6 posts and columns on Jean-Bernard Levy

Old News: A New Boss for Universal Music in 2011

in Media on February 10, 2010 at 4:37 am PT

This one counts as news in a technical sense, only: The people who own the world’s biggest music company have finally announced plans to bring in new management. Vivendi says it will install Lucian Grainge as head of its Universal Music Group unit in 2011, replacing longtime head Doug Morris. The Grainge era will really start this summer, since Universal’s international boss will be moving to New York in July, when he and Morris will be “co-CEOs” for a six-month stint.

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GE, Vivendi Forge Tentative Deal on NBC Stake

in News on November 30, 2009 at 7:28 pm PT

General Electric Co. has hammered out a tentative agreement to buy partner Vivendi SA’s minority stake in NBC Universal for $5.8 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, setting up a deal that would give control of NBC Universal to Comcast Corp.

Back for Yet Another Season: The “What Will GE Do With NBC?” Show

in Media on September 17, 2009 at 5:02 am PT

Even when the M&A market was shut down, Wall Street couldn’t stop speculating about GE’s intentions for its NBC Universal unit. And now that it’s deal-making time again, the chatter is getting very noisy. Hence the flurry of coverage over yesterday’s remarks by Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy, in which he said…not very much.
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Shhhhhh! Media, Tech Moguls Meeting Today. Don’t Tell Anyone!

in Media on November 11, 2008 at 8:08 am PT

Under normal circumstances, if the CEOs of big companies like Cisco, Microsoft, and Comcast speak in front of an audience of bigwigs, it’s news. But you’re unlikely to hear what John Chambers, Steve Ballmer and Brian Roberts say today and tomorrow at Quadrangle’s Foursquare conference–no press allowed. Unless…

FCC Swamped With iTunes Indecency Complaints

in News on September 24, 2007 at 11:17 am PT

NBC Universal’s sandwich-board iTunes protest may well turn into a full-blown proletariat uprising after all. At a press conference this morning, Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy slagged Apple, bitching about the company’s retail pricing strategy for its iTunes service. “The split between Apple and [music] producers is indecent,” Levy said. “Our contracts give too good a [...]