CBS holds its long-postponed annual shareholders meeting today at New Yorks Museum of Modern Art, where the formal agenda reflects none of the turmoil of the past year.
Investors will be asked to elect 11 directors — the majority of whom have joined the board, or been nominated, in a shakeup in September. Shareholders also will be asked to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers as the companys independent accountant, and approve the restatement of its long-term executive incentive plan.
Absent from the meeting agenda is one issue that has been dominating headlines for months: sexual misconduct allegations against the former CBS chairman and CEO, Les Moonves, who resigned after a dozen women came forward with accounts of unwanted sexual aggression.
Subsequent news stories, surfacing fresh allegations, have raised questions about whether Moonves will collect his $120 million severance package.
Activists staged a protest outside the shareholders meeting this morning to call on CBS directors to fire Moonves and deny him a final payday.
“With clear evidence proving that former CEO Les Moonves engaged in multiple acts of sexual abuse and used his position of power in attempt to undermine the investigation into his actions – CBS Board of Directors should move swiftly to fire Moonves for cause and deny him his $120 million golden parachute,” UltraViolet Executive Director Shaunna Thomas said in a statement.
Directors received a verbal briefing Monday from investigators looking into allegations of misconduct. Details of their preliminary findings, obtained by the New York Times, found that Moonves had destroyed evidence and misled investigators in an attempt to protect his reputation and severance package.
Investigators also found Moonves engaged in “multiple acts of serious, nonconsensual sexual misconduct,” both in the workplace and outside, according to the Times account.
It is unclear when CBS directors will reach a decision regarding Moonves severance.
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