Les Moonves (born October 6, 1949, as Leslie Moonves) is the chairman and CEO of CBS Corp., overseeing the CBS broadcast network as well as the cable network Showtime, the publisher Simon & Schuster and other entities. After a successful career at the production companies Lorimar (home of popular shows like Dallas and Full House) and Warner Brothers Television (where he developed hits like Friends and E.R.), Moonves moved to CBS in 1995. He helped the lagging network move to first place in a few years by greenlighting shows like Survivor, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Big Brother and Everybody Loves Raymond. In 1998 ratings were further bolstered when NFL football returned to CBS. Moonves married Big Brother host Julie Chen in 2004. He's a member of the Television Academy Hall of Fame and Broadcasting and Cable’s Hall of Fame. In July 2018, The New Yorker reported on six women's allegations that Moonves had sexually harassed them in episodes dating from the 1980s to the 2000s.

In 2015, Forbes listed Moonves with a net worth of $700 million when he was included on the magazine's roundup of "Hollywood's Richest Power Brokers."

CBS Salary, Bonuses and Perks
Though Moonves has a base salary of $3.5 million, his CBS compensation can greatly increase with stock and bonuses. In 2017 he earned $69.3 million. He was paid $69.6 million in 2016 and $56.8 million in 2015, and has made more than $50 million every year since 2010. This places him among the most highly paid CEOs in the United States.

In May 2017, Moonves signed a contract to remain at the head of CBS Corp. through 2021. Under the terms of this agreement, he could receive a payout of $184 million should he be terminated without cause.

Working for CBS has also provided Moonves with benefits that go beyond salary: the company funded his $500,000 private screening room and covers his travel on corporate jets.

On July 27, 2018, The New Yorker published an article written by Ronan Farrow that detailed six women's accounts of sexual harassment by Moonves. Moonves was alleged to have forcibly kissed and touched some of the women, and demanded sexual favors from others. One of these women was Illeana Douglas, who recounted that Moonves had pinned her down on his office couch while "violently kissing" her. The women also stated they felt Moonves had hurt their careers in retaliation for rejecting him. The incidents allegedly occurred between the 1980s and the 2000s, with the most recent allegation dating from a 2006 meeting. In addition, the article mentioned instances of gender discrimination and harassment experienced by CBS employees.

Moonves issued a statement to The New Yorker that said, "Throughout my time at CBS, we have promoted a culture of respect and opportunity for all employees, and have consistently found success elevating women to top executive positions across our company. I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely. But I always understood and respected — and abided by the principle — that 'no' means 'no,' and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone’s career."

The article's release prompted a decline in CBS's stock price. The CBS board promised to pursue an independent investigation into the allegations but said Moonves would remain in his job in the meantime.

On July 31, 2018, NBC News reported that a woman had told Los Angeles police in February 2018 that Moonves had sexually abused her in the 1980s. Charges of battery, indecent exposure and forced oral copulation were reportedly considered, but as the statute of limitations had passed the district attorney's office did not pursue the case. Farrow tweeted that the complainant did not appear to be one of the sources for his New Yorker piece.

Moonves, who had spoken out in support of the Me Too movement and its aim of promoting a fair and just workplace for women, was a member of Anita Hill's Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace. He resigned from the commission after the New Yorker article. Female executives and personalities who've worked with him, among them Sharon Osbourne and Lynda Carter, have voiced support for Moonves.

When Moonves became president of CBS Entertainment in 1995, the network was stuck in last place, and its audience's aging demographics were unattractive to advertisers. He oversaw a turnaround in the network's fortunes, with ratings climbing thanks to reality programs like Survivor and Big Brother. These were joined by popular series such as Everybody Loves Raymond, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and The Big Bang Theory.

In 1998 Moonves became CEO of CBS Television. After Sumner Redstone's Viacom acquired CBS in 1999, Moonves continued to ascend the corporate ladder, becoming chairman and CEO of CBS in April 2003. He was named co-president and co-chief operating officer of Viacom in 2004. In 2006, to combat a decline in stock price, Redstone split up Viacom and CBS. Moonves became president and CEO of CBS Corp., overseeing CBS as well as entities such as publisher Simon & Schuster and cable network Showtime. In 2016 Moonves became chairman of the CBS board.

