Sep 10, 2018

Les Moonves out at CBS

Sara Fischer

Photo: Adam Jeffery/CNBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

CBS Corporation announced Sunday night that longtime leader Les Moonves will depart as chairman, president, and CEO. The announcement comes just hours after a second Ronan Farrow report in The New Yorker in which six more women alleged sexual misconduct by the television veteran.

Why it matters: Moonves is one of the most high-profile executives to be brought down by the #MeToo movement. His departure comes after weeks of inaction from CBS' board, which had drawn a great deal of criticism from advocacy groups.

The details:

  • The replacement: CBS COO Joe Ianniello will now serve as president and acting CEO, something insiders have long anticipated.
  • Board shakeup: CBS is getting rid of six board members, who voted to dilute its parent company shares, and is adding six new board members, including three women.
  • The terms: CBS also announced a settlement to end its legal battle with majority shareholder Shari Redstone and her holding company National Amusements Inc. NAI reaffirmed its previous position that it won't continue to push CBS to merge with its former sister company Viacom.
  • No payday: Moonves has been stripped of his $100 million-plus severance package due to the allegations. In a statement, Moonves and CBS said that they will donate $20 million of Moonves' severance to advocacy groups who support the #MeToo movement.

Go deeper: New Moonves accusations prompt reports of his imminent departure.

Go deeper

Axios

World coronavirus updates: Spain's health care system overloaded

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens and confirmed plus presumptive cases from the CDC

Two planes carrying protective equipment arrived to restock Spain’s overloaded public health system on Wednesday as confirmed cases surpassed 100,000 and the nation saw its biggest death toll so far, Reuters reports.

The big picture: COVID-19 cases surged past 930,000 and the global death toll exceeded 46,000 on Wednesday night, per Johns Hopkins data. Italy has reported more than 13,000 deaths.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 13 mins ago - Health
Axios

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 9 p.m. ET: 932,605 — Total deaths: 46,809 — Total recoveries: 193,177 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 9 p.m. ET: 213,372 — Total deaths: 4,757 — Total recoveries: 8,474 — Map.
  3. Business updates: Small businesses are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus job crisis.
  4. World update: Spain’s confirmed cases surpassed 100,000, and the nation saw its biggest daily death toll so far. More than 500 people were reported dead within the last 24 hours in the U.K., per Johns Hopkins.
  5. State updates: Florida and Pennsylvania are the latest states to issue stay-at-home orders — Michigan has more than 9,000 confirmed cases, an increase of 1,200 and 78 new deaths in 24 hours.
  6. Stock market updates: Stocks closed more than 4% lower on Wednesday, continuing a volatile stretch for the stock market amid the coronavirus outbreak.
  7. 1 future thing: Shifts to telemedicine, at-home diagnostics, and drone delivery are all likely lasting consequences from this pandemic.
  8. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
  9. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

Subscribe to Mike Allen's Axios AM to follow our coronavirus coverage each morning from your inbox.

Keep ReadingArrowUpdated 15 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Rebecca Falconer, Orion Rummler, Marisa Fernandez

U.S. coronavirus updates: Confirmed cases surpass 200,000

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Positive cases of the novel coronavirus passed 213,000 on Wednesday — nearly twice as many as Italy, per Johns Hopkins — as more state governors issued stay-at-home orders for Americans to curb infection.

The state of play: Trump administration officials are anonymously sounding the alarm that America's emergency stockpile of personal protective equipment is running dangerously low, the Washington Post reports.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 22 mins ago - Health