Billionaire built what was once the world's second-largest media company. : Sumner Redstone, the New England cinema operator who became a billionaire media mogul late in life after buying Viacom Inc., Paramount Pictures and CBS Corp., has died. He was 97. His holding company, National Amusements Inc., said in a statement Wednesday that Redstone died Tuesday. No cause of death was provided. Even in a business known for larger-than-life personalities, the 6-foot-tall, redheaded Redstone stood out. His swashbuckling, billion-dollar takeover battles garnered headlines in the financial press.