CBS Records Chief Abruptly Takes a Leave

Walter R. Yetnikoff, the volatile and embattled chief executive of CBS Records, went on an abrupt “sabbatical” Tuesday and said he would accelerate his plans to step down as head of the company that he helped catapult to the top of the music charts.

Yetnikoff, who ran CBS Records for 15 years and engineered its $2-billion sale to Sony Corp. in 1988, said that, after a few months’ leave, he will work on long-term projects “affecting the future growth of Sony.”

Only two weeks ago, Sony President Norio Ohga had issued an unusual statement expressing his “full confidence and support” for Yetnikoff, following published reports that Yetnikoff’s relationships with Bruce Springsteen and other key CBS artists had soured. The statement came after Yetnikoff had signed a new multimillion-dollar contract that called for him to curtail his role with CBS Records and become a consultant to the company at the end of two years.

On Tuesday, Sony said Tommy Mottola, president of CBS Records’ domestic business; Robert Summer, president of CBS Records International, and Neil Keating, president of the Columbia Record Club, will oversee day-to-day operations of the company and report directly to Ohga during Yetnikoff’s sabbatical.

Sony said its board will “undertake a long-term succession review” to replace Yetnikoff, 57, who worked his way though law school at Columbia University and signed such acts as the Rolling Stones after joining CBS Records as an attorney in the early 1960s.

“Walter is a real character, and the industry will miss him,” said Irving Azoff, a prominent record industry executive who has maintained a love-hate relationship with Yetnikoff for years.

A logical successor to run CBS Records is Mottola. But record industry sources say a replacement for Yetnikoff will more likely come from outside CBS Records, probably an executive from Sony.

Michael Schulhof, the vice chairman of Sony U.S.A. who spearheaded the Japanese company’s acquisition of CBS Records, is the most frequently mentioned candidate to replace Yetnikoff.

But record industry sources also mention Peter Guber and Jon Peters--co-chairmen of Sony’s Columbia Pictures Entertainment subsidiary--as well as former CBS Records executive Al Teller as possible candidates. Teller is now chairman of MCA Inc.’s Music Entertainment Group, which recently acquired the record companies headed by music industry mogul David Geffen. The acquisition has touched off industry speculation about whether MCA is big enough for the two executives.

But when contacted Tuesday, Teller, who has often said he gets along well with Geffen, said: “I’m having a great time now as chairman of the Music Entertainment Group; I have absolutely no intentions of leaving.”