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Nicoli leaves EMI with £1.65m payoff
• Music's Old Guard culled as Terra Firma brings in "professional" managers
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By
Dominic White The Telegraph London, contributing editor
Wednesday,
29 August, 2007
Eric Nicoli is leaving EMI tomorrow with a £1.65m payoff and shares worth more than £1m after its new owner Terra Firma decided not to hire the veteran chief executive. Mr Nicoli, one of the longest-standing chief executives in the FTSE 250, ran the music company behind the Rolling Stones and Robbie Williams since 1999.
He survived a string of failed mergers and profit warnings as EMI struggled to cope with anti-trust concerns, internet piracy and sliding CD sales. He is eligible for a year's salary of £788,000, pension payments of £411,000, benefits of £60,000, and a bonus of £394,000, worth 50pc of salary.
Martin Stewart, EMI's finance director is also leaving, as Terra Firma parachuted in three of its own partners, none of whom has experience of the music industry.
Former ICI finance and procurement executive Chris Roling takes the top position, with the title chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
He will report to Terra Firma boss, Guy Hands, who is to chair a newly created supervisory board. Terra Firma has decided to hire professional managers rather than music industry executives as it seeks to impose its private equity business approach on the group.
It will outline further plans in October once it has reviewed the business.
Expectations of a quick sale of EMI's recorded music business to Warner Music, with whom Mr Nicoli failed several times to merge EMI, are fading.
Mr Roling's number two is to be former Deloitte Consulting partner Ashley Unwin. As director of business transformation, he will review the quality of EMI's top managers and its organisational make up.
Meanwhile, Julie Williamson, a long-serving lieutenant of Mr Hands, will assess EMI's relationships with outside parties such as publishers, advertising agencies, retailers and critically, digital retailer Apple. Roger Faxon has survived the cull and remains as chief executive of EMI's highly coveted music publishing division, which ranks second behind Universal.
Mr Nicoli's failure to pull off a merger with Warner will underpin his legacy.
EMI was criticised for being slow off the mark in digital music and has only latterly been praised for online innovation. Earlier this year, Mr Nicoli struck an innovative deal with Apple to offer some tracks without the Digital Rights Management protection that critics say has held back the legal downloads market. It was to prove his last flourish.
By Dominic White, Communication Industries Editor
Daily Telegraph
30/08/2007
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