Leslie Moonves, C.E.O. of CBS Corporation, announced Sunday, Sept. 9th that he will resign.
Back in July of this year, six women came forward and accused Moonves of sexual assault, which was later detailed in The New Yorker with an article from Ronan Farrow.
Farrow’s two articles detailed accusations by 12 women.
These accusations went back as far as the 1980s.
Since that time, Moonves has reached a settlement with CBS and stepped down from the company on Sept. 10, without taking his settlement package of almost $280 million, pending the findings of the probe into his behavior.
Even though Moonves may or may not receive his settlement package, he departs with a net worth $800 million.
Around $500 million of that was earned from CBS stock sales, cash salaries and bonuses, about $50 million in real estate and more than $70 million in CBS stock and options.
Moonves denies harassing anyone saying:
“I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely. But I always understood and respected- and abided by the principle- that ‘no’ means ‘no,’ and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone’s career. This is a time when we all are appropriately focused on how we improve our society, and we at CBS are committed to being part of the solution.”
Moonves joined CBS in 1995 and advanced to CEO in 2003.
CBS announced that Moonves and the corporation plan to donate $20 million to organizations that support equality for women in the workplace. This is an attempt to appease the public and the shareholders of CBS.
Joseph Ianniello, CBS’s chief operation officer, will serve as interim CEO in Moonves absence, until further notice.
