Leslie Roy Moonves was born in New York City’s Brooklyn. to a religious Jewish family. He was born in Valley Stream, New York, to Josephine (Schleifer) and Herman Moonves. His mother worked as a doctor. He has a sister named Melissa Moonves Colon and two brothers, one of whom, Jonathan Moonves, is an entertainment lawyer. He went to Valley Stream Central High School and then Bucknell University. He got his degree from Bucknell University in 1971. In his sophomore year, he decided that his science classes weren’t giving him what he wanted, so he switched his major from pre-med to Spanish, which he found much more interesting.
He also acted in a few plays. After he graduated in 1971, he moved to Manhattan to try to become an actor, and he eventually got his degree from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. Before he decided to change careers, he got a few TV roles as tough guys on shows like Cannon and The Six Million Dollar Man. He called these roles “forgettable.” He was also one of Caro Jones’s first office assistants when she was just starting out as a casting director.
Les Moonves Personal Life
In 1978, Moonves married Nancy Weisenfield, and the two of them had three children. In 2004, they got a divorce. He asked the court to end it early because he “wanted to go back to being single.” Thirteen days later, he got married to news anchor and producer Julie Chen. In 2013, she had a baby boy.
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Les Moonves Professional Life
In 1979, he got a job in the development department of a film production company owned by Columbia Pictures. This was the start of his career in the business side of movies. He left in 1981 to work at 21st Century Fox in the department that makes movies and miniseries. In 1984, he was in charge of creative affairs at Lorimar Television. By the time Warner Bros. bought the company in 1991, he was the president and CEO. After the sale, he was able to keep his job.
He was given the job of president of Warner Bros. in 1993. He was in charge of making popular TV shows like “Friends” and “ER.” In 1995, he left Warner Bros. to become president of entertainment at CBS Television. In 1997, he was made president of CBS Television.
During his time as president, the network aired the popular shows “King of Queens” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.” In the 2000s, “Survivor” and “CSI” were added to the lineup. Before he took over as CEO, the network was already set up to do well. By 2003, the network’s “CSI” franchise had already given rise to two successful spin-offs, and many more would follow. The network also had the popular procedural police drama “NCSI,” which would also give rise to many spin-offs.
When he became CEO of CBS Corporation, his job was more about making sure the company worked and made money, but he didn’t give up all creative control. In 2005, he was named the top executive who made the decision to end the “Star Trek: Enterprise” show. CBS has had a rough time in terms of ownership and partners, but Moonves has stayed the same through all of the mergers.
In 2013, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, and in the same year, he took over as executive chairman of CBS from Sumner Redstone. In 2016, he was criticized for saying that Donald Trump’s candidacy was good for TV ratings and ad sales, no matter what his policies were.
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What Is Les Moonves’s Net Worth?
Les Moonves is an American executive in the TV and radio business. He is worth $400 million. From 2003 until September 2018, he was the chairman and CEO of CBS media corporation. CBS told the SEC that Les Moonves was paid a total of $650,2 million over a period of 12 years. At the height of his career, he made about $70 million a year.