Viacom (VIAB) CEO Philippe Dauman Kicked Off Board Of Directors By Sumner Redstone

Media mogul Sumner Redstone, 93, has removed Viacom Inc. CEO Philippe Dauman and four others from the company's board of directors. Redstone controls 80 percent of the voting shares for Viacom and former corporate sibling CBS Corp. through his company National Amusements Inc.

Viacom shares were up $3.16, or 7.5 percent, on the news.

The outgoing directors are Dauman, George S. Abrams, Frederic V. Salerno, Blythe J. McGarvie and William Schwartz. Dauman had just been named chairman of the board in February.

The new Viacom directors, according to a National Amusements release, are:

· Kenneth Lerer: Mr. Lerer is a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures and the Chairman of Buzzfeed. Previously, he was the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Huffington Post.

· Thomas May: Mr. May is Chairman of Eversource Energy and, until May 2016, he also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Eversource.

· Judith McHale: Ms. McHale serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cane Investments, LLC, which she joined in 2011. Ms. McHale previously served as the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of State from 2009 to 2011. From June 2004 to December 2006, she served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Communications, Inc., the parent company of Discovery Channel, and served as its President and Chief Operating Officer from 1995 to 2004.

· Ronald Nelson: Mr. Nelson serves as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Avis Budget Group, Inc. and previously served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer from August 2006 to December 2015. Mr Nelson also served as Co-Chief Operating Officer of DreamWorks SKG from November 1994 to March 2003.

· Nicole Seligman: Until March 2016, Ms. Seligman served as the President of Sony Entertainment, Inc. (since June 2014) and of Sony Corporation of America (since June 2012). She previously served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Sony Corporation from June 2005 to June 2014.