Redstone says he relies on his instinct

Media mogul Sumner Redstone, in a speech yesterday to Boston University law students, said, "Money, and I mean it sincerely, has never motivated me. The passion to win has motivated me." Redstone, the octogenarian head of the family's entertainment empire that includes Viacom Inc., CBS Corp., and National Amusements, said he was making the equivalent of $1 million in today's dollars at a law firm when he left to join his dad's drive-in movie business in the 1950s (making about one-20th as much).

Redstone said he listens to Wall Street, but at the end of the day, he goes with his instincts - a decision that led him to buy struggling Viacom in 1987. Today, he says, Viacom is the company's most powerful asset. Redstone, who graduated from Boston Latin School and taught a law course at BU in the 1980s, said "Boston is home to me. It's my heart, my history, and of course, as I'm frequently reminded, my accent."

His visit follows a summer of discontent when family clashes over succession, corporate governance, and the future of the cinema chains with his daughter, Shari Redstone, who runs National Amusements in Dedham, spilled into the public. In his remarks yesterday, Redstone mentioned his daughter twice, saying only, "I'm proud to say that my daughter is a BU law school graduate."

Nancy Sterling, a representative for Shari Redstone, attended yesterday's event. She said the father and daughter recently saw each other at the wedding of Shari Redstone's daughter over Labor Day, and that Shari Redstone hopes to resolve the matter privately.

Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.