Passion to Win

In one of the great business autobiographies of this or any other year, Sumner Redstone, at age 77, reveals, blow-by-blow, how he battled his way to control and ownership of a vast media and entertainment empire that includes Paramount Pictures, MTV, Nickelodeon, Blockbuster, Simon & Schuster, and now CBS. This is not the story of "a modern manager" such as a Jack Welch or a Gerald Levin; rather it is the story of the epic rise of a media giant, in the grand tradition of the Hearsts, Paleys, and Pulitzers. Redstone can proudly exclaim, "I AM VIACOM!" A Passion to Win tells the whole extraordinary, inside story of his battles and friendships with Barry Diller, Paramount head Martin Davis; his abrupt firing of CEO Frank Biondi and Simon & Schuster CEO Richard Snyder, among others; and finally in an $85 billion merger, loosening his powerful grip to consent to CBS chief Mel Karmazin as Viacom COO. But the book also provides countless practical insights into his credo of "Content is King" and his amazing talent for negotiation -- perhaps unrivaled in the entire industry. At the heart of the book is the relentless drive that helped Redstone overcome every obstacle in the way of his $10 billion takeover of Paramount, one of the toughest and nastiest battles in modern media history.