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Fate of Ianniello, Moonves riding on Redstone lawsuit
Joe Ianniello may have hitched his wagon to the wrong horse.
Until just a few weeks ago, the chief operating officer of CBS seemed poised to succeed his mentor, Les Moonves, as CEO of the media giant.
Not only had Moonves and the CBS board been heaping praise on Ianniello — the company said it would be able to hit its financial targets through 2020 in large part because of Ianniello-developed projects like CBS All Access and Showtime’s streaming app — together the duo had made the Tiffany Network the most-watched broadcast outlet for the past several years.
In proxy materials, the board called Ianniello a “key corporate strategic partner” of Moonves.
And of course, Moonves, faced with a possible merger with Viacom, famously insisted Ianniello continue as COO of the proposed com- bined company — a gutsy call that would basically kick Viacom Chief Executive Bob Bakish to the curb.
The Moonves-Ianniello team, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this month, seemed to be on top of the world. But then May 14 happened. On that day, members of the CBS board, with Moonves’ backing, went nuclear and sued controlling shareholder Shari Redstone and the family’s National Amusements Inc. — which controls 80 percent of the voting power at CBS.
Redstone, the board members claimed, violated her fiduciary responsibilities by insisting CBS merge with Viacom — a company the Redstone family also controls — and no one else.
A Delaware judge will now decide whether CBS will be able to dilute Redstone’s control of the media company to about 20 percent. If the judge rules against CBS, Moonves could be toast — and Ianniello, 50, could very well be collateral damage.
“Time is of the essence whether or not Moonves believes it,” said BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield. “Ultimately, we believe it is hard to imagine Moonves having a role in the combined company,” Greenfield said.
The analyst turned to Moonves and Ianniello: “Honestly they both just need to be terminated. The media industry house is on fire. They need to get even bigger than merged.”
With big media deals be- ginning to crystalize with Disney and Comcast vying for Fox and Comcast trying to buy Sky — not to mention AT&T and Time Warner looking to merge — many experts believe that time is of the essence for CBS and Viacom to combine and then hunt for a larger suitor.
It’s hard to imagine the fate of an up and coming executive changing as quickly as Ianniello’s might.
“Moonves is a visionary. Ianniello comes in and makes sure everything is in the right bucket,” Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav told The Post. “They create value, they are a formidable team. Joe is a good guy to deal with — he will give you a fast no if it’s a no.”
In the first quarter, CBS re- ported profits and revenue well above Wall Street expectations.
While Ianniello’s future at CBS won’t look bright if the Delaware judge rules in Redstone’s favor, don’t count him out. He’s been the underdog before.
An infielder on his high school baseball team, Ianniello was recruited by Pace University — but did little more than ride the bench. Frustrated, he tried out for the school’s football team — and made it.
Ianiello is a graduate of Columbia University’s business school. He joined CBS in 1997.
“Joe has a great ability to see the big picture,” a coworker told The Post.
A second insider said Ianniello is “not too big and he will give you context as to why … he’s not in the ivory tower.”
A judge may soon decide if Ianniello may be long for the Black Rock tower.