The CBS-Viacom Merger: A Media Giant Pops Up

Buttoned-up CBS and snazzy Viacom seem like a perfect match. Can the same be said for the two men who will run the $70 billion colossus?

CBS CEO Mel Karmazin, 56, wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt and red tie, wants you to believe. And when this former radio-advertising salesman who worked his way through Pace College tells you he didn't need to make this $70 billion deal to merge CBS with Viacom, for a moment you actually believe him. It's the way he leans into what he says and his disarming, wide-toothed smile and how hard he works to make you like him. That's how he does it. And in part, that's how he got to this corner-office suite with the view of Rockefeller Center--the...

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