Bider Exits Warner

Warner / Chappell Chairman and CEO Les Bider will step down after 25 years with the company.

Bider, whose contract expires at the end of the year, will stay on during a transition period once a successor is chosen.

The industry vet joined Warner Bros. Music as CFO in 1981 after running his own accounting firm for six years.

In addition to signing a record-breaking publishing deal with Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Bider is credited with engineering the acquisition of Chappell, Intersong Music, Mighty Three Music and music education company CPP/Belwin.