Les Moonves' ouster from CBS would be incredibly difficult -- thanks to his "immensely intricate" new 87-page contract

Vanity Fair

The CBS board of directors has to be "careful, thorough, and deliberative" in its handling of the Moonves sexual misconduct allegations, says William D. Cohan. "First, if the CBS board decides that Moonves has to go, and go relatively quickly in order to allow CBS to heal and to move out of the #MeToo media spotlight, they will probably have to pay him a meaningful amount of money," he says. "Moonves has a new and immensely intricate 87-page contract, which he signed last May, that delineates how and why he can be relieved of his job, and the ensuing compensation structures. In the contract, among other things, CBS can terminate Moonves 'for cause,' which would likely allow the company to avoid significant severance, with a myriad of definitions listed regarding what 'cause' might be. The sixth definition—if Moonves willfully and materially violated a CBS policy that is applicable to all employees or company officers, including policies on insider trading or sexual harassment—could possibly be relevant to his current imbroglio. The seventh—a failure to participate in a company investigation after being directed to do so by the board of directors—also might apply." Cohan adds that Moonves might be able to resign before getting fired and collect $184 million. ALSO: Moonves avoided talking about his sexual misconduct scandal on an earnings call Thursday.