Richard Parsons steps down as interim chairman of CBS board

Richard D Parsons, a long-time media executive who less than a month ago was named interim chairman of CBS to help stabilise the company, said Sunday that he was stepping down because of illness.

Forced again to reshuffle its leadership ranks, CBS Corp named Strauss Zelnick, head of video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software, as his replacement. Zelnick, who is widely respected within the media industry, was appointed to the CBS board in early September. He had led the music publisher BMG Entertainment and had served as president of 20th Century Fox.

The shake-up complicates an already difficult time for CBS, which has spent most of the past year fighting scandal on multiple fronts. Several accusations of sexual misconduct were made against Leslie Moonves, its chief executive, as well against a long-time leader of its news division. Separately, a contentious legal showdown with its controlling shareholder threatened to upend the company’s management.

As CBS worked to resolve the disputes, Parsons was instrumental in negotiating Moonves’ departure. He also advised on appointing Joseph Ianniello, the chief operating officer, as acting chief executive, and helped install six new directors to lead the company out of trouble, according to several people close to the board who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The lawsuit was dissolved as part of Moonves’ exit agreement.

Several years ago, Parsons was found to have a rare form of blood cancer known as multiple myeloma. His disease went into remission after he underwent a stem cell transplant. In a statement released by CBS, he said, “Unfortunately, unanticipated complications have created additional new challenges, and my doctors have advised that cutting back on my current commitments is essential to my overall recovery.”

Parsons has a reputation as a trustworthy dealmaker, one who could settle the most rancorous of disputes. He untangled what is considered one of the worst mergers in corporate history, AOL-Time Warner, and he helped stabilize Citigroup after the 2008 recession. In 2014, he was called in to help rehabilitate the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association.

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