Les Moonves Won't Get A Penny Of His $120M CBS Severance Package

Former CBS Corporation CBS CEO Les Moonves won't receive any of the $120 million severance package he was granted after the TV network's board of directors concluded it had grounds to terminate Moonves.

What Happened

Moonves resigned in September after sexual misconduct allegations were made public by the New Yorker and Vanity Fair. At that time, the executive was eligible to receive a severance package of up to $140 million of which $20 million was set aside to be donated to various charities and organizations that fight against workplace harassment and promote equality.

Moonves is no longer eligible to receive a payout after the board determined "there are grounds to terminate for cause, including his willful and material misfeasance, violation of Company policies and breach of his employment contract, as well as his willful failure to cooperate fully with the Company's investigation."

Meanwhile, Moonves' attorney Andrew Levander was quoted by CNN as saying the allegations against the TV executive are "are without merit."

CBS interim CEO Joe Ianniello told employees in a memo that a lot more work needs to be done to fix a broken internal culture, New York Times media reporter Ed Lee told CNBC Tuesday. He even put his phone number in the e-mail that was seen by all CBS employees.

What's Next

Large shareholder Shari Redstone, daughter of Sumner Redstone, will play a large role in picking out the next CEO, Lee said. At this point, Ianniello's chances of becoming the permanent CEO is 50/50 as he sided with Moonves during a legal dispute with the Redstone family.

The next CEO will also determinate the fate of the on-again-off-again merger with Viacom, Inc. VIAB, which is controlled by the Redstone family. Lee said it's more likely that within the next 18 months, there will be "significant cooperate action" to move a merger forward.

CBS trades around $47.23 per share.

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Les Moonves with his wife Julie Chen. Photo by David Shankbone/Wikimedia.