Long-Time Viacom Communications Chief Carl Folta Steps Down
Viacom’s long-time corporate communications chief, Carl Folta, is leaving the company, newly seated CEO Tom Dooley informed employees in an email Tuesday.
Folta’s departure was announced to employees at the media conglomerate just three days after Philippe Dauman stepped down as chief executive and was replaced by Dooley.
Dooley thanked the communications executive for guiding Viacom’s communications and public relations strategy and “expertly bridging the era of manual typewriters and teletype, to data insights and Snapchat.”
Folta began his time with the conglomerate as an employee of the old Gulf+Western, joining Viacom in 1994 when it merged with Paramount Communications. “Since then, he has been on the front lines of every major initiative and transaction in the history of our company,” Dooley wrote to employees. “Nobody fought harder for Viacom and all of us.”
Dooley credited Folta with helping to turn chairman emeritus Sumner Redstone into “one of the most recognized and globally acclaimed media executives in history.”
The communications chief also led Viacom’s push into many philanthropic ventures, including an annual volunteer day; a public education program about HIV/AIDS; and the company’s partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Get Schooled, a multi-year program to bolster education in America.
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