Viacom has tapped six outsiders to serve as directors once the company splits into two pieces, including one former adviser to Chairman Sumner Redstone and two who share Redstone’s Boston roots.
The most interesting appointment is Tom Dooley, who will serve on the board of the new Viacom, composed primarily of MTV Networks and Paramount.
Dooley spent 20 years at Viacom, most recently as executive VP of finance. But he got squeezed out of the company by ex-president Mel Karmazin, who dealt Dooley and another Redstone confidant, Philippe Dauman, out of the company as part of his agreement to sell CBS to Viacom in 2000. Dooley and Dauman have since teamed to create private equity firm DND Capital Partners, which specializes in the media and communications industries. Dauman is a director of Viacom and will serve on the board of CBS Corp. after the split.
Also on the board of the new Viacom will be Ellen Futter, president of the American Museum of Natural History and Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots.
Joining the board of CBS Corp. are Charles K. Gifford, former CEO of BankBoston and FleetBoston; Bruce Gordon, a longtime Verizon executive who in June was named president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Ann Reese, a finance executive who helped found advocay group Center for Adoption Policy; and Judith Sprieser, former CEO of software company Transora, who previously was a longtime executive at Sara Lee Corp.
