Media Mogul Sumner M. Redstone

ÐŽoA Passion To WinÐŽ±

Media mogul Sumner M. RedstoneЎЄ

The winner of the Survival game

Perhaps most of people have been excited by the famous movies such as ÐŽoFatherÐŽ±, ÐŽoBrave heartÐŽ±, ÐŽoTatanicÐŽ±etc. Maybe people donЎЇt know who is the producer of these movies? They are produced by Paramount Pictures which one of the companies of the media leader-viacom.

Sumner M. Redstone who is one of the worldЎЇs richest people is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom. Currently, Redstone owns seventy percent of the voting stock of Viacom. Viacom, in actuality, is a subsidiary of National Amusements, of which he owns the majority voting stock. In 2002 he was ranked #32 on Forbes magazine's list of the hundred richest people in the world, with an estimated worth of US$8.1 billion.

Under his leadership, Viacom has become one of the world's largest entertainment and media companies, and a leader in the production, promotion and distribution of entertainment, news, sports, music and comedy. Viacom played a significant role in every region of media market. Viacom's properties include CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, BET, Paramount Pictures, Viacom Outdoor, Infinity Broadcasting, UPN, Spike TV, TV Land, CMT: Country Music Television, Comedy Central, Showtime, and Simon & Schuster. National Amusements, Inc., a closely held corporation which operates approximately 1,400 motion picture screens in the United States, the United Kingdom and South America, is the parent company of Viacom.

ItЎЇs unbelievable that the producer of those entertainment programs is a ÐŽoyoung personÐŽ± who is nearly 80. ÐŽoI almost 25 years old, a young man who is just 25ÐŽ± He always confident like this. He put all his energy into the Viacom. He always says ÐŽoViacom is I, I am the Viacom, this is the permanent marriageÐŽ± The passion that he put into Viacom is really incredible.

Sumner M. Redstone was born May 27,1923 at Sumner Murray Rothstein, and grew up in boston, Massachusetts. He attended the prestigious Boston Latin school and graduated at the top of his class, which won him a position at Harvard College. He completed his B.A. in three years when the Board of Overseers of Harvard conferred him his degree. Afterward, Redstone served in World War II, decoding Japanese messages for the United States Army. Upon completion of his Army service, he worked in Washington, D.C. and attended Georgetown University Law School.He chose to transfer into Harvard Law School and received his LL.B from that institution.

After completing law school, Redstone working primarily in Washington, D.C., working at first for the U.S. Department of Justice and then going into private practice. However, after a few years in practice, he chose to join his father's theater chain management operation.

ÐŽoMr. Redstone has been Chairman of the Board of Viacom since June 1987, when National Amusements, Inc. acquired a controlling interest in the New York-based company. In January 1996, Mr. Redstone took on additional responsibilities as Chief Executive Officer of Viacom. Mr. Redstone has been Chairman of the Board of National Amusements since 1986, and Chief Executive Officer of National Amusements since July 1967. He was President of National Amusements from July 1967 to December 1999.ÐŽ±

Mr Redstone has played a significant role in the affairs of the entertainment and communications industries. He is a member of the Advisory Council for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation and is on the Board of Trustees for The Museum of Television and Radio. He also served as Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Theatre Owners, and currently is a member of the Executive Committee of that organization. Before that, he was President of the Theatre Owners of America, which was then the major trade association representing motion picture exhibitors.

His biography, ÐŽo Passion To Win ÐŽoas relased in 2001.This book details everything from Sumner's life as a young boy in Boston, to the difficult takeover of Viacom, and the problems he overcame in purchasing and managing both Blockbuster Video and Paramount Pictures

Redstone had never been doing this kind of media business and he didnЎЇt have any experiences before he purchase viacom. However, he was not worried about the future of Viacom. Although he inherit his familyЎЇs property, he said: ÐŽo I didnЎЇt follow the trail of my fathers, It was a personal decision when I purchased the Viacom.ÐŽ±

As Redstone grew National Amusements, he believed that content would become more important than distribution mechanisms. There would always exist channels of distribution (albeit in varied forms), but content was always going to be necessary (his famous quote is "content is king!"). He then made investments in Columbia Pictures, Twentieth-Century Fox, Orion Pictures,