What was Sumner Redstone’s net worth?
Sumner Redstone was an American media mogul who had a net worth of $2.6 billion on the time of his demise in August 2020 on the age of 97. His net worth peaked at round $5 billion in 2015.
Sumner was greatest often known as the bulk proprietor of what at the moment is called Viacom/CBS. Sumner managed roughly 80% of Viacom/CBS by means of the holding firm National Amusements. Some of the manufacturers he managed embrace MTV, BET, Showtime, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures.
Early Life
Sumner Murray Rothstein was born on May 27, 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts. His family was dust poor. They didn’t have a working rest room of their house. His grandfather ran a bakery provide firm and his father labored as a truck driver for the grandfather. During prohibition, the daddy made a profitable side-income transporting liquor. When prohibition was repealed, the daddy began a wholesale liquor distribution firm. He used the proceeds to create one of many nation’s very first drive-in film theaters and a nightclub. Around this time, Sumner’s father modified the family’s final identify to “Redstone”. Sumner was in highschool and in a future biography would later admit that the identify change was upsetting, as he believed the family was turning its again on their Jewish legacy.
Sumner attended Harvard University after which Harvard Law School. While at Harvard throughout World War II, he labored on a particular crew of hand-picked college students that tried to crack Japanese navy codes. After graduating from regulation faculty he labored for the U.S. Government as an legal professional. One of his early circumstances was an anti-trust swimsuit introduced towards Paramount. The case resulted within the break-up of the old-school Hollywood studio system.
(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Success
In 1954, when he was 31, Sumner joined the family drive-in theater enterprise. He re-named the corporate National Amusements and over time expanded throughout the nation. An early innovation was the idea of the “multi-plex”, a theater that confirmed a number of motion pictures in a single place.
He used the income from the thriving theater chain to spend money on leisure corporations. The measurement of these investments continued to develop and develop. In 1987 he efficiently acquired Viacom for $3.4 billion. In 1993 the family made an $8.2 billion bid for Paramount. Rival suitors joined the bidding course of and ultimately Sumner was compelled to up his bid to $10 billion to seal the deal. In order to afford the provide, he merged Viacom with Blockbuster.
It was throughout this time that Redstone coined that considerably well-known phrase that “content material is king.” Under Redstone, Paramount launched blockbuster after blockbuster, together with “Titanic” (which grew to become the highest-grossing film of all-time as much as that time and the “Mission Impossible” franchise.
In 1999 Sumner engineered a $37 billion acquisition of CBS, in what was the most important media merger of all time as much as that time. This acquisition would later show much less profitable than his earlier efforts. Viacom’s inventory worth lagged for years. In 2006 he break up CBS and Viacom up as separate entities. Years later his daughter Shari would re-combine the 2.
Personal Life
Sumner was married twice. He had two youngsters, Brent and Shari Redstone, along with his first spouse Phyllis. They divorced in 1999 after being married for 52 years. Four years later he married Paula Fortunato, a girl 39 years his junior. They divorced in 2008.
In 2016 it was revealed that Sumner had spent a unprecedented amount of cash on ex-girlfriends and hookups. He reportedly as soon as gave a flight attendant on the CBS company jet $18 million after which had intercourse along with her sister, whom he gave $6 million. Redstone additionally gave $21 million to an aspiring actuality present producer and $6 million and a job at Showtime to a good friend of his grandson’s girlfriend.
All web worths are calculated utilizing knowledge drawn from public sources. When supplied, we additionally incorporate personal ideas and suggestions acquired from the celebrities or their representatives. While we work diligently to make sure that our numbers are as correct as attainable, except in any other case indicated they’re solely estimates. We welcome all corrections and suggestions utilizing the button beneath.
