Jim Fifield

Prior to joining EMI, Fifield became a vice president at General Mills in 1984.[3] In 1985, he became president and chief executive of CBS/Fox Video.[4]

During his tenure, EMI became the number one publishing company and the third largest music company in the world with operations in over seventy countries and sales in excess of $4 billion. Operating profits grew from $5 million in 1988 to over $550 million in 1998 disposing of Thorn to Thorn EMI to redefine the business as a music business.

Jim acquired Toshiba/EMI in Japan >$400m, SBK Publishing for $337m (in 1989),[2] Chrysalis for £70m, and Virgin $950m amongst dozens of other lesser known labels, vastly overpaying - none of these acquisitions were profitable.

During his tenure, the company expanded into Eastern Europe and Latin America. He also guided the company through global consolidation completely reconfiguring the business to accommodate the birth of the CD, closing vinyl businesses, consolidating the cassette businesses. He took credit for centralizing distribution and warehousing infrastructures and expanding CD production operations, but in reality these steps were initiated and implemented by a group of very talented and sophisticated operations executives. Fifield also completely missed the emergence of digital distribution and its profound impact on the business which he never understood.

He established international royalty accounting systems and implemented international accounting and logistics standards.

He was forced out of EMI in the spring of 1998, after he failed in a bid to become the EMI group chief executive.[2][5] He was bought out of his contract for 12 million pounds, reportedly the largest corporate buyout in UK history at the time.[6]

In 2007, he pursued a bid to purchase EMI with London-based financier Sam Glover. The bid was later withdrawn.[7][8][9][10]

• Article on Fifield at EMI