Rob Wiesenthal quits Sony/ATV and goes to Warner Music

Rob Wiesenthal quits Sony/ATV and goes to Warner Music

Rob Wiesenthal, president of Sony/ATV's international business and Sony Corp. veteran media-and-music dealmaker, is leaving the company to join Len Blavatnik's Warner Music Group.

Wiesenthal is quitting his position in the world's no.1 music publisher to become WMG's chief operating officer/corporate, starting from January 1.

"In his short time with us as President of International, Rob helped us as we began our integration of EMI, and, like many of you, I have greatly appreciated Rob's contributions to our company and his valuable perspective," commented Sony/ATV CEO Marty Bandier.
As a member of Sony Music Entertainment's board of directors, Wiesenthal has had a role in many of the major's biggest deals over the last decade - including the buyout of Bertelesmann from Sony BMG. He also engineered the acquisition of EMI Music Publishing by a Sony Corp. of America-led consortium.

Wiesenthal is now expected to handle media deals in a potential M&A and corporate development role, as Warner Music is determined to bulk up with acquisitions in both recorded music and publishing, in order to compete with the much larger rivals Universal Music Group and Sony.
He will report to CEO Stephen Cooper, as do music chiefs like Atlantic's Julie Greenwald and Craig Kallman as well as Warner/Chappell's Cameron Strang.