Sony Denies Reports That It Will Hire Fuchs

Sony Corp. on Thursday took the unusual step of denying New York media reports that former Time Warner Inc. executive Michael Fuchs is in line to take over the company’s entertainment division.

Sony’s statement is rare, as most companies usually decline to comment on reports of personnel changes. It’s even more rare for a company to deny that a specific executive is headed its way.

In a memo to employees of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Tedasu (Ted) Kawai, Sony deputy president and the company’s ranking executive in the United States, said the reports have caused “some concern among some of you about the future of the company.” Kawai called the reports “speculative and untrue.”

Separately, senior Sony executives in Japan went on record as saying that the company is not hiring Fuchs, who was fired as music chief at Time Warner in November, to run the division.

Long-simmering rumors about management changes involving Sony Pictures President Alan Levine and studio chief Mark Canton reached a fever pitch this week. The studio has suffered through a poor summer with such box-office disappointments as “Multiplicity” and “The Cable Guy,” both released through Sony’s Columbia Pictures unit. However, “Matilda,” a family film from Sony’s TriStar Pictures unit, had a respectable opening last weekend.

Sources close to Sony suggested that if any changes do occur, they probably won’t happen immediately. For one thing, contract agreements complicate the making of any changes. Canton, for example, has more than three years left on his contract and could be due as much as $12 million if he were replaced, sources said.

In the statement, Kawai said Levine “continues to be responsible for the future direction and management of Sony Pictures Entertainment.”

Kawai functions as personal deputy in the U.S. to Sony President Nobuyuki Idei. The memo included one statement from Idei saying that he “wishes all [Sony Pictures Entertainment] employees to join him in continuing their support for Mr. Levine and his team.”