  thomas daniel "tommy" mottola (born july 14, 1949) is an american music executive. he is the co-owner of casablanca records in a joint venture with the universal music group. he headed sony music entertainment, parent of the columbia label, for nearly 15 years. tommy mottola entered in the music scene in the mid 60s as a recording artist for cbs records under the name "t.d. valentine". after his attempt to become a recording star himself failed, mottola started working for publishing powerhouse chappell publishing and started his own management company, champion entertainment organization. his role at chappell put him in touch with many artists, and soon he signed his first successful management clients, hall & oates. mottola helped hall and oates land a record deal and several high-profile endorsements. he was also recognized for successfully using new mediums for promotion, like music videos and corporate sponsorship for music tours. apart from hall and oates, mottola is known as a mentor and former talent manager. his most famous protÃ©gÃ©s were carly simon, john mellencamp,"sony chairman tommy mottola steps down."mtv.com diana ross, and taylor dayne in the 1980s, mariah carey (whom he married) in the 1990s, gloria estefan, shakira, anastacia and jennifer lopez in the early 2000s. he is married to mexican telenovela actress and singer thalÃ­a. ==sony/columbia== in 1988, mottola was hired by sony music (then known as cbs records) by walter yetnikoff (who had been at the company from 1975 to 1990) to run its u.s. operations (it had recently been acquired by the japan-based sony corporation). in 1990, he replaced yetnikoff as chairman ceo of the newly named sony music. during his tenure, he transformed sony into one of the most successful global music companies, expanding its businesses into over 60 countries, while creating one of the strongest management teams in the industry. he revitalized sony music's publishing division by making such acquisitions as the beatles catalogue and enabled sony to become the first major music company to make available commercial digital downloads. additionally, mottola w
1949_births A&R_people American_music_industry_executives American_music_managers American_people_of_Italian_descent Businesspeople_from_New_York_City Casablanca_Records Celine_Dion Living_people Mariah_Carey People_from_the_Bronx