Comments on: Sumner Redstone, Martha Stewart and Dan Rather

By: ivrydov

ivrydov — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 19:40:23 +0000

Not surprising that old Sumner caught on right away that the young whippersnapper Rather had a forgery on his hands. He helped break the diplomatic and military codes of the Japanese in WWII. Why should he take a hosing because that numskull doesn’t know what a superscript is?

By: Cathy Brooks

Cathy Brooks — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 18:03:56 +0000

Related issues in Redstone’s trading: 1) His acquisition of Midway Game stock amidst rumors that Viacom may acquire Midway and followed by an actual offer to Midway from Viacom to acquire one of its game properties. 2) The pending tender to Viacom shareholders to trade in their stock in Viacom and take back stock in Blockbuster preparatory to a split-off of Blockbuster - while writing down a huge loss on the books of Viacom based on overvaluation of Blockbuster goodwill. 3) A lawsuit filed in Delaware by a Viacom shareholder alleging material misrepresentations and omissions in the Blockbuster/Viacom tender offer prospectus. 4) A filing Monday, shortly before the CBS apologies, amending the terms of that tender.

And by the way, WMS, another company in which Redstone is >10% shareholder is a vendor to the gaming industry.

Finally, any research on Redstone’s holdings and manipulations has to include a search through holdings by National Amusements, which he owns through ownership of NA’s parent.

Consider the possibility that truth in broadcasting during a presidential campaign took second seat to financial considerations. Consider Redstone’s contributions to Kerry’s campaign and democratic committees.

Has anyone reported on the allegations/merits of the shareholder suit in Delaware?

By: ProfessorBainbridge.com

ProfessorBainbridge.com — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 15:28:56 +0000

Sumner Redstone’s Stock Trades During Rathergate
My friend Thomas Lifson (blogger and winemaker) notes some curious trading by Sumner Redstone, Viacom’s CEO (and major contributor to the Dems), during the Rathergate episode:A copy of the SEC’s Form 4 “Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership…

By: JunkYardBlog

JunkYardBlog — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:21:45 +0000

CBS NOW COLLUDING WITH THE FORGER?
I pointed out a few posts earlier that CBS/Viacom lawyers need to beware of witness tampering and obstruction of justice, but I guess they don’t watch MSNBC or read blogs. It sure looks like key witnesses/suspects at CBS are now…

By: Blogreading CEO

Blogreading CEO — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 10:37:17 +0000

Maybe Sumner reads blogs.

His lawyers could call it “The Instapundit Defense”.

Heh.

By: David Gillies

David Gillies — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 08:25:33 +0000

This movement is well within VIA’s 3-month trading range. Eyeballing the charts, there seems to have been a trend downwards from mid-April until early August, followed by a weak rally and then pretty flat trading since. I really wouldn’t read much into this as set against near-term historical data. A genuine crisis would see bigger movements. I’d have to plot trend lines and betas to start to get a real handle on the data but a cursory examination doesn’t reveal too much of any interest.

By: lostingotham

lostingotham — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 03:18:57 +0000

I posted a piece last week (http://adeimantus.blogspot.com/2004/09/liability-for-viacom-under-10b-5.html)in which I argued that Viacom faces 10b-5 liability. With Redstone’s sale (which took place, it should be noted, before CBS had changed its characterization of its memos from “authentic” to “accurate”), I will be very surprised if we don’t see private 10b-5 actions and very possibly a major SEC investigation.