THE $120M HIRE

Viacom-CBS bite

Strauss Zelnick would be the $120 million man if he ends up running a combined CBS and Viacom, The Post has learned.

He is a leading contender in the mix to run the media colossus — partially due to his close relationship with mogul Shari Redstone. Zelnick, the current head of Take-Two Interactive and CBS chairman, would cost the merged entity plenty in employment guarantee payouts.

Viacom Chief Executive Bob Bakish and CBS interim CEO Joe Ianniello — who replaced boss Les Moonves in early September — have clauses in their employment agreements that guarantee big money if there is a change in ownership.

Bakish stands to receive $50 million and Ianniello $70 million if there is a merger and neither is the chosen leader, according to sources and a review of public records.

Meanwhile, CBS has begun its search for a permanent CEO after Moonves resigned under a cloud of harassment allegations. The board is also near the end of its investigation into whether Moonves should receive his $120 million severance package and will produce a report in several weeks, a source said.

When the CEO search ends in the middle of the f irst quarter, merger talks between Redstone-con- trolled CBS and Viacom are expected to begin, sources said.

CBS interim head Ianniello, a Brooklyn native, did much of the work earlier this year for CBS in preparing an unsuccessful bid for Viacom, and is still in favor of combining the media companies, sources said.

In addition, he is credited with developing projects like CBS All Access and Showtime’s streaming app.

“Joe would have no interest in being the No. 2 of a combined company,” one source said. His closeness to Moonves is also seen as a drawback.

The CBS board previously was not comfortable with Bakish, the Viacom CEO since December 2016, as head of the combined company, but changes in the makeup of the board could shift that opinion, a source said.

It is likely there will be no candidate with real heft who will take the CBS job knowing the company and Viacom could merge soon and the exec would then probably lose the position, sources said.

A merger should proceed relatively smoothly now that Redstone has clear control of the merged entity after winning a court fight, sources said.

CBS declined to comment, and Viacom did not return calls.