David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, was friends with some of the network’s biggest names. That didn’t matter when their jobs were on the line.
The elderly media titan flexed his MTV ownership, asked his grandson for hookups with new women, and rewarded companions with millions. An exclusive excerpt from “Unscripted.”
Veteran business journalist James B. Stewart specializes in getting behind the scenes to tell the stories of rich, powerful, and complicated subjects. He has a doozy with “Unscripted”, the new book he co-wrote about the last days of media mogul Sumner Redstone, who at one point was one of the most powerful men in the industry, and whose decline fueled years of fighting between his family, his employees, and his mistresses.
Her father doubted her much of her career. Les Moonves launched a bid at CBS to overrule her. That was before sexual misconduct allegations came to light. Now Shari Redstone controls the media empire.
At Time Warner, executives saw AT&T as just a “big phone company from Texas.” At AT&T, they thought Hollywood would play by their rules. That combination led to strategic miscalculation unrivaled in recent corporate history.
A captain in the department, who had moonlighted as a security guard for CBS, disclosed to the network information about a confidential complaint made in 2017 against the C.E.O.
The network’s top-rated host and its president both were forced out, following ethical lapses, an office romance and a letter from a lawyer for “Jane Doe.”
Since her breakout in the 1960s, she’s been able to convince the world around her to listen - not by chasing trends but by remaining always and fully herself.
I went to Mr. Epstein’s Manhattan mansion to talk about Tesla. We ended up discussing much more - including his belief that sex with teenage girls should be acceptable.
Mr. Epstein, the accused sex trafficker, was fascinated by eugenics. He told scientists and others of his vision of using his New Mexico ranch to impregnate women.
Mr. Epstein, facing sex-trafficking charges, has long been described as a billionaire and hailed as a financial wizard. But the source of his wealth is murky.
The Amazon chief’s split from his wife raises questions about the disposal of their enormous stake in the company he founded. Investors deserve answers.
Senior executives and board members at CBS knew about allegations of sexual misconduct by Leslie Moonves, the chief executive. No one acted to stop him.
A trove of text messages details a plan by Mr. Moonves and a faded Hollywood manager to bury a sexual assault allegation. Instead, the scheme helped sink the CBS chief, and may cost him $120 million.
The superlawyer in such cases as Bush v. Gore and the fight for gay marriage rights makes no apologies for representing Harvey Weinstein and Theranos with zeal.
New details about Mr. Moonves’s interactions with an actress’s manager and the unusual role played by an outside lawyer have thrust CBS’s board into an agonizing dilemma.
After initial harassment allegations against the CBS chief, some board members reflexively defended Mr. Moonves. It took weeks for his support to fade.
Court challenges to vertical mergers on antitrust grounds have been extremely rare in recent decades. (Mr. Downes said the most recent example he could find dated to 1964.)