34
KEVIN KELLEHER, 59
COO, Sony Music Entertainment
Last Year’s Rank: 37
SECURED SONY’S STREAMING FUTURE: SME’s leadership team reportedly closed deals with its most important digital partners — Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Amazon — which ensures continued growth in paid subscriptions: the key behind the industry’s main revenue stream now.
GROWTH WITH PROFITS: In the first half of fiscal 2017, Kelleher led SME’s contribution to the $517.9 million in operating income the company reported, a 77.6 percent increase over the $341.2 million that the Sony Music companies produced during the prior six months.
POTENTIAL INDUSTRY PITFALL: “A slowdown [in the growth] of paid subscribers. Buyers are assuming things will stay healthy for the next decade, which is why you see valuations in the marketplace that carry crazy multiples.”
