Congratulations to Robert Wiesenthal who leaves Sony to join Warner Music Group. A short and sweet synopsis about Wiesenthal is culled from the New York Times article written, yesterday, on this industry move.
“Mr. Wiesenthal has long been focused on deal making. In a story that has become famous in the music industry, he negotiated a deal with Michael Jackson in a Dubai hotel room in 2005 that kept Mr. Jackson from filing for bankruptcy; in exchange, Sony took greater operational control of Sony/ATV, the joint venture owned by Sony and the Jackson estate. He also negotiated Sony’s buyout of Bertelsmann’s 50 percent stake in Sony BMG Music Entertainment in 2008.
More recently, Mr. Wiesenthal led Sony’s $2.2 billion deal to acquire EMI Music Publishing through a complex consortium of investors that included David Geffen, the Jackson estate and others. As a result of that deal, which closed in June, Sony is now the largest music publisher in the world, with control of more than two million songs. . .”
Check out the full story on New York Times.
