The dangling question of succession at Warner Brothers was finally resolved on Wednesday as Time Warner chairman Jeff Bewkes announced that he would renew 66-year-old chairman Barry Meyer's (left) contract until 2013, while president and COO Alan Horn (below right) will be replaced with a trio of top execu
tives, Jeff Robinov, Bruce Rosenblum and Kevin Tsujihara.
The move to retain Meyer had become the latest fallback position by Bewkes, who is seeking to maintain stability at one of Hollywood's most reliably profitable studios while also seeking to bring 21st century leadership to the company.
But the Time-Warner chief has been under severe pressure from Wall Street to indicate a clear leadership path at the top of the movie and television units.
Both Meyer and Horn, 67, had signed to only two-year contracts in the last go-round, leading most to believe that they would be short-timers at the company.
Lately, Bewkes had been urged to focus on continuity, and retaining Meyer allowed him to do that.
“After a great deal of thought and many discussions with Barry and Alan, we decided that this phased plan was in the best interest of Warner Bros. and its businesses,” said Bewkes in a news release.
"Stability and consistency are the hallmarks of Warner Bros., and this plan underscores our commitment to an orderly succession and to promoting from within,” said Meyer.
Horn will stay on board as a consultant through 2013.
For months, speculation was that Bewkes would promote one among Rosenblum, Tsujihara or Robinov to a top slot. Promoting all three reduced the risk of losing any one of the three, who currently run distinct and critical parts of the organization.
Bewkes simultaneously promoted Rosenblum, 52, Warner Brothers Television President; Robinov, 51, who heads Warner Brothers Picture Group, and Tsujihara, 45, who run Warner Bros Home Entertainment Group.
How their duties will differ in a single "office of the president" remains to be seen, but Warner Brothers will no longer have a chairman after Meyer's departure. All will report to Meyer beginning next April 1, and they will report to Bewkes after Meyer's departure.
By leaving in April, Horn is stepping down eight months before he was scheduled to leave.
The mixed appointment seeks to bring together a grab bag of business skills into one uber-president. Tsujihara offers plenty of new media experience from his job running TIme Warner's home video business; Robinov carries sports the most creative bona fides from his time running Warner's motion picture group, and Rosenblum, in addition to spearheading the studio's television efforts, is widely considered to have the requisite corporate experience.
There is a risk, however, that making the three top executives co-equal, will only cause further friction when Bewkes ultimately steps down as CEO.
Those younger executives learned only yesterday afternoon about the final succession plan, according to a knowledgeable individual.
