By Joe Flint and Emily Glazer
Former Walt Disney Co. Chief Operating Officer Tom Staggs has
emerged as a top candidate to become CBS Corp.'s new CEO, people
familiar with the matter said, as the network looks to turn the
page on months of uncertainty and upheaval since the departure of
Leslie Moonves over allegations of sexual harassment.
The interest in Mr. Staggs has been informally conveyed to the
executive, who left Disney in 2016 when it became clear he wouldn't
succeed Robert Iger as Disney's chief executive, the people
said.
Mr. Staggs is first on the list -- which includes about 10
people -- "by a reasonably wide margin," one of the people
said.
Wooing him could be challenging. When he was approached weeks
ago, Mr. Staggs expressed reservations but remained open to further
discussions, people close to the parties said.
Other potential candidates for the CEO position include Hasbro
Inc. President and CBS director Brian Goldner and Starz Chief
Operating Officer Jeffrey Hirsch, a person close to the process
said. CBS interim CEO Joe Ianniello is also a candidate. CBS
interim chairman Strauss Zelnick took himself out of consideration
earlier this month.
Former senior Time Warner executives John Martin and Olaf
Olafsson are also among those who have had informal contact about
the job, people familiar with the matter said. HBO Chief Executive
Richard Plepler also was sounded out but indicated he wasn't
interested, the people said.
The CEO search comes in the aftermath of busted merger talks
between CBS and its sister media company Viacom Inc. Shari
Redstone, president of National Amusements Inc., the controlling
shareholder of both companies, has previously pushed for a merger.
Earlier this year, she agreed to not seek a combination as part of
a settlement with CBS, which had moved to break free of National
Amusements.
If the two companies do combine, that would seemingly force
either Viacom CEO Bob Bakish or the new chief of CBS to relinquish
their title.
The CBS board is considering how to sweeten an offer for Mr.
Staggs, one of the people said. One possibility that could appeal
to Mr. Staggs and other candidates of his stature is if the
position was executive chairman and chief executive, a person close
to the company said.
The CEO and chairman jobs have been open since Mr. Moonves's
departure in September. Mr. Ianniello, CBS's chief operating
officer, is currently serving as interim chief executive. Mr.
Zelnick, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., is serving
as interim chairman.
Mr. Staggs hasn't met with Ms. Redstone, who is also vice
chairman of CBS, people familiar with the matter said.
Mr. Staggs had seemed Mr. Iger's most likely successor at Disney
when he stepped down in 2016 after learning that Mr. Iger and the
rest of the board had decided to broaden the search for Mr. Iger's
successor to include more candidates, The Wall Street Journal
reported a the time.
CBS's board, which has six new members since Mr. Moonves was
forced out, retained the search firm Korn Ferry to find a permanent
chief executive.
CBS's board on Monday said Mr. Moonves wouldn't receive any of
his $120 million severance package because he breached his
employment contract and failed to cooperate fully with an
investigation into the matter.
With the Moonves matter behind them, the board is seeking to
pivot to the successor search with hopes of naming a chief
executive in the first quarter of next year, a person with
knowledge of the board's thinking said.
The investigation that led the board to deny Mr. Moonves his
$120 million severance payment also looked at CBS's overall
culture. While the CBS board on Monday said investigators
determined that harassment and retaliation aren't pervasive at CBS,
they found the company's "historical policies, practices and
structures have not reflected a high institutional priority on
preventing harassment and retaliation."
The investigation's findings were presented orally to CBS board
members on Dec. 10. The board held a conference call a week later
to vote on the circumstances of Mr. Moonves's termination.
Directors who have been appointed since Mr. Moonves's departure
were "incredibly adamant and had been for weeks that they cannot
pay [Moonves] a cent," a person familiar with the board's
deliberations said.
Mr. Moonves's exit package allows him to pursue arbitration. A
spokesman for Mr. Moonves didn't respond to a request for comment
on what actions the former CEO might take in pursuit of some or all
of his severance package.
Mr. Moonves's lawyer Andrew Levander said Monday the CBS board's
conclusions were "foreordained and without merit." He reiterated
that Mr. Moonves "vehemently denies any nonconsensual sexual
relations and cooperated extensively and fully with
investigators."
In a memo to staff on Monday, Mr. Ianniello said the conclusion
of the probe "does not mean that our work is done, or that we don't
have significant improvements that will continue to be made. Our
commitment to a safe, collaborative and inclusive workplace is
ongoing, and remains a top priority for us."
The investigation also looked into CBS News in the wake of "CBS
This Morning" anchor Charlie Rose's firing last year after
allegations of harassment and improper behavior during his career.
Mr. Rose said he had behaved "insensitively" at times but also said
he did not believe "that all of these allegations are
accurate."
"60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager was also investigated
after allegations of misconduct were made in a New Yorker article
that he denied. Mr. Fager was let go by CBS after sending a message
to a CBS reporter covering the story that was interpreted as
threatening.
CBS News President David Rhodes is in the process of naming new
leadership for "60 Minutes" and the network's morning show, which
has seen ratings decline since Mr. Rose's departure. Mr. Rhodes's
own contract with the network is up at the end of February, people
familiar with the matter said.
Since Mr. Moonves's departure, Mr. Ianniello has made several
leadership changes including promoting Showtime Networks Chief
Executive David Nevins to chief creative officer for the entire
company, giving him programming oversight of the broadcast network
as well as its cable channels.
--Shalini Ramachandran contributed to this article
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com and Emily Glazer at
emily.glazer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 18, 2018 18:03 ET (23:03 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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