Viacom Extends Bob Bakish’s Contract To 2019 With Two Salaries, For Now

Viacom is giving Bob Bakish a sweet deal to become Acting CEO on November 15 — and for his additional role as CEO of Viacom Global Entertainment Group  — according to an SEC filing this afternoon.

Bakish just received a contract extension to October 30, 2019. The CEO gig will last until either a successor is picked or “the closing of any business combination transaction between Viacom and CBS Corporation” — the clearest indication yet that the top job in a merger would go to CBS chief Les Moonves.

The Viacom CEO gig will pay Bakish a salary of either $2.5 million a year or $500,000 a month — whichever is greater. That’s on top of the $2.75 million a year he’ll be paid at GEC.  He’s eligible for an annual salary increase, which will be determined by the board’s Compensation Committee.

He’ll collect an annual cash bonus targeted at $3.5 million at GEC, but not a second one for being CEO.

Bakish also will only collect annual equity awards — targeted at $3.25 million — at GEC. But the one that he’d ordinarily collect in May 2017 will be his by next week.

Viacom’s most recent proxy, filed in January, shows that previous CEO Philippe Dauman received $37.1 million for the fiscal year that ended last year. Then-COO Tom Dooley replaced Dauman in August, but later said that he’ll leave on November 15.