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American Morning

Minding Your Business: Mariah Carey Ex Now Ex-Sony Music Chief

Aired January 10, 2003 - 07:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: What's going on with the markets? Are they cheating us again, my friend?
(CROSSTALK)

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: No, it's been a wild week. I'll be honest with you, it's been a wild week for investors, Bill. But yesterday was an up day, a big up day. The Dow was up 180 points -- let's check it out, there you go -- the Nasdaq up also tremendously.

And what was going on? Well, those retailers announced numbers that were basically in line with expectations, no bombshells. Actually, companies like the Gap did a little better than expected, and we are up over 5 percent for the year already.

HEMMER: I'll take that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) then, yes.

SERWER: No, absolutely.

HEMMER: And it's only January 10, keep it going.

SERWER: Yes, a long way to go.

HEMMER: Sony has some news today. What's happening with its head?

SERWER: Tommy Mottola, the longstanding chief of Sony Music, is stepping down, one of the most powerful men in the music industry. He's been there for over 14 years. This is a guy who nurtured and fostered the careers of everyone from Hall and Oates to Shakira, J.Lo, Pearl Jam. And he had married a couple of the biggest stars at Sony Music, most notably Mariah Carey...

HEMMER: Mariah Carey.

SERWER: ... you'll remember her, and Thalia. There's Thalia right there. Yes, he really fostered the careers of those women.

He also famously clashed with some big stars, though, including the Dixie Chicks and Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson took to the streets of New York recently -- you might remember this -- denouncing Tommy Mottola as a racist. He had a megaphone. This is some real theater, I think.

HEMMER: And the sightseeing bus.

SERWER: Yes, I love this. This is great. OK...

HEMMER: Of all of the vehicles in...

(CROSSTALK)

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: ... in New York City.

SERWER: I mean, can you imagine what Tommy Mottola is thinking?

All right, so why is Tommy Mottola out? Listen, the business, we talked about this yesterday, is not in great shape.

HEMMER: Yes.

SERWER: A huge salary, Bill, no hits at Sony to speak of recently, losing market share, a bad bet on hip-hop, basically Sony missed the boat on hip-hop.

And I want to focus in on the huge contract. This is one of the last great boondoggle businesses for American executives.

HEMMER: How so?

SERWER: He had a base salary of $7 million a year. These record executives, many of them live like kings.

HEMMER: Well, why?

SERWER: He could have gotten paid a lot more. Because they're incentivized, and this is one reason why the record businesses are not in great shape, because the guys at the top take so much money. For instance, Tommy Mottola recently bought one of those Tyco apartments, you know one of those things in Manhattan? Tens of millions...

HEMMER: So, a Kozlowski deal.

SERWER: Yes, one of those Kozlowski -- actually this one belonged to the CFO, a $9 million apartment. He had a huge mansion up Westchester. These guys live like kings, and when you're not producing the hits, you get very expensive.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as you mentioned were awful in 2002.

SERWER: You get very expensive, and...

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) about 11 percent...

SERWER: Yes, and...

HEMMER: ... both years.

SERWER: That's right. So, he has faced the music.

HEMMER: Got it. Thank you, Andy. See you next hour.

SERWER: OK, see you later on. ZAHN: And did he pay for the apartment, or are you saying Sony did? Was that Sony (UNINTELLIGIBLE) paid for apartment?

SERWER: No, he paid -- no, Tommy Mottola paid for that apartment. It was a $9 million apartment, plus the place up in Westchester. Remember seeing pictures of that?

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Yes.

ZAHN: But I guess he could afford that on $7 million a year.

SERWER: I guess so.

HEMMER: That's right.

SERWER: That was the base salary, remember too. Not bad.

ZAHN: Thanks for bringing us up to date on that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.





Chief>


Aired January 10, 2003 - 07:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: What's going on with the markets? Are they cheating us again, my friend?
(CROSSTALK)

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: No, it's been a wild week. I'll be honest with you, it's been a wild week for investors, Bill. But yesterday was an up day, a big up day. The Dow was up 180 points -- let's check it out, there you go -- the Nasdaq up also tremendously.

And what was going on? Well, those retailers announced numbers that were basically in line with expectations, no bombshells. Actually, companies like the Gap did a little better than expected, and we are up over 5 percent for the year already.

HEMMER: I'll take that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) then, yes.

SERWER: No, absolutely.

HEMMER: And it's only January 10, keep it going.

SERWER: Yes, a long way to go.

HEMMER: Sony has some news today. What's happening with its head?

SERWER: Tommy Mottola, the longstanding chief of Sony Music, is stepping down, one of the most powerful men in the music industry. He's been there for over 14 years. This is a guy who nurtured and fostered the careers of everyone from Hall and Oates to Shakira, J.Lo, Pearl Jam. And he had married a couple of the biggest stars at Sony Music, most notably Mariah Carey...

HEMMER: Mariah Carey.

SERWER: ... you'll remember her, and Thalia. There's Thalia right there. Yes, he really fostered the careers of those women.

He also famously clashed with some big stars, though, including the Dixie Chicks and Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson took to the streets of New York recently -- you might remember this -- denouncing Tommy Mottola as a racist. He had a megaphone. This is some real theater, I think.

HEMMER: And the sightseeing bus.

SERWER: Yes, I love this. This is great. OK...

HEMMER: Of all of the vehicles in...

(CROSSTALK)

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: ... in New York City.

SERWER: I mean, can you imagine what Tommy Mottola is thinking?

All right, so why is Tommy Mottola out? Listen, the business, we talked about this yesterday, is not in great shape.

HEMMER: Yes.

SERWER: A huge salary, Bill, no hits at Sony to speak of recently, losing market share, a bad bet on hip-hop, basically Sony missed the boat on hip-hop.

And I want to focus in on the huge contract. This is one of the last great boondoggle businesses for American executives.

HEMMER: How so?

SERWER: He had a base salary of $7 million a year. These record executives, many of them live like kings.

HEMMER: Well, why?

SERWER: He could have gotten paid a lot more. Because they're incentivized, and this is one reason why the record businesses are not in great shape, because the guys at the top take so much money. For instance, Tommy Mottola recently bought one of those Tyco apartments, you know one of those things in Manhattan? Tens of millions...

HEMMER: So, a Kozlowski deal.

SERWER: Yes, one of those Kozlowski -- actually this one belonged to the CFO, a $9 million apartment. He had a huge mansion up Westchester. These guys live like kings, and when you're not producing the hits, you get very expensive.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as you mentioned were awful in 2002.

SERWER: You get very expensive, and...

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) about 11 percent...

SERWER: Yes, and...

HEMMER: ... both years.

SERWER: That's right. So, he has faced the music.

HEMMER: Got it. Thank you, Andy. See you next hour.

SERWER: OK, see you later on. ZAHN: And did he pay for the apartment, or are you saying Sony did? Was that Sony (UNINTELLIGIBLE) paid for apartment?

SERWER: No, he paid -- no, Tommy Mottola paid for that apartment. It was a $9 million apartment, plus the place up in Westchester. Remember seeing pictures of that?

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Yes.

ZAHN: But I guess he could afford that on $7 million a year.

SERWER: I guess so.

HEMMER: That's right.

SERWER: That was the base salary, remember too. Not bad.

ZAHN: Thanks for bringing us up to date on that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.





Chief>