But by September, Mr. Moonves’s career came to a sordid end when he negotiated his exit shortly after 12 women told The New Yorker that he had sexually harassed or assaulted them. Since then, the possibility that he could still receive his lucrative exit package has infuriated many people.

“If it voluntarily paid Moonves, it would have been attacked with pitchforks for rewarding the misbehavior alleged by multiple women,” Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, said. “It would have faced a revolt of many of its most talented people, an advertiser boycott, and would have battered CBS’s image more than the Moonves allegations have battered it.”

[The year of sexual harassment allegations at CBS and attempts to cover them up.]

CBS’s board hired two law firms, Debevoise & Plimpton and Covington & Burling, to conduct an independent investigation to determine, in part, if Mr. Moonves had violated the terms of his employment agreement, which would allow the company to withhold his severance.

As part of their investigation, the lawyers interviewed at least 11 of the 17 women who they knew had accused Mr. Moonves of misconduct or harassment and found their accounts to be credible, according to the report. Most of the alleged episodes occurred many years ago.

“I’m sure we all agree that it’s good to have the investigation behind us,” the acting chief executive, Joseph Ianniello, wrote in a companywide email Monday evening. “At the same time, this does not mean that our work is done, or that we don’t have significant improvements that will continue to be made.”

Mr. Ianniello, who is a candidate to succeed Mr. Moonves permanently, included contact information for his office and that of more than a dozen other executives if any employees wanted to register any complaints.

The lawyers who investigated Mr. Moonves wrote in their report that CBS’s anti-harassment and other personnel policies were not as robust as others they had seen at other companies.