Walter Yetnikoff Walter Yetnikoff was an American music industry executive Know all about him in this article as like Family, Net Worth, Parents, Wife, Children and Career
| Bio | |
| Name | Walter Yetnikoff |
| Birthdate ( Age) | 11 August 1933 |
| Place of Birth | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife/Partner | Lynda Kady |
| Children | Not known |
| Parents | Max and Bella Yetnikoff |
| Profession | American musical artist |
| Net Worth | $ 2 Million |
| Last Update | August 2021 |
Walter Yetnikoff was an American music industry executive who was the president of CBS Records International from 1971 to 1975 and then president and CEO of CBS Records from 1975 to 1990. He is also known for his memoir, Howling at the Moon, written with David Ritz and published in 2004.
During his career at CBS, he guided the careers of Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Earth, Wind & Fire, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Gloria Estefan, and a host of other well-known artists.
Early Life and Family
Yetnikoff was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, the son of Bella (Zweibel), a bookkeeper, and Max Yetnikoff, a hospital painter. He attended P.S. 182., P.S. 149, and the prestigious Brooklyn Technical High School. He went on to graduate magna cum laude at Brooklyn College (B.A., 1953) and was selected to become a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1953, he entered Columbia Law School, where he attained a full scholarship after his first year and was an editor of the Columbia Law Review.
Walter Yetnikoff Wife
Yetkinoff married three times. His first wife was his college sweetheart June May Horowitz they had two sons, Michael Yetnikoff and Daniel Yetnikoff, before she died of cancer.His second wife was Cynthia Slamar.He lived with his third wife Lynda Kady and their dog Alexandra in New York City and upstate New York.
Walter Yetnikoff Net Worth
Walter Yetnikoff was an American music industry executive who was the president of CBS Records International has an estimated Net Worth of between $ 2 million in 2021. The earnings listed mainly come from her salary and brand endorsements.
Professional Career
After receiving his LL.B. from Columbia, he served in the United States Army in Cold War-era West Germany from 1956 to 1958. Following his discharge, he was hired by the law firm Rosenman, Colin, Kaye, Petschek and Freund, which then represented William S. Paley and CBS.
In 1962, Yetnikoff joined CBS Records as a staff attorney at the behest of general counsel Clive Davis, a former colleague from Rosenman & Colin. After serving as general counsel of the CBS Records law department, he moved over in 1969 as Executive Vice President of CBS Records International, which grew exponentially under his leadership.
In 1968, as general counsel, Yetnikoff was instrumental together with Harvey Schein in forming CBS/Sony, a Japanese joint venture which became highly profitable under Akio Morita and Norio Ohga.Yetnikoff forged a close and lucrative working partnership with Sony executives, thereby establishing a groundbreaking collaboration between a major U.S. company and Japanese corporation.
Among his most famous accomplishments, he is credited with having broken the MTV color barrier via Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”.He nurtured Michael Jackson’s solo career from Off the Wall through Thriller. At the 1984 Grammy Awards, Jackson called Yetnikoff up to the podium saying that he was “the best president of any company.”
Yetnikoff was credited by Billy Joel with providing the necessary financial and promotional support that propelled his career to its eventual record breaking heights.Under Yetnikoff’s partial watch, “Weird Al” Yankovic became the highest-selling comedy artist of all time.Gloria Estefan became the most successful crossover performer in Latin music to date under Yetnikoff’s watch.Yetnikoff also popularized and helped usher in the genre of freestyle via Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam.
Yetnikoff relentlessly pursued Paul McCartney and finally persuaded him to sign a deal that put the ex-Beatle’s North American releases on CBS. Under Yetnikoff, in 1982, McCartney collaborated with Stevie Wonder on the number-one hit “Ebony and Ivory”, included on McCartney’s Tug of War, and with Michael Jackson on The Girl Is Mine from Thriller. The following year, McCartney and Jackson worked on Say Say Say, McCartney’s most recent US number one hit.
