Redstone Family Feud Goes Public

Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone blistered his daughter Shari in a letter faxed to Forbes magazine yesterday, making a long-simmering family dispute very public.

Shari Redstone has said she wants to succeed her billionaire father -- who is 84 and shows no sign of slowing down -- as head of the business he started more than 50 years ago when he took over his family's three drive-in movie theaters.

Viacom, which owns MTV, Nickelodeon and other cable networks, split from CBS last year, though Redstone remains chairman of both media giants, a job Shari -- who is vice chairman -- has long coveted.

Not so fast, her father said yesterday.

"I am determined that in accordance with the rules of good governance, the boards of Viacom and CBS select my successor -- and that no person be imposed on the boards," Redstone wrote in his letter.

Just to make certain that Shari, 53, got the point, Sumner Redstone concluded his letter: "It must be remembered that I gave to my children their stock; and it is I, with little or no contribution on their part, who built these great media companies with the help of the boards of both companies."

Last night, Shari Redstone fired back at her father, though in more-reserved language, through spokeswoman Nancy Sterling.

"It is unfortunate that Sumner has chosen to publicize what Shari had hoped would remain a private family matter," Sterling wrote in an e-mail to Bloomberg.

The market shrugged in response to the spat. Viacom closed down $1.20 at $41.30, yesterday, in line with the drop in stocks across the board.

It is unclear what the father-daughter fight may mean to Viacom and CBS. When they split last year, Viacom chief executive Thomas E. Freston was seen as Redstone's likely successor. But Viacom stock fizzled after the split, and Freston passed up a chance to buy MySpace and was forced out, replaced by longtime Redstone loyalist Philippe P. Dauman. Now, CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves, who has watched his company's stock gain steadily since the split, may be first in the line of succession.

Why would a father do such a thing to his daughter? And why now? The best explanation may be: It's just Redstone being Redstone.

He is a free speaker and can make life tough for his staff, some of whom charitably say that he at least is predictably unpredictable.