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Wall Street has a short leash for Viacom’s Philippe Dauman

By
Claire Atkinson
Published May 24, 2016, 11:04 p.m. ET

Viacom lead outside shareholder Mario Gabelli believes that Chief Executive Philippe Dauman should get another six months to save his job — but the rest of Wall Street seems to want to put the 62-year-old boss on a much shorter leash.

Since Viacom founder Sumner Redstone sapped Dauman’s power last Friday by tossing him from his personal trust and the board of his privately held National Amusements Inc., Viacom shares have been on a tear — jumping 3.4 percent, to close Tuesday at $41.30.

Investors, who have seen Viacom shares tumble 38 percent over the past year while many of the company’s assets have atrophied, seem to like a weakened Dauman.

Michael Cuggino, president of Permanent Portfolio of Family Funds, which owns 160,000 Viacom shares, told The Post he was optimistic after company executives earlier this year promised changes — but he’s now down on management.

“What I’ve seen instead is tons of soap opera, succession and family feuds and lawsuits,” Cuggino said. “I have to believe it is taking away from management focus on the business.”

Cuggino is referring to a sudden move by Redstone, the 92-year-old controlling shareholder, to reassert his presence.

The moves began last Friday when the media mogul booted Dauman and fellow director George Abrams from the NAI board and the trust that will take over control of Redstone’s $40 billion media empire, including CBS, when the ailing executive dies or becomes incapacitated.

Dauman, backed into a corner, claimed the move by Redstone was the result of manipulation by his daughter, Shari.

Shari Redstone, an outspoken critic of Dauman, appears to have the upper hand in her battle with the Viacom boss.

She is also a director at Viacom and controls the Redstone trust. In essence, it appears to be in the middle of a corporate takeover.

Dauman has long been dogged by shareholders frustrated by dwindling revenue and ratings and what seems like a lack of ideas for improvement coming out of the C-suite.

“There are only so many short-term rabbits to be pulled out of the hat,” said Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research. “Luck can go a long way, but the legal machinations seem to be the primary spear of activity.”

“From an investor perspective, all you can do is assume they don’t burn the business to the ground,” he added.

A Viacom spokesman said the executive team is working hard on turning around the company.

“Viacom has several near-term catalysts, including a strong summer movie slate and the payoff from increased investment in programming and our new data-driven advertising platforms,” the spokesperson said.

“In addition, a potential sale of the Paramount stake could bring substantial value and has significant support from investors,” the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, Sumner Redstone named Jill Krutick and Kimberlee Ostheimer to the NAI board, and added Krutick and Tad Jankowski to the family trust.