Do you need experience in TV, movies and music to work in finance at major companies?

[Ted Bundy]

I know if you want to be the CEO or president of a record label like Sony BMG or Universal or the same for a movie studios and tv networks but do you need experience in these fields if you want to work in finance? I would like to some day become the CFO of a major company like the above mentioned.

[Richard K]

Experience in TV, movies and music is not a common background for senior management of these companies. Let's look at a few of them:

Time Warner- Chairman Richard Parsons: was CEO of Dime Savings Bank. John Martin, the company's CFO was an equity analyst at ABN AMRO.

CBS-Sumner Redstone, the Chairman, is a Harvard law graduate.Les Moonves, the CEO came from Warner Brothers Television. Fred Reynolds, the CFO came out of Westinghouse Electric.


In my view, the CFO of an entertainment company should have a primary focus on capital structure and financing decisions as well as access to capital. A finance background is more appropriate for reporting to shareholders, especially public company experience.