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Les Moonves Biography and Wiki
Les Moonves is an American media executive who served as the chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation from 2003 until his resignation in September 2018 after being accused of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse on numerous occasions. From July 1995 to September 2018, he held a number of executive positions at CBS. He also served on ZeniMax Media’s board of directors from 1999 to 2021.
Les Moonves Education
In 1971, he graduated from Valley Stream Central High School as well as Bucknell University. In his sophomore year, he changed his major from pre-medical to Spanish (a subject he found far more enjoyable) and performed in a few plays; after graduation in 1971, he moved to Manhattan to pursue an acting career, eventually graduating from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
Les Moonves Age
How old is Les? He is 73 years old as of 2022. He was born Leslie Roy Moonves on 6 October 1949 in New York, New York, United States.
Les Moonves Height and Measurements
His height is not yet disclosed. Nevertheless, he has not shared more data concerning his other body measurements in the public domain. Moreover, we will update this section once the data are provided.
Les Moonves Nationality and Ethnicity
Les is an American national and citizen by birth. He was born in New York, New York, United State of America. He is of mixed ethnicity/heritage/ancestry of Jewish. ALSO READ: Megan Fox
Les Moonves Family and Parents
He was raised in Valley Stream, New York, and was born in New York City to Josephine (Schleifer) and Herman Moonves. His mother worked as a nurse. His sister is Melissa Moonves Colon, and he has two brothers, including entertainment attorney Jonathan Moonves.
Les Moonves Wife | Married and Julie Chen
Moonves married Nancy Wiesenfeld in 1978, and their three children include W magazine editor in chief Sara Moonves. In April 2003, Nancy Moonves filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason. Nancy and Les Moonves had already broken up. While his divorce from Nancy was still pending, Moonves began dating Julie Chen, a CBS reporter and the host of the reality show Big Brother. On December 10, 2004, Moonves was granted an early divorce after filing a motion stating his “desire to return to the state of being single.” Thirteen days later, in Mexico, he married Chen. In 2009, Chen gave birth to a son.
Les Moonves Career
At 20th Century Fox Television, Moonves was in charge of first-run syndication and pay/cable programming. He was also the vice president of movies and mini-series at 20th Century Fox Television. Other jobs included vice president of development at Saul Ilson Productions (in collaboration with Columbia Pictures Television) and development executive at Catalina Productions. Moonves joined Lorimar Television in 1985 as an executive in charge of its movies and mini-series, and in 1988, he was promoted to the position of head of creative affairs. Lorimar’s president from 1990 to 1993. When Warner Bros. and Lorimar Television merged operations in July 1993, he became president/CEO of Warner Bros. Television. During this period of his career, he approved the shows Friends and ER, among many others.
He joined CBS as President of CBS Entertainment in July 1995. He was president and CEO of CBS Television before being promoted to chairman and CEO of CBS in 2003. In the fourth quarter of 2005, CBS had six of the top ten most-watched primetime shows: CSI, Without a Trace, CSI: Miami, Survivor: Guatemala, NCIS, and Cold Case Moonves were identified as the executive directly responsible for the cancellation of UPN’s Star Trek: Enterprise and the end of the 18-year revival of the Star Trek television franchise in February 2005. Moonves was instrumental in bringing the CBS-owned United Paramount Network (UPN) and The WB Television Network together in January 2006 to form The CW Television Network that fall.
The New York Times reported on February 8, 2019, that Moonves had founded his own company, Moon Rise Unlimited, in West Hollywood, California, after being fired from CBS. Moonves appeared in an episode of The Practice as himself. Moonves appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman on a regular basis from early 2004 until it ended in May 2015. One of these came when Letterman expressed outrage that CBS featured his late-night rival Jay Leno in an ad for the People’s Choice Awards telecast. Letterman joked that the “CBS stooge in the control room” should call his buddies “before things get ugly,” which Moonves did. Later appearances followed the same format, with Letterman and the CEO of CBS discussing current events and the CBS network.
Les Moonves Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $100 million.