Philippe Pierre Dauman is an American businessman who served as President, CEO and Chairman of Viacom from September 2006 until May 20, 2016. Dauman was a longtime associate of the company's chairman Sumner Redstone. Dauman served from 1994 to 2000 as a member of Viacom's executive committee and as executive vice president in charge of strategic transactions, legal and government affairs, human resources and administration, supervising Paramount Pictures Entertainment, Showtime Networks and Simon & Schuster. Dauman was also a director at Redstone-owned CBS Corporation until September 2006. On February 4, 2016, it was announced that Viacom's board elected Dauman as Sumner Redstone's replacement for the position of Chairman of Viacom.
After graduating from Columbia, Dauman went to work for the law firm of Shearman & Sterling. After two years in the firm's Paris office, he returned to New York to work in the corporate group under partner Stephen Volk. Handling a routine Securities and Exchange Commission form 13D filing for Volk client Sumner Redstone, in 1986 led to an advisory role in Redstone's 1987 hostile takeover of Viacom, a close personal relationship with Redstone, and a seat on Viacom's board of directors. Six years later, Dauman accepted an offer to join Viacom as senior vice president and general counsel, in exchange for $553,000 in salary with a $900,000 bonus. In 1994, he earned $2.3 million, plus options worth millions more. He was Viacom's general counsel from 1993 to 1998. In 2009, Dauman and Viacom launched the Get Schooled education initiative with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an effort to have American public school students not drop out of school. He also hosted the Get Schooled education conference on September 8, 2009. Dauman is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is President and Treasurer of The Philippe and Deborah Dauman Family Foundation, which focuses on education and health. He formerly was a director of Lafarge, and on the Board of Directors of the KIPP Foundation, a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools in underserved communities. He was also a member of the Business Roundtable and served on the Executive Committee of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the Board of Trustees for The Paley Center for Media, the Board of Trustees of Northwell Health, the Executive Committee of the Lenox Hill Hospital and the Board of Trustees and Dean's Council of Columbia University School of Law. Dauman took a tough stance on the reproduction of Viacom's content when Viacom sued YouTube in March 2007. Dauman discussed copyright issues with YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley and was interested in working out a deal. Dauman and Chad could not agree over advertising terms however.
Legal issues
On May 20, 2016, Dauman and George S. Abrams were removed from the trust that will control Redstone's media empire. Dauman said in a statement: "These steps are invalid and illegal. As court proceedings and other facts have demonstrated, Sumner Redstone now lacks the capacity to have taken these steps. Sumner Redstone would never have summarily dismissed Philippe Dauman and George Abrams, his trusted friends and advisers for decades". The statement also said that Dauman and Abrams' removal is "...a shameful effort by Shari Redstone to seize control by unlawfully using her ailing father Sumner Redstone’s name and signature." Dauman has filed suit against Shari Redstone in an effort to keep his position on the Trust.
Personal life
In the 1970s, Dauman married Deborah Ross, in an Episcopalian church. They have two children, Philippe, Jr., and Alexandre.
