Gerry Weber, Former Top Executive at Warner Home Video, Dies at 86
Gerry Weber, who launched Warner Home Video in Germany in 1982 en route to becoming one of the studio’s top home entertainment executives, has died. He was 86.
Weber died Jan. 11, just three days after his birthday, at his home in Hamburg, Germany, a spokesperson for the consulting and investment firm Lieberfarb & Associates announced. The cause of death was complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
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Weber retired in 2002 as WHV’s London-based senior vp and co-managing director of Europe, the Mideast and Africa.
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, on Jan. 8, 1936, Weber began his career in 1956 at Siemens, the German conglomerate. After a stint as project manager at business consultancy Baumgartner, he moved into the entertainment industry in 1968 as controller and CFO of Liberty/United Artists Records in Munich. Within three years, he had been promoted to managing director.
In 1972, Weber joined Metronom Music GmbH in Hamburg, a subsidiary of PolyGram, as deputy managing director and then managing director. After three years as deputy managing director at Phonogram, another PolyGram subsidiary, Weber in January 1982 was hired by WEA Music Gmbh in Hamburg as managing director, marketing and sales, music and video.
By the end of the year, he was managing director of the newly launched Warner Home Video operation in Germany.
During the next 20 years, Weber held a series of progressively more responsible international positions at WHV. He also served as chairman of Bundesverband Audiovisuelle Medien e.V. (BVV), the German trade association for the video industry that represented the interests of German and international program suppliers.
“Under his leadership, Gerry developed an incredible management team that helped run Warner Home Video Germany, one of the five major markets,” Warren Lieberfarb, the former WHV president known as the “Father of the DVD,” said in a statement. “He went on to hold a number of leadership positions throughout Europe, and what set him apart was his management style, proven leadership and thorough knowledge of the market, the product and the industry.”
After leaving WHV, Weber served on the advisory board of a Hamburg-based real estate fund.
Survivors include his wife, Karin Müller-Weber, daughters Franziska and Anne-Tess and son Lucas. Another daughter, Katrin, died in 2014.