Posted on 09/19/2004 2:41:21 PM PDT by rantblogger
On September 14, in the midst of the CBS/Rathergate scandal, Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone sold 341,500 shares of his options -- 1/3 of his shares.
Insider info, anyone?
Wouldn't ANY stock activity under the circumstances be suspect???
It wouldn't be insider info. Rather's memo problems are well
known.
Any stock activity motivated by memogate would be acceptable so long as it occured after the questions began about the memos. The market knows, so it wouldn't be insider trading.
REDSTONE, SUMMER M
DEDHAM,MA 02026
VIACOM INC/CHAIR MAN OF THE BOARD
5/3/2004
$1,000
Kerry, John
REDSTONE, SUMNER
DEDHAM,MA 02026
2/3/2004
$1,000
Kerry, John
REDSTONE, SUMNER
NEW YORK,NY 10036
VIACOM INC
9/26/2003
$1,000
Daschle, Tom
REDSTONE, SUMNER
NEWTON,MA 02459
VIACOM
5/13/2004
$1,000
Kennedy, Edward M
REDSTONE, SUMNER M
DEDHAM,MA 02027
NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS INC. & VAAEM I/
12/5/2003
$1,000
Kerry, John
REDSTONE, SUMNER M
NEW YORK,NY 10036
VIACOM
3/28/2003
$1,000
Leahy, Patrick
REDSTONE, SUMNER M
NEW YORK,NY 10036
VIACOM
3/28/2003
$1,000
Of course it would be insider information if he knew the Rather event was material to a change in the corporate P&L. Would you know that? Would I?
heck, even my cat was dumping her viacom stock last week. How is this insider info?
Details CBS's strategy and plans for handling the problem would be insider information. Not to say that the CEO had that knowledge, but it is certainly possible.
I think it's appropriate for Mr. Redstone to explain this transaction to the SEC given his relationship to Dan Rather and his pattern of campaign contributions to Kerry and other Demoncrats.
Not necessarily. Maybe the chief knows the who, what and where of the story that when it becomes public, will be devastating.
Redstone is aware of insider information in terms of unhappy CBS/Viacom advertisers as well as plans to continue to support Rather. Redstone is a Kerry contributor and confidante and needs to be held accountable for his actions by the SEC.
$12 Million is probably Mr. Redstone's lawn & pool budget, don't ya think?
"Wouldn't ANY stock activity under the circumstances be suspect???"
Especially since he has taken NO action to correct what is cauing all the problems with the stock, i.e. the continued employment of Dan Rather and producer Mary Mapes at CBS. He is blatently working AGAINST the best interests of all other stock holders.
SEC Reports: CEO of Viacom (CBS) dumps nearly $12 million in Stock
SEC Reports: CEO of Viacom (CBS) dumps nearly $12 million in Stock
Buy Viacom Puts, short Viacom, sell if you hold it!!!
Posted the same advice a week ago...
Excellent RantBlogger. I am so proud of you. So much of this stuff I would never know if not for all you FR guys.
Thanks
And incorrect. The guy controls another 100,000,000+ shares (!!!), according to the SEC filing. He sold less than 0.5% of his holdings. It's damn near a rounding error.
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