Dismissal upheld in suit over Viacom payments to Redstone

Delaware's Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of a shareholder lawsuit challenging Viacom Inc.'s payment of more than $13 million in compensation to company founder and former chairman Sumner Redstone.

The court on Friday affirmed a judge's dismissal of a suit alleging that Viacom's directors approved payments to Redstone from 2014 to 2016 when the ailing billionaire media mogul was incapacitated and incapable of doing his job.

The judge said the claims were released as part of a 2016 settlement resolving three other lawsuits involving control of Viacom and the composition of its board.

The same judge is currently presiding over a CBS Corp. lawsuit against National Amusements Inc., which is the controlling shareholder of both CBS and Viacom and has been pressing for a merger of the two companies.