Group Executive, Sony Corporation
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Sony Corporation of America
Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Sony Entertainment Inc.
Robert S. Wiesenthal is Group Executive, Sony Corporation, leading Corporate Development and Mergers and Acquisitions at Sony headquarters. He also holds the titles of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Sony Corporation of America (SCA), and Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Sony Entertainment Inc.
In his role as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of SCA, Mr. Wiesenthal oversees all financial aspects of SCA, across its operating companies. He is also responsible for Sony’s U.S. Investor Relations activities and oversees SCA’s corporate marketing team.
As Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Sony Entertainment, Mr. Wiesenthal works with Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment to conceive and implement strategies and transactions that enhance the value of these business divisions and provide new business opportunities to their sister companies within the Sony Group. As part of this role, he is a member of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Operating Committee and sits on the Boards of Directors of Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.
In his role at Sony Entertainment, Mr. Wiesenthal also oversees Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which was established in 1995 as a joint venture between Sony and trusts formed by Michael Jackson. Sony/ATV Music Publishing owns or administers more than 750,000 copyrights by such artists as The Beatles, Brooks & Dunn, Leonard Cohen, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Fall Out Boy, Jimi Hendrix, John Mayer, Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Richie Sambora, Shakira, and Diane Warren, among others. In 2007, Mr. Wiesenthal led Sony/ATV’s acquisitions of the Leiber Stoller and Viacom’s Famous Music catalogs.
Prior to joining Sony in July 2000, Mr. Wiesenthal was Managing Director of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) in the investment banking department and had, for five years, served as a strategic advisor to SCA on a wide range of initiatives.
Mr. Wiesenthal began his career as a member of First Boston’s Mergers & Acquisitions group in 1986, later joining the firm’s Media Group in 1993. He was named Managing Director of CSFB in 1999 and headed its entertainment practice and digital media efforts.
As one of CSFB’s lead media bankers, he advised on numerous financings and M&A transactions for a broad range of media clients including Sony Corporation of America, The Seagram Company, Time Warner, USA Networks, MacAndrews & Forbes, Cox Communications and The New York Times. During his tenure in the Media Group, notable transactions on which he advised included Seagram’s $5.7 billion acquisition of MCA Inc., Liberty Media’s merger with TCI, News Corp’s $3.2 billion purchase of New World Communications and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.’s acquisition of Telemundo, the nation’s second largest Spanish television network. In the digital media sector, he was involved in a broad range of transactions including Polo Ralph Lauren’s e-commerce joint venture with NBC Inc., IAC’s acquisition of Precision Response Corp., as well as public and private financings for a variety of emerging digital media companies.
Mr. Wiesenthal serves on the Board of Directors of Entercom Communications Corp., the fourth largest radio broadcaster in the U.S., and the Hamptons International Film Festival.
Mr. Wiesenthal received his B.A. degree cum laude in Political Science from University of Rochester in 1987.
Sony Corporation of America, based in New York, NY, is a U.S. subsidiary of Sony Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo. Sony is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, communications, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its motion picture, television, computer entertainment, music and online businesses make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony's principal U.S. businesses include Sony Electronics Inc., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., and Sony Music Entertainment, one of the largest recorded music companies in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $78.9 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, and it employs 171,300 people worldwide.
