Nonagenerian Viacom owner Sumner Redstone, who has trouble speaking and is allegedly
suffering from some form of dementia, just removed five Viacom board members, including CEO Philippe Dauman. The board and Dauman believe that Redstone's previously estranged daughter Shari is manipulating Sumner. What makes this kind of corporate soap opera possible is Viacom's stock structure,
which gives Redstone more power than his board. It's a setup similar to what Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page and Sergey Brin have done at Facebook and Google.
[
Emily Steel | The New York Times]