Edgar Bronfman Jr.

Born in 1955, Edgar Jr. ("Efer" to friends)[3] is the son of Edgar Miles Bronfman and the grandson of Samuel Bronfman, patriarch of one of the wealthiest and most influential Jewish families in Canada.[4] The Bronfman family gained its fortunes through the Seagram Company, an alcohol distilling company.[3] Edgar Jr. is the second of five children of Ann (Loeb) and Edgar Miles Bronfman. His mother was the daughter of John Langeloth Loeb Sr. (a Wall Street investment banker whose company was a predecessor of Shearson Lehman/American Express) and Frances Lehman (a scion of the Lehman Brothers banking firm). They divorced in 1973.[5]

In 1973, Bronfman began a songwriting career under the pseudonyms Junior Miles and Sam Roman. He often collaborated with Bruce Roberts on songs like "Whisper in the Dark", which he gave to Dionne Warwick to record in thanks for introducing him to his first wife, Sherry. Bronfman also co-wrote "To Love You More", which was recorded by Celine Dion, and Barbra Streisand's "If I Didn't Love You".

Edgar M. Bronfman, Jr., is the son of Edgar Bronfman, Sr., the billionaire businessman and longtime president of the World Jewish Congress who died aged 84 in 2013.[20] He is the half-brother of Clare Bronfman, who as a 39-year-old was charged in 2018 in a NXIVM sex-trafficking case.[21]

In 1979, Bronfman married his first wife, Sherry Brewer, an African-American actress, in New Orleans. Bronfman's father did not approve of the marriage. "I very much wanted for him to end the relationship, because I told him, all marriages are difficult enough without the added stress of totally different backgrounds", Bronfman Sr. wrote in his memoirs. "Sherry offered to convert [to Judaism], which though well intentioned, was not the point."[22]

Bronfman and Brewer eloped and he and his father remained estranged.[23] The couple had three children before they divorced in 1991:

1. Benjamin (born 1982) – Bronfman's eldest son with Sherry is also known as "Ben Brewer", a rock musician. Brewer was the guitar player and vocalist for the New York-based alternative rock band The Exit. He also was engaged to Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, a British recording artist, songwriter, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, better known under the stage name of M.I.A. Her compositions combine elements of electronica, dance, alternative, hip hop and world music. They have a son, Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman, born on 11 February 2009.[24]
2. Vanessa, and
3. Hannah (born 1987) – Actress and DJ. Hannah is probably best known for Beautified, an App for setting last-minute beauty appointments.[25][26]

In 1993, Bronfman married Clarisa Alcock San Román, a Catholic, the daughter of Frank Alcock Pérez-Matos, a Venezuelan oil executive of half British descent, and Dinorah San Román Strup, her Venezuelan mother,.[27][28] They have four children: Aaron, Bettina, Erik, and Clarissa.

On January 21, 2011, Bronfman was found guilty in French court of insider trading as Vivendi chief and received a 15-month suspended sentence and a €5m fine.[29] Considering the jail sentences handed out to other executives for similar convictions, BNN reporter Michael Kane told CTV News "The fact that the judge suspended the jail time could be looked at as getting off lightly, perhaps."[30] He has appealed the decision.[31]

At the height of file sharing service Napster's popularity, Bronfman was a leading opponent of the illegal use of peer-to-peer technology. As CEO of Universal, he helped lead the music industry's opposition to Napster, likening it to slavery and Soviet communism.[32]

In 2006, WMG was the first major media company to create a business model around user-generated content and, more recently, has been pushing for ways to monetize the popularity of P2P networks on college campuses.[33][34]

In late 2006 in an interview with Reuters, Bronfman caused a stir by admitting that his children have copyright infringing music.[35] He claims to have delivered punishment for this but wants it to remain within the realm of the family.[36]

Lately, Bronfman may have revised his judgment. During the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress, he told the audience that mobile operators should not make the same mistakes that the music industry has:[37]

We used to fool ourselves ... We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won.

In 2010 Bronfman changed his philosophy on the music industry's online business models, stating that he does not support free advertising supported models. He said that WMG will focus on promoting services that require payment, that will appeal to the population that already pays for downloads in stores such as iTunes.[38]

The 'get all your music you want for free, and then maybe with a few bells and whistles we can move you to a premium price' strategy is not the kind of approach to business that we will be supporting in the future.

• McQueen, Rod. The Icarus Factor: The Rise and Fall of Edgar Bronfman Jr., 2004. ISBN 0-385-65995-4
• Faith, Nicholas. The Bronfmans: The Rise and Fall of the House of Seagram, 2006. ISBN 0-312-33219-X

• Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s biography at WMG Corporate Site
• Official page for Bronfman's book about Judaism in America
• Speaking at Stanford
• "Edgar Bronfman Jr." at hollywood.com
• Milner, Brian. "The Unmaking of a Dynasty", Cigar Aficionado
• "Edgar Bronfman, Edgar Bronfman: Overrated father, misunderstood son", Slate, 26 April 1998, by David Plotz
• Edgar Bronfman Jr. biography at Directors of Endeavor
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• The Bronfman family at The Canadian Encyclopedia