A new book on the Sumner Redstone saga is a real page-turner—but it’s not about business

It doesn’t disappoint. The book is a page-turner—an over-the-top tale of money, power, sex, and relentless scheming to wrest billions away from an old man who in his final years seems to have lost the capacity for just about anything except sex. It is literally made for television. Stewart and his coauthor, Rachel Abrams, helpfully divide it into four “Seasons” and 33 “Episodes,” just in case the Netflix producers miss the point.

But here’s the thing: it’s not about business. There is very little about the business struggles of Viacom, Paramount, or CBS to be found in here. I make a brief cameo appearance in Season 2, where in an interview I ask then-Viacom-CEO Philippe Dauman the question everyone should have been asking had they not been so distracted by the epic drama around Sumner Redstone’s senility and sexual behavior: Given the company’s poor performance in recent years, why should shareholders want Dauman to stay? Dauman doesn’t answer the question, nor does the book. There’s too much juicy personal intrigue and way too much sex to waste time on boring business details. 

In the end, the only hero in this story is Redstone’s daughter, Shari. She was endlessly demeaned and disparaged by her own father, the two women who all but abducted him, Dauman, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, and the boards of both Viacom and CBS. Yet in the end, she seems to emerge as the only one in the sordid story who was able to keep her mind intact and her libido in check. If there’s anything to learn here, it is from her. As chair of Paramount Global—the name assumed by the merger of Viacom and CBS—she and her CEO, Bob Bakish, still have a long way to go to demonstrate that the company can compete in the same league as Amazon, Disney, and Netflix. But don’t count her out. She is a survivor. (That may be why Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway loaded up on the stock in the fourth quarter.)

By the way, whose strange idea was it to release Stewart’s book on Valentine’s Day? There’s sex on nearly every page, but not a hint of romance. It won’t be a Hallmark movie.

More news below.

Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com

TOP NEWS

Amazon pay

Amazon’s corporate employees face substantially lower pay this year than they thought they’d be getting, as the company’s annual salaries are partially paid out in restricted stock units. According to the Journal, some workers will be getting as little as half as what was projected. Amazon statement: “Our compensation model is intended to encourage employees to think like owners, which is why it connects total compensation to the company’s long-term performance…historically at Amazon, it’s had a history of working out very well for people who’ve taken a long-term view.” Wall Street Journal

Bao Fan

China Renaissance Holdings, a top tech-sector dealmaker, can’t find its founder, chairman, and CEO, Bao Fan. Investors, clients, and staffers are understandably jittery—shares fell as much as 5% today before recovering—and the top brass have reportedly told workers to stay away from rumor-mongering: “At such a critical moment, everyone should trust the company. Don't fret and stumble.” Reuters

Sackler support

The FT has an interesting piece on how one of the world’s oldest universities, Oxford, has maintained ties with the Sacklers, despite its peers fleeing from association with the family that is so closely identified with the U.S. opioid epidemic. The British institution has reportedly continued to accept Sackler donations, together with naming rights on buildings and fellowships. Financial Times

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

Less burnout and fatigue, with fewer sick days: What the 4-day workweek trial reveals about employee well-being, by Alexa Mikhail

‘Based AI’: Elon Musk praises Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing for comparing an AP reporter to Adolf Hitler, by Christiaan Hetzner

Airlines say Chinese carriers have an ‘unfair advantage’ as China reopens: They’re allowed to fly over Russia, by Nicholas Gordon

How CFOs are bracing for a dismal financial outlook—and what they expect to happen, by Robert Stevens

The housing market correction just took a new turn, by Lance Lambert

This edition of CEO Daily was edited by David Meyer.