Sumner Redstone and Phyllis Redstone divorced after 52 years of marriage. The settlement was reportedly about $29M. Full timeline and prenup facts inside.
Figures are reported estimates. Last updated Oct 2026.
The Viacom mogul split after over five decades of marriage.
Sumner Redstone, the media mogul who controlled Viacom and CBS, and Phyllis Gloria Raphael married in 1947. Sumner was then a young lawyer and the son of a Boston businessman, Michael Redstone, who ran a chain of drive-in cinemas. Phyllis was from a Boston family and had studied at Boston University. The couple had two children, Brent and Shari, and they stayed together for more than half a century, during which Sumner transformed the family cinema chain into a media empire.
Sumner Redstone's fortune came from the family cinema business, National Amusements, which he expanded into one of the largest cinema chains in the United States. He then bought shares in Viacom in 1987 after a long takeover battle, and went on to acquire Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster and CBS. By the time of the divorce, he had become one of the richest media owners in the world. Phyllis helped in the early years of the family business.
The couple married in 1947 and the marriage lasted 52 years. Phyllis filed for divorce in 1999 amid reports that Sumner had had an affair. The divorce was finalized in 1999 after a legal battle. Sumner later had relationships with several women, including Sydney Holland and Manuela Herzer, and the control of his companies became the subject of bitter family and legal disputes. He died in 2020.
The divorce settlement was reported at about $29 million, and some accounts also referred to property and trust arrangements. The terms were not published, and the amount seems low for a marriage of this length and the husband's wealth, which was in the billions. The figure may reflect only part of what Phyllis received. Details are uncertain, and the figure should be treated as an estimate.
The marriage lasted more than half a century, and Redstone's fortune was largely built during the marriage. Under Massachusetts law, the court takes account of the length of a marriage and each partner's contributions. Despite this, the reported sum is modest relative to Redstone's wealth, suggesting that much of his fortune was held in family trusts and companies that were harder to divide.
Redstone kept control of National Amusements, which held the voting shares in Viacom and CBS. The company continued to grow through the early 2000s, and Redstone served as chairman until 2016. Following his death in 2020, control passed to his daughter Shari Redstone, and Paramount Global later merged with Skydance in 2025. The divorce did not weaken his hold on the media business.
The Redstone divorce is often seen as an example of a settlement that was small relative to the husband's overall wealth, since much of the fortune was held in trusts. Compared with the divorces of McCaw or Murdoch, it was modest. It nevertheless forms part of the story of one of the best-known family-controlled media empires.
Redstone survived a hotel fire in Boston in 1979 with serious burns and later credited his survival to determination. He lived to the age of 97. His later years were marked by legal battles over his health and control of his companies. The $29 million figure is a reported estimate and may be incomplete.
Phyllis Redstone's reported settlement was about $29 million.
They married in 1947 and divorced in 1999, a marriage of roughly 52 years.
No prenuptial agreement was reported.
Yes, the family is reported to include 2 children.
Reported assets include: Cash, real estate, Viacom-linked assets.
The marriage lasted more than half a century, and Redstone's fortune was largely built during the marriage. Under Massachusetts law, the court takes account of the length of a marriage and each partner's contributions.