Moonves' time at the helm saw CBS prosper. Under his watch CBS All Access, a streaming subscription service, was created. He prompted CBS to produce more of its own programming, instead of licensing shows from other production houses. And he saw CBS successfully demand programming fees from cable and satellite operators.

Among the missteps of Moonves' CBS tenure was the decision to hire Katie Couric to headline the nightly news for $15 million a year, as ratings success didn't follow. Moonves headed the company when CBS News aired a 60 Minutes Wednesday segment with improperly vetted documents (an incident that came to be known as "Memogate"), and when Charlie Rose departed CBS This Morning following allegations of Rose's own sexual misconduct.

Shari Redstone Conflict

Shari Redstone, daughter of Sumner Redstone, has proposed merging CBS and Viacom Inc. once more, a step Moonves opposes. After The New Yorker's article appeared, CBS issued a statement saying in part, "The timing of this report comes in the midst of the company’s very public legal dispute," referring to ongoing litigation between CBS and Redstone's holding company. (The New Yorker article stated all the women involved specified they were not talking because of this corporate clash.)

In June 2018, Shari and an ally on the CBS board requested an outside investigation into harassment, bullying and favoritism by upper management at CBS. No action was taken at the time.

CBS and Donald Trump

At a media conference in February 2016, as Donald Trump's bombastic rhetoric drew more attention to the 2016 presidential primaries, Moonves said, "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS."

When Was Les Moonves Born?
Les Moonves was born on October 6, 1949, in Brooklyn, New York.

Wife Julie Chen
Moonves and Julie Chen married in 2004, a few weeks after he and his first wife finalized their divorce. Moonves and Chen met when he selected Chen, a newsreader for The Early Show, to host reality show Big Brother. In 2010 Chen took on hosting duties for the daytime show The Talk.

Following the New Yorker article and its allegations against her husband, Chen released a statement of support on Twitter that said in part, "Leslie is a good man and a loving father, devoted husband and inspiring corporate leader. He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being. I fully support my husband and stand behind him and his statement."

Homes
With Chen, Moonves shares homes that include a Malibu beachfront estate, a Beverly Hills mansion and a Park Avenue apartment in New York City.

First Wife
Moonves married first wife Nancy Wiesenfeld in 1978. They divorced in 2004. Moonves was seeing Julie Chen while still married, though he and Wiesenfeld had been living separately.

Children
Moonves has three children — a daughter and two sons — from his first marriage, and a son from his marriage to Julie Chen.

Family
Moonves' younger brother, Jonathan, is an entertainment lawyer who counts Julie Chen among his clients. Moonves' sister became a journalist.

Moonves' father, Herman, owned gas stations. His mother, Josephine, was a stay-at-home mother who later went back to school to become a nurse.

Moonves' grandfather's sister was married to David Ben-Gurion, making Moonves the great-nephew of Israel's first prime minister.

Early Life and Education
Moonves was a year old when his family moved to the Long Island town of Valley Stream. As a boy, trips to the city with his mother to see Broadway shows sparked a love of entertainment.

Moonves attended public school before going to Bucknell University. He contemplated a medical career, but by the time he graduated in 1971, he was interested in acting.

Acting Career
After college, Moonves studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse's acting school in New York. There he was coached by Sanford Meisner, an esteemed instructor who taught students such as Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Grace Kelly, Gregory Peck and Joanne Woodward.

Moonves, who found some success as a performer, moved to Los Angeles in 1975 and appeared in TV shows like The Six Million Dollar Man and Cannon. But his acting career wasn't really taking off; eventually Moonves decided he would prefer to be an executive making decisions instead of chasing roles.

Television Executive
Moonves began working with Saul Ilson, producer of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, in 1981. He worked at Fox before joining Lorimar Television — the production company behind Dallas, Perfect Strangers and Full House — as a vice president in 1985. By 1989, he was president of Lorimar.

Moonves became president of Warner Brothers Television in 1993, following a merger with Lorimar. There he developed and sold hit shows like Friends and E.R., successes that helped him land a job at CBS.