Viacom Inc. chief financial officer Richard Bressler resigned from the entertainment giant Monday night, citing the need for Viacom’s new management to install its own team.
Bressler joined Viacom in March 2001 from Time Warner Inc., where he had served in several roles since joining the company in 1988, including CFO through its January 2001 merger with America Online Inc.
He was brought to Viacom by former president and chief operating officer Mel Karmazin, who resigned last June.
Karmazin was replaced by a pair of longtime Viacom executives, Tom Freston and Les Moonves, who were each named co-president and co-COO.
In a statement late Monday night, Bressler said that although he had more than one year remaining on his employment contract -- it was set to expire in March 2006 -- he felt that the time was right to leave.
“When Tom and Les stepped into the co-president and co-chief operating officer roles, it became clear to me that they would need to have their own senior-management team,” Bressler said in the statement. “While I will miss the company and my colleagues, the timing seemed right to plan for my long-term future, which I believe lies elsewhere.”
Bressler will remain at Viacom until a new CFO is named.
Viacom stock was down 1 cent to $37.62 per share in early trading Tuesday.
