DAUMAN GAMES DRAMA

Viacom ouster talk

The Olympics and the craziest presidential race in recent memory can’t keep Viacom’s long-running spectacle out of the headlines.

The media conglomerate’s shares rose 2.1 percent Wednesday, to $43.74, on renewed speculation that settlement talks between controlling shareholders and Chief Executive Philippe Dauman will result in his ouster.

The shareholders, Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari, who control 80 percent of the entertainment giant’s votes through the familyowned National Amusements Inc., have been pressing to oust Dauman from the family trust and the Viacom board.

The Redstones are unhappy with Viacom’s performance under Dauman.

Dauman and fellow board member George Abrams have been pushing back — filing lawsuits in Massachusetts and Delaware.

A trial on the Massachusetts action is set to begin on Sept. 19.

Dauman and Abrams claim Sumner, 93 and in ill health, doesn’t have the ability to make corporate decisions and that Shari, taking advantage of her dad, is trying to pirate his $40 billion media empire, which includes CBS.

The two sides have been involved in on-again, off-again settlement talks.

The Post, on July 14, was first to report on the talks — which broke down soon thereafter.

On Aug. 11, The Post first reported on the restarted talks.

Separately, much has been made of the $94 million Dauman will pocket if he loses his job in the clash.

What hasn’t been pointed out until now is that Dauman’s payout includes the second-biggest cash component — $72 million — among all S&P 500 CEOs, according to Bloomberg News, which calculated the payoff based on the stock price as of last Sept. 30.

His total package lands at No. 15 on Bloomberg’s list of the top 20 biggest golden parachutes, which can include cash, accelerated stock-vesting and other benefits and perquisites.

Meanwhile, Greenberg Glusker lawyer Pierce O’Donnell confirmed in an interview with The Post that Sumner Redstone’s granddaughter Keryn Redstone will continue her legal fight against her aunt Shari even if the settlement talks bear fruit.

“Keryn will go forward to protect her interests and the other trust beneficiaries — her sister and Shari Redstone’s kids,” he said.

At stake are $1 billion in inheritances from which Keryn was “improperly removed,” said O’Donnell.

Keryn also was removed as a $6 million beneficiary from another Redstone-related trust, he said.

Neither side in the settlement talks could be immediately reached for comment.