According to Bloomberg, Sony Corp.’s main CFO, Kenichiro Yoshida, wrote to U.S. CFO Steve Kober and Sony Corp. CEO Kazuo Hirai on Oct. 3, stating, “I’d like to hear your thoughts on the Music Publishing business, which has a rather complex capital and governance structure and is impacted by the market shift to streaming.”
A separate email sent to several Sony executives on Nov. 21 contained a planning document including a presentation with information about the possible sale. Kober responded, “We are very surprised that the attached listing includes the comment about the sale of Sony/ATV. As you know quite well, this is a top-secret project that is being handled by me working directly with Michael and Nicole.”
The other two leaders involved in the top-secret sale are Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton and Sony Corp. of America President Nicole Seligman.