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, SCA, Mr. Wiesenthal oversees all financial aspects of SCA, including Finance, Treasury and Tax across the operating companies. He is also responsible for Sony’s U.S. Investor Relations activities.
As Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Sony Entertainment Inc., Mr. Wiesenthal works with executives at Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment to conceive, design and implement strategies and transactions that fortify the competitive posture and enhance the value of these business units with the Sony group companies. As part of this role, he is a member of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Operating Committee. Mr. Wiesenthal sits on the Board of Directors of Sony BMG Music Entertainment and MGM. He was instrumental in negotiating the acquisition of MGM by a consortium of companies led by SCA, and in raising the equity financing for the acquisition.
Mr. Wiesenthal also oversees Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a joint venture between Sony and trusts formed by Michael Jackson. Sony/ATV Music Publishing owns or administers over 500,000 copyrights by such artists as The Beatles, Beck, Brooks & Dunn, Leonard Cohen, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, The Everly Brothers, Fall Out Boy, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Richie Sambora, Stephen Stills, KT Tunstall and Hank Williams, among others. Mr. Wiesenthal led Sony ATV’s acquisitions of the Famous Music and Leiber & Stoller catalogs in the first half of 2007.
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 CSFB’s 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 he advised on 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 is also on the Board of Directors of 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 City, 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 a 50% interest in Sony BMG Music Entertainment, one of the largest recorded music companies in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $88.7 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, and it employs 180,500 people worldwide.
