A French court, in a surprise ruling, on Friday convicted and fined Warner Music Group Chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. for insider trading and former high-flying Vivendi CEO Jean-Marie Messier for misusing company funds and misleading investors.
Bronfman, a former executive vice president of Vivendi Universal, was fined euro5 million ($6.7 million) and given a 15-month suspended sentence for insider trading around the Vivendi media conglomerate when he was a top executive there. Messier was handed a three-year suspended prison sentence and a euro150,000 fine.
