Media giant and billionaire Sumner Redstone has died at the age of 97.
Redstone took over his father’s drive-in movie theatre business National Amusements and turned it into a multi-billion dollar cinema and media empire encompassing CBS and Viacom which includes Paramount Pictures, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and the Blockbuster video rental chain.
Redstone also developed the multiplex model in the 1960s, bringing movies into shopping malls and having more than one screen per site.
He was a man famous for his iron will – surviving a hotel fire by hanging from a third floor hotel-room window (and suffering burns in the process). Later he beat prostate cancer but also became embroiled in public legal battles revealing a turbulent personal life.
His once-estranged daughter, Shari Redstone, has effectively taken over the business as her father’s health deteriorated. His fortune is said to be somewhere in the $4.6 billion range.
Source: BBC News
