Former Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman figuratively laughed his way to the bank in fiscal 2016, receiving more than $93 million in total compensation in a year when he was ousted in a heated battle with former mentor and controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone.
According to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Dauman received $93.02 million in total compensation, including $58.4 million in other compensation, mostly consisting of separation payments he received when he resigned from the company in August.
Dauman had been under pressure to leave from his former friend and mentor Redstone, who removed him from the trust that would have controlled his 80% voting interest in Viacom upon his death or incapacitation. What followed were a series of lawsuits where Dauman claimed Redstone was being controlled by his daughter, Viacom vice chairman Shari Redstone, and Redstone accused his former friend of being an incompetent executive.
According to the SEC document, Dauman’s former lieutenant, former chief operating officer Tom Dooley, received about $27.9 million in compensation in 2016, down from the $29.4 million he received in the prior year. Dooley had served as interim CEO of Viacom after Dauman left, giving up that throne in November. Viacom named long-time executive Bob Bakish as acting CEO in October, raising him to permanent CEO earlier this month.
With Bakish’s ascension, Redstone’s National Amusements dropped its support of a potential merger between Viacom and CBS, its other media holding. In December Viacom officially ended its exploration of the possible merger.
