Sumner Redstone

Posted October 13, 2008, 8:23 am in Television


Sumner Redstone
Born: May 27, 1923   

One of the most powerful media moguls of the  20th century. Chairman and CEO of National Amusements Inc., which has controlling interests in Viacom, CBS,  MTV, Showtime, VH1, The Movie Channel, Showtime,  Nickelodeon, Paramount,  several radio and TV stations, and a TV production and syndication business. 

After the Age of Seventy:

• At age 83 (2006), bought DreamWorks for $1.5 billion
• At age 84 (2007), bought out his son's Viacom stake for $240 million.
• At age 84 (2007), Ended Paramount's contract with Tom Cruise, citing the actor's "unacceptable behavior."
• At age 84 2007), Pledged $105 million to three medical institutions to further cancer and burn victim research.
• At age 84 (2007), ranked #86 on Forbes magazine's list of the hundred richest people in the world, with an estimated worth of US$ 9 billion.
• At age 85 (2008),  contributed $500,000 (the largest donation the charity could accept) to the Cambodian Children's Fund, a nonprofit program
  

Quotes:

• "Success is not built on success. It's built on failure. It's built on frustration. Sometimes its built on catastrophe."
• "In order to succeed, you have to live dangerously.. as long as the danger is rationally accepted and as long as the rewards far outweigh the risk."
  
• "Everyone was saying MTV was a fad. I knew better.
  
• "I knew very little about television, I knew very little about cable, cable programming. But my instincts were right."
  
• “In the 21st century, large is no longer in charge. Leverage will belong to the nimble and the swift.”
• “The concepts of our shows that we've created here (in the U.S.) travel in China and around the world, even though the language is different,”
• “Sometimes divorce is better than marriage.”
  

© 2006-2009. Growing Bolder Media Group. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.