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CBS Corp. late Monday unveiled a new employment agreement with president and CEO Leslie Moonves that will keep him in the positions through June 2017.
The deal supersedes his prior contract, which was to end in 2015.
Under the terms of the new pact, Moonves’ salary remains unchanged. He also continues to be eligible for an annual performance-based bonus and will get stock-based compensation to further tie his pay to the performance of the company’s stock.
At the end of the new term, Moonves will be eligible, at his discretion, to serve as an executive adviser to CBS Corp. for an additional four years, according to the company. During that term, he also has the option to establish a production company under the CBS umbrella.
“This is terrific news for CBS and all of its constituencies,” said executive chairman and controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone. “Leslie’s record as a CEO is not only among the best in media, it’s among the best in all of business.” He added: “I look forward to all Leslie will continue to do as the genius that he is.”
Moonves, 63, first came to CBS in 1995 as president of entertainment.
“I take great pride in all the tremendous success we’ve enjoyed at CBS,” he said. “And the good news is that I feel even more enthusiastic about what my terrific team and I will accomplish going forward. I am very gratified that my relationship with CBS will continue into the future, and I look forward to building on all of the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.”
After taking the CBS network from last to first place in the ratings in his early tenure at the company, Moonves was promoted to president and CEO of CBS Television in 1998 and became its chairman in 2003. He was named co-president and co-COO of Viacom and chairman of CBS in 2004.
In 2006, when Viacom split its businesses into two publicly traded companies, he became president and CEO of the new CBS Corp.
The company Monday cited his focus on developing new revenue streams, such as retransmission-consent fees and licensing fees from digital streaming services including Netflix and Amazon.com. The company also highlighted that under his leadership, CBS Corp. has been the best-performing media stock for the past three years.
Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
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