VIACOM CEO DUMPS $12M IN STOCK OPTIONS - w/ link to SEC

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ^

[VOA]

I heard a law professor (Stephen Bainbridge of UCLA Law) say that ANY sizeable transaction
involving Viacom/CBS during the Memogate timeframe would get a real SEC look.
This was on the Hugh Hewitt radio show this last week-
http://www.hughhewitt.com

[jimbo123]

I will be contacting the SEC tomorrow. Sumner Redstone (born Murray Rothstein) is a born and bred Massachussetts liberal and longtime supporter of John Kerry. He needs to explain his actions to the SEC and prove that his allegiance to Kerry and Rather had no impact on his decision to sell those shares.

[hinckley buzzard]

Viacom is currently spinning off Blockbuster, and is inviting stockholders to trade their Viacom shares for Blockbuster shares. To do this, they sweeten the deal by offering Viacom shareholders a premium over the market price of Blockbuster.

It is a good deal for Viacom shareholders and the fact that Redstone is only exercising the option on one third of his Viacom holdings suggests that he is not exactly rushing for the exits. he's just cashing in on a good thing , and it's perfectly legitimate.

Sorry, but this is a nonstory.

[Thane_Banquo]

If we know about the memo controversy, we probably would have a good idea that there would be adverse P&L controversy. If he sold on the 14th, then the market would know.

Moreover, the law for insider information is ambiguous and rarely applied. It is rarely a clear-cut case that someone is guilty of violating insider trading laws., which is why Martha Stewart wasn't charged with insider trading.

[Big Digger]

If Sumner and his Viacom management team are about to order a housecleaning at CBS, which could certainly affect the stock value, and they alone know about it, isn't that insider information? Stand by for Sumner's other shoe to drop, then let's see if the SEC has something to act on.

[avital2]

the paperwork for this kind of sale takes weeks to get through the lawyers for clearance, so he had most likely started this process weeks before Rathergate. no story here.

[claudiustg]

Large insider sales of stock have to be announced and approved well in advance to be legal. This was probably set in motion long before Rathergate.

[rface]

I will be contacting the SEC tomorrow.......how would I go about doing this too?

[Servant of the 9]

This says it all.

So9

[jimbo123]

Rathergate has been in the works for several years. Redstone (Rothstein) knew about it all along.

[woodb01]

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/813828/000081382804000150/xslF345X02/red370.xml

Here is a list of some analysts that follow Viacom, as well as Viacom Investor Relation contacts. E-mail them with concerns you have about the liberal bias of Dan Rather and Mary Mapes adversely affecting CBS ratings. Also ask them why Redstone is dumping part of his investment by exercising options on 9-14.

The analysts will usually forecast Viacom’s prospects and its attractiveness as an investment. If CBS market share significantly declines, then its prospects are not good.

Be nice. These people are on the outside of Viacom and they do have some influence.

Analysts that follow Viacom
Jessica Reif Cohen - Jessica_Reif@ml.com
Katherine Styponias - katherine_styponias@prusec.com
Spencer Wang - spencer.wang@jpmorgan.com
Henry Ellenbogen - henry_ellenbogen@troweprice.com
Stacey Widlitz - swidlitz@fulcrumgp.com
John Hill - john.hill@schwab.com

Viacom Investor Relations Contacts
Carl D. Folta - carl.folta@viacom.com
Susan Duffy - susan.duffy@viacom.com
Martin Shea - marty.shea@viacom.com
James Bombassei - james.bombassei@viacom.com

[stockpirate]

Insiders have to file a form 144 way in advance before they can sell shares. When they file the 144 they do not have to sell the shares by the date mentioned in the 144.

Or they can have a formula for when to sell. ie If the price gets to X sell Y number of shares. Or if the price gets to X buy Y number of shares. This way insider info does not play a part.

[jimbo123]

http://www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml

[woodb01]

Contrary to what you think, these transactions no longer take weeks, in fact, his "sell" notice was on 9-14 (and was almost immediate) and the public notice was done on 9-16...

Look at the governemet SEC filing yourself below...

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/813828/000081382804000150/xslF345X02/red370.xml

[stockpirate]

Besides in looking at the insider trading deals for Viacom VIA and VIAB shares he has not sold any shares in at least the last 2 years.

[woodb01]

When it comes to exercising options, I do not think any Form 144 rules apply. Don't know what a 144 form is, but do know about exercising options, and these can be done at virtually ANY TIME without any notice.

[kcar]

Agreed. He could be presumed to know how exactly CBS was prepared to respond to the fakes (because if he asked they would certainly have told him). But we didn't know until they did circle the wagons. Nor do we know how they are planning to stumble mumble their way forward. I sure hope the SEC are looking into this.

[occutegirl]

Maybe he had more info than what was available to the public?
Forged memos are embarrassing, but if there had been a retraction and an apology, would there have been long lasting damage?
Enough to make the CEO dump that much stock?

[Cableguy]

I think people are reading way too much into this. Execs sell stock all the time. Especially during periods before/after earnings are announced. I would like to think that this is because of Memogate, but I don't see it.

[avital2]

i know as a broker that the paperwork and clearance through lawyers on brokerage and company sides takes a bit of time, even if it's Sumner Redstone -- actually, especially if it's S Redstone. generally the final paperwork is signed at the actual time of the sale.