New Viacom Board Has Fewer Insiders

Viacom Inc. shareholders approved a board of directors with fewer company insiders, making it the latest company to distance its board from management as a safeguard against corporate scandals.

Viacom Chairman Sumner M. Redstone’s son Brent, CBS chief Leslie Moonves, CSFB Vice Chairman Ken Miller and George Conrades, chairman of Akamai Technologies Inc., did not stand for reelection to the new 17-member board.

Three new independent directors are former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph A. Califano Jr.; former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen; and former Bear Stearns Chairman Alan Greenberg. The board now has 11 independent members compared with 10 on the previous 18-person board.

Shares of Viacom Class B stock rose nearly 2%, or 86 cents, to $44.08 on the NYSE.