REVEALED: Les Moonves gave up more than $34.5 million in stock awards from CBS last year after he was pushed out over sexual misconduct allegations
- Les Moonves, 69, ex-CEO of CBS forfeited the stock awards after he was forced to resign in September according to SEC proxy filings by the network on Friday
- The disgraced Moonves got to keep a salary that added up to $12.6 million in 2018, but he made more than $69 million over 2016 and 2017
- Moonves, who denies the accusations of sexual misconduct made against him, is still attempting to win a $120 million severance in arbitration that CBS withheld
Ex-CBS CEO Les Moonves forfeited a large amount of his company stock awards in 2018 due to his removal over sexual misconduct allegations.
In Securities and Exchange Commission proxy filings on Friday, CBS showed that the disgraced former chief gave up more than $34 million of the approximately $42.5 million in stock awarded to him last year, HuffPost reported.
However, Moonves still got to keep $12.6 million in last year’s salary, $8 million of which came from a 2017 bonus. The former executive earned more than $69 million in compensation in 2016 and 2017.
He was also set to walk away with a $120 million golden parachute if an investigation into his allegations of sexual misconduct found that there were no grounds to terminate him for cause.
Les Moonves was forced to resign as CEO from CBS over sexual misconduct allegations in September of last year, and forfeited more than $34.5 million in stock awards in doing so
Left to right, Julie Chen and Les Moonves, at the funeral service for the late Senator John McCain, September 1, 2018. Moonves would resign only nine days later due to sexual misconduct allegations
But, CBS said it would deny Moonves his severance claiming he tried to thwart a probe into sexual misconduct accusations against him by deceiving investigators and destroying evidence.
The ex-CEO notified the television network he used to run of his decision to demand binding arbitration regarding his severance back in January.
The former chief executive also would have received an additional $65 million from vesting of long-term incentive rewards had he received the $120 million as well, but is currently not getting any of that money.
Moonves stepped down in September after multiple women accused him of either forcing himself on them or being sexually inappropriate.
The former CEO of the CBS television network had to forfeit $34.5 million in stock awards from last year, according to a proxy filing with the SEC, as well as a $120 million severance he is currently fighting to retain in arbitration
CBS hired two law firms to look into the allegations being made about the 69-year-old executive, who was named president of the company in 1995 and in 2016 also became the chairman.
Moonves reportedly admitted to receiving oral sex from a woman but claimed it was ‘consensual’. He has denied having any non-consensual sexual relationships.
In the wake of the scandal, his wife Julie Chen also left her spot as host of the network’s daytime show The Talk while defending her husband.