While his father developed his career as a business owner, Mr. Redstone distinguished himself as an exceptionally gifted student, graduating first in his class from the Boston Latin School in 1940 and earning a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1944, awarded by the University’s Special Board of Overseers. Mr. Redstone was selected to serve on an elite U.S. Army intelligence team responsible for breaking Japanese military and diplomatic codes during World War II due to his fluency in Japanese, Latin, French and German. Mr. Redstone served with this unit until the end of the war and received, among many honors, the Army Commendation Award and two commendations from the Military Intelligence Division in recognition of his service, contribution and devotion to duty.

After completing his military service, Mr. Redstone received an L.L.B. from Harvard University School of Law in 1947 – later amended to a Juris Doctorate – and began his career as a Law Secretary with the United States Court of Appeals and then as Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General. In 1951, Mr. Redstone was named Partner of the Washington D.C. law firm Ford, Bergson, Adams, Borkland & Redstone.

Three years later, in 1954, Mr. Redstone joined National Amusements and embarked on his celebrated, decades-long career in the entertainment industry. A skilled manager, he helped National Amusements expand to 59 screens by 1964 and 129 screens by 1974. He then began looking for growth opportunities and taking positions in companies specializing in content production. In line with his conviction that “content is king,” Mr. Redstone began accumulating stock in Twentieth Century Fox, Columbia Pictures and other content companies, all of which he turned over for significant profits when he sold his positions in the 1980s.

Mr. Redstone was especially passionate about his investment in Viacom and, seeing value in its youth-centric media holdings, purchased a controlling interest in the company in March 1987 for $3.4 billion. Mr. Redstone assumed the role of Chairman of Viacom and quickly oversaw a series of acquisitions that would make the company one of the top players in modern media, including the high-profile acquisitions of Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment, DreamWorks SKG and CBS. In 1996, Mr. Redstone was appointed CEO of Viacom, a position he held through 2005. Mr. Redstone served as Chairman of Viacom and CBS until 2016, when he assumed the position of Chairman Emeritus at each company. CBS and Viacom announced an agreement to merge in August 2019 and completed the merger in December 2019, becoming ViacomCBS. Upon the completion of the transaction, Mr. Redstone assumed the role of Chairman Emeritus of the combined company.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Redstone served as a member of multiple entertainment-focused organizations, including the Advisory Council for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation and on the Board of Trustees for The Paley Center for Media. He also served as the first Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Theatre Owners of America.

Mr. Redstone was the recipient of numerous accolades and awards in recognition of his accomplishments:

• 1965 – Served as the first Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Theater Owners
• 1977-1981 – Served on the Presidential Advisory Committee of the Arts of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• 1984 – Appointed Director of the Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation
• 1994 – Received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Boston University School of Law
• 2001 – Authored “A Passion to Win” with Peter Knobler; the book reached #1 on that year’sLos Angeles Times’Non-Fiction Bestsellers List
• 2012 – Honored with a star on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame
• 2012 – The Sumner Redstone Building in the Paramount Pictures lot was dedicated in his honor

Beyond his business ventures, Mr. Redstone lectured widely, including at the University of San Francisco, Harvard Law School and Brandeis University. In 1982, he joined the faculty of the Boston University School of Law, where he created one of the nation’s first courses in entertainment law.

Mr. Redstone dedicated himself to civic and community affairs and made significant contributions to charities and other worthy causes around the world. In 2007, the Sumner M. Redstone Foundation announced charitable grants to fund research and patient care advancements at FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions, the Cedars-Sinai Prostate Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and to the Cambodian Children’s Fund. In addition, Mr. Redstone made sizable donations to institutions of higher education, including funding the construction of The Sumner M. Redstone Building at the Boston University School of Law in 2012, and endowing The Sumner M. Redstone Fellowships in Public Service at Harvard Law School.

Mr. Redstone’s support of charitable organizations also included positions at the Board of Overseers of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, the Corporation of the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Board of Overseers of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Executive Board of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, the Board of the Jimmy Fund (Children’s Cancer Research Foundation), the Metropolitan Division of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies and the Corporation of the New England Medical Center.