After working at Lorimar — which produced shows like “Dallas” and “Full House” — Mr. Moonves eventually became the head of Warner Bros. television unit, where he enjoyed one of the most successful runs in TV history. By the time Mr. Moonves left Warner Bros. to lead CBS Entertainment in 1995, he had a record-breaking 22 series on the air, including megahits like “ER” and “Friends.”
At that time, CBS was last in the ratings and catered to an older audience that enjoyed series like “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and “Touched by an Angel.” Mr. Moonves finally turned things around for good in 2000, when “Survivor” and “C.S.I.” debuted within a few months of each other. “Survivor” would become one of the most successful reality shows in television history, and “C.S.I.” would run for 15 seasons and served as a launching pad for several successful spinoffs. Hit after hit started to appear on CBS, from “NCIS” to “The Big Bang Theory.”
Mr. Moonves has drawn an annual pay package worth $69.3 million. From 2006 to 2017, Mr. Moonves’s total compensation, including salary and stock awards, totaled more than $1 billion, according to Equilar, a research firm that gathers data on executive pay.
Shortly after the first New Yorker article was published, the CBS board enlisted two law firms to lead an inquiry into the claims against Mr. Moonves and the wider workplace culture at the network. The board soon after folded a separate examination of CBS News — underway since March — into the larger investigation.
The board hired Nancy Kestenbaum of Covington & Burling and Mary Jo White of Debevoise & Plimpton to conduct the inquiry. Ms. White led the Securities and Exchange Commission during the Obama administration and was previously the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. Ms. Kestenbaum was also a federal prosecutor with the same district. The investigation into CBS News is also being overseen by the two law firms.
In addition to the harassment allegations against him, Mr. Moonves was involved in a legal dispute with Ms. Redstone, the controlling shareholder of CBS, who had been pushing for a merger with Viacom, the once-lofty cable network behind MTV and Nickelodeon that she also controls.
The settlement with Mr. Moonves and the CBS board includes delaying for two years any push by Ms. Redstone for a possible merger. The board of CBS, however, could still examine any possible transaction, including a Viacom merger, independently of Ms. Redstone.
The six new members of the board, announced on Sunday, are Candace Beinecke, Barbara Byrne, Brian Goldner, Richard D. Parsons, Susan Schuman and Strauss Zelnick.
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