Tu Resigns From CBS as Chief Legal Officer

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Lawrence Tu, the chief legal officer at CBS has resigned, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tu will be succeeded by Laura Franco, who has been with CBS for 23 years and is currently executive VP-associate general counsel.

Tu is the latest of senior executives to leave the company, a list that is headed by former CEO Les Moonves, who was dismissed after challenging the voting power of the family of Sumner Redstone, CBS’s controlling shareholder, Moonves was also accused of sexual harassment by several women and of lying to the lawyers investigating those charges for CBS’s board.

Among the other executives leaving the company are its chief financial officer, chief communications officer, the head of human relations and the chairman of CBS News.

Tu’s agreement with CBS calls for him to cease being chief legal officer on March 1. At that point he will serve as a senior advisor to the CEO of CBS until April 30, 2019. Joe Ianniello has been interim CEO at CBS since Moonves’ departure.

Tu received total compensation of $8.1 million in 2017.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.