised questions over 93-year-old Redstone’s ability to manage his own affairs and proposed a sell-off of Paramount Pictures.

Dauman, who will still make his Paramount proposal to the board, had replaced Redstone as executive chairman of the firm in February.

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