The titanic battle over media mogul Sumner Redstone's mental capacity ended with a whimper in a nearly empty Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday.
More than three years after the mental capacity of the billionaire from Boston was challenged by his former live-in companion _ who filed a lawsuit that exposed Redstone's declining health and the tawdry inner workings of his empire _ a judge entered a decision that the Redstone family has long sought.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David J. Cowan approved changes that were made to Redstone's personal estate plan in October 2015 and May 2016, memorializing how the 95-year-old media mogul would like his personal assets divvied up after he is gone.
The judge also vanquished Redstone's legal protagonist, Manuela Herzer. Cowan signed off on a hard-fought settlement reached earlier this month between the Redstone family and Herzer, who promised to repay Redstone $3.25 million and end a barrage of lawsuits. Herzer agreed to pay the Redstone family $3.25 million to reimburse Redstone for some of the gifts that she had received from him over the years.
Cowan also approved the appointment of a guardian ad litem (who once looked after pop star Britney Spears) to monitor Redstone and his care.
"This proceeding is now concluded," Cowan said.
With the ruling, which was expected, Cowan affirmed the Redstone family's position that Redstone, even though he cannot speak, continues to understand what's going on around him. Cowan noted that in the fall of 2015, when the wrangling began, "Redstone was on top of how much money he had" even when a doctor examining him seemed confused.
The bulk of the mogul's wealth is tied up in the family's controlling stake of CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc., but his personal property could be worth as much as $150 million, according to court records.
His 15,355-square-foot Mediterranean mansion in Beverly Park remains one of his primary assets. The home, with sweeping views of Beverly Hills and the Los Angeles basin, is next door to Sylvester Stallone's. Redstone is expected to be donated to a nonprofit after his death.
Redstone has been in declining health for the five years. He has lost the ability to use his vocal chords and, thus, has great difficulty articulating his wishes. Instead, he uses an iPad with buttons for "yes" and "no" to communicate. Because of that disability, Cowan in December ruled that Redstone was incapacitated.
However, Cowan stopped short of ruling on Redstone's mental capacity.
The famously combative executive has changed the 2003 estate plan dozens of times, drafting new amendments as family members, girl friends and others fell in and out of favor with him.
With so much wealth at stake, Redstone's attorneys sought to have the judge verify the most recent changes to validate the most recent challenges in the hopes of warding off potential legal challenges in the years to come.
The version approved Wednesday included 40th and 41st amendments to the Sumner Murray Redstone Trust.
A former girlfriend who remained in Redstone's orbit years after their romance ended, Herzer was kicked out of Redstone's mansion in October 2015 and written out of his will. In the 40th amendment, Herzer was expunged from Redstone's life and his estate plan. The 41st amendment made housekeeping changes.
Herzer's attempt to restore her standing began with a lawsuit in November 2015 _ a case that ultimately exposed Redstone's failing health, questions about his mental capacity and other tawdry secrets: female escorts called to his mansion to entertain him, stock sales to generate millions of dollars that he lavished on girlfriends, and how the once fearsome mogul was prone to crying spells.
Neither Herzer or her attorneys were in court on Wednesday. Only two of Redstone's attorneys, and his new guardian, Samuel Ingham, where present.
