Birth name: Sumner Murray Rothstein
Father: Michael Redstone, businessman
Mother: Belle (Ostrovsky) Redstone
Marriages: Paula (Fortunato) Redstone (April 6, 2003-January 2009, divorced); Phyllis (Raphael) Redstone (July 6, 1947-July 26, 2002, divorced)
Children: with Phyllis Redstone: Shari Ellin and Brent
Education: Harvard University, B.A., 1944; Harvard University, LL.B, 1947
Military service: US Army, 1943-1945, First Lieutenant
Other Facts
His father changed the family name from Rothstein to Redstone in 1940.
One of his first jobs out of law school was special assistant to US Attorney General Tom Clark.
Coined the term “multiplexes.”
He donated to causes fighting poverty and disease through the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation.
Timeline
1954 – Joins the family business, Northeast Theater Corporation, later renamed National Amusements, a theater chain.
1967 – Becomes chief executive officer of National Amusements, Inc.
March 29, 1979 – Suffers third-degree burns over 40% of his body in a hotel fire in Boston. He survives by climbing out a window on to a ledge and hanging on until firefighters rescue him.
1987 – Redstone takes over Viacom Pictures and becomes chairman of the board.
February 15, 1994 – Redstone wins in a bidding war with QVC Network for Paramount Communications, parent company of Paramount Studios.
January 17, 1996 – Becomes chief executive officer of Viacom, Inc.
May 2000 – Viacom purchases CBS Corporation, the parent company of CBS, in the largest media merger of the time, valued at $36 billion.
January 2006 – CBS Corporation and Viacom are divided into separate companies. Redstone becomes chairman of the board for both, but separate chief executive officers are appointed.
February 2006 – Brent Redstone sues his father, accusing him of favoring daughter Shari Redstone in business matters. Redstone eventually buys out his son’s stake in National Amusements, Inc., as part of a settlement.
March 30, 2012 – Receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
June 1, 2012 – Paramount renames its administration building to Sumner Redstone Building as part of the studio’s 100th anniversary celebration.
September 2012 – Gives Boston University $18 million for the expansion of the law school.
May 2014 – Endows a professorship in narrative studies with $2.5 million at Boston University’s College of Communication.
October 25, 2016 – Redstone sues former girlfriends Herzer and Sydney Holland and others in Los Angeles Superior Court. Charges include elder financial abuse, fraud, distress and not acting in his best interest.
December 17, 2018 – Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Cowan rules that Redstone is incapacitated because of a speech impediment. A guardian is appointed to protect his legal interests.
January 8, 2019 – It is reported that lawsuits involving former girlfriend Herzer are settled before trial. She will pay $3.25 million to reimburse Redstone for gifts given to her during their relationship.
March 14, 2019 – CBS Board of Directors settles a 2016 lawsuit accusing the board of improperly compensating an incapacitated Redstone as early as 2014.