*By Bridgette Webb*
CBS's board of directors decided Monday to keep Leslie Moonves on as Chairman and CEO, even as the company looks into sexual misconduct allegations against him.
The company also postponed an annual shareholder meeting that had already been rescheduled for August 10 and said it would seek outside legal counsel to oversee an independent investigation.
Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey, who wrote a book about battle for power at CBS, said the probe would be 'top-to-bottom', examining not only Moonves's conduct, but also the broader company culture.
"Half of that Ronan Farrow article was about '60 Minutes', Jeff Fager, the way that sexual harassment claims were handled,” Hagey said before the board's decision. "This is also part of a thematic complaints that Shari Redstone has had against the board. She claimed that a board member grabbed her face."
Shares of CBS have fallen more than 10 percent since a New Yorker [exposé](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/08/06/les-moonves-and-cbs-face-allegations-of-sexual-misconduct) published Friday detailed claims of harassment by six women who worked with Moonves between 1985 and 2006.
The scandal coincides with a battle between Moonves and vice chairman Shari Redstone, whose National Amusements is the largest shareholder in CBS. Redstone is trying to recombine the company with Viacom, which she also controlsーa move Moonves sharply opposes.
It was not clear after Monday's meeting whether Moonves would stay on throughout the entire investigation or if the board is still discussing his removal.
“If Les Moonves does step aside, it would increase the chances that CBS and Viacom would merge,” Hagey said.
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/whats-next-for-cbs).
Darden, the parent company of chain restaurants like Olive Garden and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, beat Wall Street estimates in its latest earnings report.
A former Facebook executive pled guilty to stealing more than $4 million from the company while she was employed there.
Rising safety concerns over water bead products marketed to kids have prompted major retailers like Amazon, Target and Walmart to pull some toys off their shelves.
The Congressional Budget Office said Friday it expects inflation to nearly hit the Federal Reserve's 2% target rate in 2024, as overall growth is expected to slow and unemployment is expected to rise into 2025, according to updated economic projections for the next two years.
Intel is out with a new product to challenge other big players in the space like Nvidia and AMD.
Stocks fell after the opening bell Friday but will end on another positive week.
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Americans picked up their spending from October to November as the unofficial holiday season kicked off, underscoring that shoppers still have power to keep buying.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped below 7% to its lowest level since early August, another boost for prospective homebuyers who have largely been held back by sharply higher borrowing costs and heightened competition for relatively few homes for sale.
Mortgage rates have dropped below 7% for the first time since the middle of August.
