Background
Dauman grew up in New York City, the son of Life magazine photographer Henri Dauman.
Dauman grew up in New York City, the son of Life magazine photographer Henri Dauman.
Dauman graduated from Columbia University School of Law in 1978 and went to work for the law firm of Shearman & Sterling, where he earned $25,000 as an associate.
He has served at this post since September 2006. Dauman was also a director at Redstone-owned Columbia Broadcasting System Corporation until September 2006. On February 4, 2016, it was announced that Viacom"s board elected Dauman as Sumner Redstone"s replacement for the position of Chairman of Viacom.
Dauman married Deborah Ross in September 1977.
Handling a routine Securities and Exchange Commission form 13D filing for Volk client Sumner Redstone (also a poker player) in 1986 led to an advisory role in Redstone"s 1987 hostile takeover of Viacom, a close personal relationship with Redstone, and a seat on Viacom’s board of directors. Six years later, Dauman accepted an offer to join Viacom as senior vice president and general counsel, in exchange for $553,000 in salary with a $900,000 bonus.
In 1994 he earned $2.3 million, plus options worth millions more. From 1993 to 1998, he also was Viacom"s general counsel
In 2009, Dauman and Viacom launched the Get Schooled education initiative with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - an effort to raise awareness of the crisis in America"s public schools.
He also hosted the Get Schooled education conference on September 8, 2009. Dauman is a director of Lafarge, and on the Board of Directors of the KIPP Foundation, a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools in underserved communities. Dauman took a tough stance on the reproduction of Viacom"s content when Viacom sued YouTube in March 2007.
Dauman and Chad could not agree over advertising terms however.
In the 1970s, Dauman married Deborah Ross, in an Episcopalian church. They have two children, Philippe, Junior., and Alexandre.
Dauman served from 1994 to 2000 as a member of Viacom"s executive committee and as executive vice president in charge of strategic transactions, legal and government affairs, human resources and administration, supervising Paramount Pictures Entertainment, Showtime Networks and Simon & Schuster.