CBS Keeps Temporary CEO, Perhaps No One Wants the Job

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 30, 9:43PM EST · Published Apr 24, 5:04AM EDT

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The board of CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) says it will stop its search for a new chief executive officer. The temporary CEO will keep the job for the balance of the year. Perhaps no one is anxious to take on the position for a company that is so badly positioned for the streaming internet age, or one that has become a dwarf among media giants.

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The board announced:

Joseph Ianniello has agreed to extend his role as CBS Corporation’s President and Acting Chief Executive Officer for six additional months through Dec. 31, the Company announced today. In addition, as a testament to the accomplishments achieved by Ianniello since he became President and Acting CEO, CBS’ Board of Directors determined it would suspend its search for another Chief Executive Officer.

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In a statement, CBS’ Board of Directors said: “Joe has demonstrated exceptional leadership during this time of unprecedented transition at CBS. He steadied the ship with some key appointments and a commitment to cultural change, and steered it forward by focusing CBS’ operations around its growing direct-to-consumer strategy. We are very pleased to recognize Joe’s talents and efforts with this extension, and we look forward to all that he’ll continue to do to build on CBS’ remarkable momentum.”

Since assuming his current role in September 2018, Ianniello has successfully positioned CBS as a multiplatform premium content company, overseeing all operations while working closely with management and the creative community.

Ianniello may have another incentive. He made $27,359,452 in 2918, $22,116,488 in 2017 and $29,039,143 in 2016.

Additional speculation is that a new CBS CEO may not get the top job if the company merges with Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB), which has been mentioned as a possibility for years. Both companies are essentially controlled by the Sumner family. However, based on what Ianniello makes, the new CEO would get a large exit package.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.