Since Ronan Farrow’s scathing article in The New Yorker early last month accusing CBS CBS +3.08% CEO Les Moonves of numerous counts of sexual misconduct by six women, Moonves has been in talks with the board about the scandal. This isn’t the first time such an article has brought down a man considered untouchable.
Think Harvey Weinstein and the Weinstein Co., which quickly crumbled following an October 2017 New York Times article that detailed decades of sexual harassment allegations against its former leader and cofounder from dozens of women. Within a week, Weinstein had been fired from his company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It took just seven months after the company filed for bankruptcy for it to win Bankruptcy Court approval when a Wilmington, Delaware, judge approved the sale of the company’s assets to Dallas-based private equity firm Lantern Capital Partners, which offered $310 million in cash and will assume about $115 million in liabilities related to film and television projects. The epic fall of Weinstein and all that he built was fast and furious.
In this case, Moonves and CBS have been in talks since Moonves was first confronted with allegations from a half-dozen women accusing him of harassment, intimidation and abuse, accusations he has repeatedly denied.
CNBC reports that the CBS board is offering Moonves $100 million in stock as an exit package, according to sources close to the negotiations. These talks have been going on for some time but have yet to reach a final conclusion. There is continued back-and-forth about his exit package, the details of which are complicated.
Under his contract, Moonves is due as much as $180 million in severance and a production deal. The board, however, is offering roughly $100 million in an exit package made up almost entirely of CBS stock. As for the additional $80 million, sources say the board wants the right to hold back a part of that compensation if sexual harassment allegations against Moonves are confirmed. If so, that money could be used for future settlements.
Settlement talks like these take time and careful consideration, but after fallouts like Weinstein’s, CBS is being extremely careful in its handling of this situation. In addition to the departure of Moonves, there is also talk of COO Joe Ianniello being appointed as his interim replacement, according to CNBC.
As was widely reported yesterday, CBS and its controlling shareholder, Sumner and Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, are negotiating a settlement to end their litigation about whether the CBS board has the right to vastly dilute the voting power of NAI. While it is possible the settlement with Moonves and between CBS and NAI could be announced simultaneously, sources said they are not linked.
Via CNBC, CBS officials declined to make any comments when they reached out, but it was pointed out that the company’s share price opened slightly higher Thursday after the CNBC report.
It will be very interesting to follow and see what happens next in a post-Weinstein world where a myriad of both men and women have felt empowered to speak out and share their own #MeToo stories. A movement, including #TimesUp, has been sparked with no signs of slowing down, but rather like a tumbleweed, gaining in both size and strength via the powers of social media and the news. Reports against those in power, both male and female, have spread far and wide across the fields of media, Hollywood, Silicon Valley and beyond bringing to the forefront the issues facing many: sexual harassment in the workplace. Finally, those once thought to be without a voice are being heard loud and very clear.
(Excerpt: Read more in: Forbes