Dive Brief:

• Warner Music Group introduced Tuesday that it tapped a Walt Disney veteran to take over as its finance chief.

• Effective Oct. 16, Bryan Castellani will succeed current Warner Music CFO Eric Levin, who’s staying on to make sure a clean transition earlier than retiring in January, based on a press launch. Castellani has spent greater than twenty years at Walt Disney, most not too long ago serving as CFO for Disney Entertainment and ESPN.

• “Bryan has wide-ranging expertise serving to one of many world’s most impactful inventive enterprises construct long-term worth and unlock new world prospects,” Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl mentioned within the launch.

Dive Insight:

In his new function at Warner Music, Castellani, 52, will obtain an annual base wage of $1.1 million and a goal annual money bonus of $1.1 million, with the precise award worth to be decided by the corporate based mostly on elements such because the energy of his efficiency, based on a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Last month, Warner Music reported that its total revenue rose 9% to $1.56 billion throughout its third quarter in comparison with the year-earlier interval whereas web revenue ticked all the way down to $124 million from $125 million year-over-year. Digital income grew 27% and streaming income elevated 28%.

“I’m delighted to be joining WMG at such an exciting and pivotal time for the company and the music industry,” Castellani mentioned in Warner Music’s Tuesday launch.

Castellani’s exit from Disney follows important turmoil on the firm, together with an enormous layoff and senior management modifications.

Bob Iger returned to the Burbank, California-based media big as CEO in November 2022, lower than a yr after retiring. He took again the reins from Bob Chapek, who was reportedly ousted by the board of administrators after the corporate’s inventory fell below his watch.

Upon his return, Iger moved rapidly to implement a serious restructuring plan. Earlier this yr, he introduced that Disney was laying off 7,000 employees in an effort to chop prices and “return power to creative executives.”

Previously, Castellani was the manager vice chairman of finance for Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, a unit that was disbanded below Iger’s restructuring initiative.

In one other large management shift, Disney introduced that Christine McCarthy was stepping down from her function as its CFO — after twenty years within the seat — to take a “family medical leave of absence,” with Kevin Lansberry, changing her on an interim foundation. Earlier within the yr, McCarthy decided to restructure the corporate’s total finance staff, based on a leaked memo. Those modifications included naming Castellani as the brand new chief monetary officer of Disney Entertainment and ESPN.

Castellani’s prior management roles at Disney additionally included senior vice chairman of operations, enterprise planning and technique for ABC News; vice chairman and CFO of Disney’s Japan division; and head of finance and planning for Disney Consumer Products Japan. He began with Disney in 1995 as a monetary analyst for The Disney Store.

Before becoming a member of Disney, Castellani labored in worldwide finance on the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.