December 23, 2008

By By Chris M. Walsh, N.Y.

An appellate court dismissed the remaining two claims in a lawsuit brought against Warner Music Group chief executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. by a former CEO of publisher Simon & Schuster who claimed he helped conceive the 2003 buyout of Warner but was never compensated.

Former CEO Dick Snyder filed suit April 23, 2007, and said he helped Bronfman negotiate the $2.6 billion purchase of Warner Music from Time Warner Inc., but was never paid for his services.

Snyder said Bronfman had broken a gentlemen's agreement to share proceeds from the deal, made during a vacation with their families in 2001, according to a 44-page lawsuit filed at the Supreme Court of the State of New York County, according to Reuters.

The New York State Supreme Court dismissed four of six claims in April of this year, but two remaining claims - quantum meruit and unjust enrichment - went forward and were dismissed today.

"This unanimous decision is a complete victory for Mr. Bronfman - so much so that the Court imposed court costs on Dick Snyder. We are gratified that the appellate court vindicated Mr. Bronfman and repudiated Dick Snyder's bogus claims,? said Orin Snyder, an attorney for Bronfman.

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