End of an era as flamboyant Sony chief quits ailing company

They either loved him or hated him. In his seven years at the top of Sony Music, Tommy Mottola was variously idolised, respected, feared, sued, plastered over the tabloids and taken to task for his habit of marrying his female stars.

But one thing remained consistent: he was easily the most visible music executive in the business. This is the man who discovered – and married – Mariah Carey, the man who revived Bob Dylan's career, the man who got half the world to sing along to Celine Dion's theme song from Titanic.

But now he is gone, the victim, perhaps, of his own indulgences and the brutal marketplace realities of an industry in recession.

Mr Mottola resigned on Thursday, announcing his intention to set up a private record company that will retain significant ties to the Sony stable. But according to industry insiders the resignation may have been a way of ducking an unpleasant contract dispute triggered by Sony's growing concern over its bottom line.

Mr Mottola was guaranteed a minimum annual salary of $12m (£7.5m), and earned up to $20m (£12m) after bonuses were thrown in.

With Sony's balance sheet looking increasingly precarious – it posted an operating loss of $142m (£88m) last year – that did not sit well with the Sony chiefs in Tokyo, particularly since his salary was 10 times higher than that of Nobuyuki Idei, Sony's chief executive. Sony is keen to replace Mr Mottola with a business-oriented corporate executive willing to ditch unprofitable acts and fire as many as 1,000 employees.

His departure may well mark the passing of a flamboyant, if polarising era: of inspired talent-spotting, superstar marketing, dramatic rescues of flailing careers and abrasive disputes with big acts seeking a way out of their contract conditions.

Everyone from George Michael to Sony's current darlings, the Dixie Chicks, has hurled lawyers' letters at Mr Mottola, only to give up or lose out in court.

In July, Michael Jackson toured Manhattan in a bus calling Mr Mottola a racist and a devil for allegedly failing to market his dismal comeback album, Invincible, adequately.

Mr Mottola's private life was also legendary. He lived out his courtship, marriage, divorce and professional split with Carey largely through the pages of the New York tabloids. More recently, he married the Mexican starlet Thalia, only to hit the gossip pages again when her two sisters were kidnapped in Mexico City last September.

Within the business, Mr Mottola earned considerable respect for his ability to spot profitable new talent. Carey was the first in a line of high-profile female acts on his roster, followed most notably by Dion and Jennifer Lopez. He also backed acts including Pearl Jam, Lauryn Hill, Shakira and New Kids on the Block.

Thanks to these and other successes, he was largely credited with transforming Sony from a dowdy retirement home for super-annuated rock stars to a clearing house for chart-topping new acts.

As money tightened, Mr Mottola sought creative marketing deals, pairing Dion with Chrysler and Shakira with Pepsi. The deals might have kept his stars shining but, in the meantime, he priced himself out of the market.