Walter Yetnikoff (born August 11, 1933) is an American music industry executive who was the president of CBS Records International from 1971 to 1975 and then president and CEO of CBS Records from 1975 to 1990. He is also known for his memoir, the New York Times-acclaimed Howling at the Moon (with David Ritz; 2004). During his career at CBS, he guided the careers of Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Earth, Wind & Fire, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Gloria Estefan, and a host of other well-known artists.In 1975, William Paley made him President and CEO of CBS Records. During his tenure he attracted stars like James Taylor and ex-Beatle Paul McCartney away from, respectively, Warner Bros. Records and EMI, and went on to "preside over the most profitable and prestigious stable of artists of all time."With Yetnikoff at the helm of CBS Records, Michael Jackson's Thriller sold over 40 million copies, Earth, Wind & Fire's I Am and Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. each sold over 20 million and Billy Joel's The Stranger sold in excess of 13 million. Yetnikoff also helped launched the careers of Lauper (on Portrait Records, which CBS owned), Yankovic (on Scotti Brothers Records, which CBS distributed), and Estefan. Yetnikoff was known for being a strong artist advocate. For example, Billy Joel speaks of how Yetnikoff bought back Joel's publishing rights and gave them to him as a birthday present. Yetnikoff notes in the documentary film The Last Play at Shea that he had to threaten Artie Ripp to close the deal. Also, when MTV first declined to air the music video to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", Yetnikoff charged the relatively new cable channel's executives with racism and threatened to pull all of CBS' material off the station.At CBS, Yetnikoff was the chief architect of the sale of CBS Records to Sony to create Sony Music Entertainment in January 1988.