The Buzzards Are Circling Around Sumner Redstone

So far, National Amusements has been stingy with information about its difficulties. A former Viacom executive says Redstone was long in the habit of spending freely from National Amusement coffers—to the annoyance of his daughter Shari. She was irked, for example, when Redstone in 2007 pledged $105 million to the treatment of burns and prostate cancer, both of which have afflicted him. “He took credit for [the donations] personally,” says a former colleague. “You don’t see National Amusements’ name anywhere.”

No one has pressed harder for transparency than Rich Greenfield, a securities analyst with Pali Research. “What continues to amaze us is why [National Amusements] does not go on the record with its full financial position, given its importance to [Viacom and CBS] shareholders,” he wrote on his blog last Friday. (National Amusements declined to comment for this article.)

Last week, there was so much speculation that Redstone might be forced to sell CBS or Viacom that he felt compelled to deny it in a Wall Street Journal interview, adding, “We have no intention to sell any more stock.”

But not everyone was convinced. One longtime Viacom insider believes Redstone may be looking into the sale of CBS—an option that he would prefer to parting with Viacom. But with TV ad revenue shriveling, the network would be the tougher sell.

Last week, Redstone said he was encouraged by the status of negotiations with banks to restructure his debt. And many observers think he can pull it off.

If detractors are right when they blame Redstone’s rapaciousness for getting him into this situation, it seems the same sort of analysis could be applied to his marital issues. There had been murmurs that Redstone had been seeing two—or was it three?—lady friends just before his five-year Cinderella marriage to the humble schoolteacher succumbed. In fact, he appears to have had enough long-term polygamous entanglements to prepare him for membership in the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter-day Saints.

Associates recall a longtime liaison with a divorcée from Massachusetts, as well as one Manuela from Latin America, who may still be in the picture. “She’s a nightmare,” says one of the former Redstone associates. “She’d go to Nickelodeon events and demand things—front-row seats for a party of 13 or 14—and drive them nuts.” The notion that Redstone is still so very…active stirs a mixture of feelings in those looking on. “It’s a little pathetic, but on the other hand, it’s like, ‘Wow. Can he really do that?’” says the producer.

Maybe he can do it all. According to one friend, Redstone wasn’t faking his cool demeanor at those recent dinners. “Controversy does not bother him,” he says. “He loves adversity.”