CBS’ New Directors Specialize In Deal-Making and New Media

CBS must work to put its former CEO, Leslie Moonves, in the past. To do so, it has hired a new slate of directors who have a fair amount of expertise in peering into the future.

CBS’ new directors include an attorney who specializes in mergers and acquisitions; a former top Wall Street investment banker; the CEO of a toy company that has worked to expand into entertainment; an expert in corporate transformation; a veteran entertainment-industry executive; and the former CEO of Time Warner. They take new roles as the company – the owner of what is one of the nation’s best known TV networks – attempts to move forward after Moonves left in the wake of multiple women levying serious allegations of sexual harassment against him and as the company grapples with a new world in which digital giants are outmaneuvering many of the entertainment’s traditional bellwethers.

Candace Beinecke is an attorney who specializes in corporate governance and M&A. Barbara Byrne is a former vice chairman of Barclays who helped Altria spin off Kraft, among other deals. Brian Goldner has steered toymaker Hasbro into the media world, setting up a joint-venture cable network with Discovery Communications and turning properties like “My Little Pony” into kiddie-TV favorites; Susan Schuman has helped companies – including Viacom and Oprah Winfrey Network – chart new transformation strategies. Strauss Zelnick is a veteran movie-and-music industry executive who has extended his expertise into videogames. Richard Parsons stabilized Time Warner after its disastrous merger with AOL and then went on to become chairman of Citigroup Inc.

More to come….

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