"Commanded by three generations of Bronfmans through the years, Edgar Jr. is the latest to take his turn as CEO with The Seagram Company Ltd. Before him, his father Edgar Bronfman Sr. inherited the empire from the hard work of his father Samuel. Sam, born in 1889, left Russia just before the turn of the century for the prosperous country of Canada. He founded Distillers Corp. in 1924 and bought Joseph E. Seagram & Sons soon after. He made millions selling whisky during Prohibition along the U.S./Canadian border. When he died in 1971, Edgar Sr. took over. By 1975, Edgar was CEO of the American branch of what is now known as the Seagram Company Ltd. He handed over the title of CEO to Edgar Jr. in 1994.

Edgar joined the company in 1982 as assistant to the Office of the President. He rose through the ranks holding various positions such as Managing Director, Executive Vice President, President and Chief Operating Officer before gaining his current title of CEO. During his time as CEO so far, Edgar Jr. has made waves with shareholders through purchasing 80% of MCA from Matsushita in 1995 for $5.7 billion, 50% of Interscope Records from Ted Field and 15% of Time Warner. Edgar also engineered the sale of Seagram's Tropicana Products Inc. to PepsiCo. for $3.3 billion to help raise cash for the acquisition of Polygram.

The Bronfman family maintain a controlling interest in Seagram which in turn owns 80% of MCA. Ownership also includes, Polygram, Universal, Crown Royal and RCA. Bronfman Jr. is often in the public eye, whether it's a new acquisition or problems with an old one. Edgar's father, Bronfman Sr. sits as chair of Seagram and ranks 52 on the Forbes 400 list for 1998 and has been a member since 1983.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/98/1228/6214051a.htm

http://www.seagram.com/company_info/org_chart/e_bronfman_j.html

http://alvin.lbl.gov/bios/Bronfman.html

http://www.mojones.com/coinop_congress/96mojo_400/bios/49.html

http://www.canoe.ca/JamMoviesArtistsB/bronfman_edgar.html

http://www.channel2000.com/entertainment/studiobriefing/-980527-115935.html

http://www.metaverse.com/vibe/sleaze/sleaze.12-18-96.html

http://www.seagram.com/company_info/index.html

"
Work History
"* joined Seagram in 1982, as Assistant to the Office of the President of The Seagram Company Ltd.

* later, until 1984, was Managing Director of Seagram Europe, based in London, overseeing management of Seagram's European subsidiaries and affiliates

* served for one year as Executive Vice President, U.S. Operations, The

Seagram Company Ltd. and Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. and supervised the marketing efforts of Tropicana

* September 1984 to August 1988, was President of The House of Seagram, the manufacturing, sales and marketing unit of Joseph E. Seagram & Sons' distilled spirits operations in the United States

* was elected to the Board of Directors of Seagram in May 1988 and is a

currently a member of its Executive Committee

* served as President and Chief Operating Officer from 1989 to 1994

* became CEO in 1994

* holds same title with Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., the Corporation's U.S. subsidiary"
Affiliations
"* member of the Boards of USA Networks Inc.

* member of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

* member of the New York University Medical Center

* member of the Teamwork Foundation and WNET/Thirteen

* Chairman of the Board of Governors of The Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies at the University of Pennsylvania

* member of Seagram executive committee"