Sumner Redstone Suing Former Companions

Sumner Redstone wants his money back.

The legal team for the 93-year-old media mogul filed a lawsuit against his two former companions, Manuela Herzer and Sydney Holland, alleging that they abused him, took more than $150 million and left him in debt.

The elder-abuse suit, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, says Mr. Redstone is seeking the return of his more than $150 million "with interest."

Mr. Redstone—who, according the complaint, has such trouble communicating that he has to use an iPad programmed with his voice using excerpts of interviews and speeches he has given in the past—controls Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. through a roughly 80% voting stake in each. He has been at the center of a series of both personal and corporate legal battles over the past year centering on questions over his mental capacity.

Ms. Holland and Ms. Herzer, both considerably younger than Mr. Redstone, "commandeered" his life beginning in 2010, moving into his mansion, assuming responsibility for his health care and telling him, falsely, that his family didn't want to visit or talk to him, according to the complaint written by Mr. Redstone's attorney, Rob Klieger.

The lawsuit also claims that they had him sedated when they wanted him to "sign documents without asking lots of questions." He was allegedly coaxed into liquidating almost his entire accessible fortune—the stock options and other compensation he got from CBS and Viacom that weren't tied up in the trust set up for the benefit of his grandchildren—to bequeath to Ms. Herzer and Ms. Holland, according to the complaint.

His gift of $90 million to them triggered nearly $90 million in gift and other taxes. To cover the taxes, Mr. Redstone was obliged to borrow from National Amusements Inc., the Redstone family holding company where the controlling stakes of CBS and Viacom reside, according to the complaint. Mr. Redstone owns 80% of National Amusements, while his daughter, Shari, owns the remaining 20%.

Ron Richards, Ms. Herzer's attorney, said the lawsuit "has no merit whatsoever."

"All of the gifts Mr. Redstone made to my client and to Sydney Holland were made with his full knowledge and blessing," he wrote in a statement. "Mr. Redstone continues to be victimized by his daughter and her surrogates. Hopefully, in defense of this lawsuit, his true state of mind will finally come to light."

A spokeswoman for Ms. Redstone declined to comment. Ms. Holland didn't respond to a request for comment.

A year ago, after Ms. Herzer was thrown out of his Beverly Hills mansion, she filed a lawsuit alleging that Mr. Redstone lacked the mental capacity at the time to remove her as his health-care agent, which also coincided with his writing her out of his will. That case was dismissed earlier this year, and Ms. Redstone, who has at times had a strained relationship with her father, became his health-care agent.

In the wake of that case, Mr. Redstone removed his longtime confidants Philippe Dauman and George Abrams from the trust set up to take charge of his controlling stakes in CBS and Viacom when he dies or is incapacitated, setting off another legal battle that led to Mr. Dauman's departure as the chief executive of Viacom and the remaking of that company's board.

In the wake of that overhaul, National Amusements directed CBS and Viacom to explore a potential merger.

Write to Keach Hagey at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 25, 2016 19:15 ET (23:15 GMT)

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