Sumner Redstone

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: Nearly every profile of Redstone seems required to make a King Lear allusion, with the mogul frequently described as ailing and impulsive. In the last year he’s fought publicly with his only daughter, Shari, David Geffen, and Google. The Google conflict will eventually get resolved by very expensive lawyers, but the Geffen dustup may prove even more costly: Geffen and partner Steven Spielberg look ready to pull up stakes and take their DreamWorks studio away from Redstone’s Paramount—an embarrassing defeat for a mogul who has never truly been accepted in Hollywood.

EVIDENCE OF POSSIBLY CONTRADICTORY BEHAVIOR: Two years after “firing” Tom Cruise, Redstone announced he’d work with the actor again after all, in yet another Mission: Impossible movie: “He’s a great actor and behaving very well these days.”

SWORN ENEMY: Mortality. Addressing succession plans in a recent interview, Redstone, 85, said, “I’m not worried about it ’cause it’s going to be another 20, 30 years.”