Philippe Dauman

Philippe Dauman is the President and CEO of Viacom. He has served at this post since September 2006. Dauman is a longtime associate of the company's chairman Sumner Redstone. Dauman served from 1994 to 2000 as a member of Viacom's executive committee and as executive vice president in charge of strategic transactions, legal and government affairs, human resources and administration, supervising Paramount Pictures Entertainment, Showtime Networks and Simon & Schuster. Dauman was also a director at Redstone-owned CBS Corporation until September 2006.

From 1993 to 1998, he also was Viacom's general counsel.

Early Life and career

Philippe Dauman grew up in New York City, the son of a Life magazine photographer. [Brigid McMenamin, The Trophy Lawyers, Forbes, November 6, 1995, 132, excerpted at length in [http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2006/09/05/sumner-redstones-longtime-lawyer-is-viacoms-new-ceo/ the Wall Street Journal's law blog] ] At age 13 he earned a 1600, then the highest possible score, on the SAT, the entrance examination for elite universities in the United States, [Brigid McMenamin, The Trophy Lawyers, Forbes, November 6, 1995, 132.] a rare feat even among older teens. At Yale University he took up poker and fell in love with his roommate's sister, who would become his wife. [Brigid McMenamin, The Trophy Lawyers, Forbes, November 6, 1995, 132.] Dauman graduated from Columbia University School of Law in 1978 and went to work for the law firm of Shearman & Sterling, where he earned $25,000 as an associate. [Brigid McMenamin, The Trophy Lawyers, Forbes, November 6, 1995, 132.] After two years in the firm's Paris office, he returned to New York to work in the corporate group under partner Stephen Volk. [Brigid McMenamin, The Trophy Lawyers, Forbes, November 6, 1995, 132.] Handling a routine Securities and Exchange Commission form 13D filing for Volk client Sumner Redstone (also a poker player) in 1986 led to an advisory role in Redstone's 1987 hostile takeover of Viacom, a close personal relationship with Redstone, and a seat on Viacom’s board of directors. [Brigid McMenamin, The Trophy Lawyers, Forbes, November 6, 1995, 132.] Six years later, Dauman accepted an offer to join Viacom as senior vice president and general counsel, in exchange for $553,000 in salary with a $900,000 bonus. [Brigid McMenamin, The Trophy Lawyers, Forbes, November 6, 1995, 132.] In 1994 he pulled down $2.3 million, plus options worth millions more. [Brigid McMenamin, The Trophy Lawyers, Forbes, November 6, 1995, 132.]

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