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Redstone takes pay cut at CBS

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From Bloomberg News

CBS Corp. Chairman Sumner Redstone, bowing to shareholder complaints that company directors and top executives were overpaid, cut his salary and cash bonus for 2007 and linked his compensation to the stock’s performance.

CBS also said in a statement Tuesday that it resolved a case with shareholders who filed a complaint in 2005 charging the company with overpaying top executives.

The lawsuit, filed in New York state Supreme Court, charged Viacom directors with approving “excessive and unwarranted” compensation for Redstone, CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves and former Viacom CEO Thomas Freston in 2004. That year, the company had a loss of $17.4 billion.

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CBS, based in New York, was part of Viacom until the beginning of last year.

Redstone’s base salary will fall to $1 million from $1.75 million, and his cash bonus will be cut to $3.5 million from $6.1 million.

He also will get $3 million in stock options and $3 million in share units, depending on how CBS stock and the company’s operating income compare with the performance of the Standard & Poor’s 500 composite index.

CBS shares fell 73 cents to $30.56.

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