New Owners to Cut 20% of Workforce at Warner Music Group

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2004 - 7:17am.

New York -- Warner Music Group (WMG), purchased this week for $2.6 billion from Time Warner by a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman, Jr., announced on Tuesday a restructuring that will see the company cut 20% of its global workforce of 5,300. The layoffs are expected to take place within the next 30 days. The company also announced the departure of several top executives, including Elektra chairman and CEO Sylvia Rhone; Atlantic Group co-chairman and co-CEO Val Azzoli; and Ron Shapiro, co-president of Atlantic Records. The company said that former Def Jam CEO Lyor Cohen -- recently named chairman and CEO of U.S. Recorded Music at WMG -- will serve as interim chairman at both Elektra and Atlantic until a final management structure is announced in the near future. "While the restructuring necessitates some painful changes, they are vital to creating a more agile organization that will allow us to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving marketplace and to take full advantage of future opportunities," said WMG chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
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