Serge Semenenko was an innovative Ukrainian

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

-born Hollywood banker in the 1950s and 1960s, representing the First National Bank of Boston. In 1956 he was part of a group of investors who bought out the shares in Warner Bros. Pictures that were sold by Harry Warner

Harry Warner

Harry Morris Warner was an American studio executive, one of the founders of Warner Bros., and a major contributor to the development of the film industry. Along with his three brothers Warner played a crucial role in the film business and played a key role in establishing Warner Bros...

 and Albert Warner

Albert Warner

Aaron "Albert" Warner was a Polish-born American film executive who was one of the founders of Warner Bros. Studios. He established the production studio with his brothers Harry, Sam, and Jack Warner...

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The Warners bought the popular Brunswick

Brunswick Records

Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...

 label in 1930, but the collapse of the record market during the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 cost the studio heavily and the label was sold to the American Record Company

American Record Company

The American Record Company was a United States record label, in business from about 1904 to 1908. Then re-activated in 1979.The American Record Company was founded by Ellsworth A. Hawthorne and Horace Sheble and Frederick M. Prescott. It was based in Springfield, Massachusetts...

 at the end of 1931 for a fraction of its former value. As a result, Warner Bros. had shied away from any involvement in the record business for the next 25 years.

According to music historian Fred Goodman, Semenenko had a strong interest in the entertainment business. After joining the Warner Bros board he pushed studio boss Jack Warner

Jack Warner

Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...

 to establish a recorded music division, which was eventually incorporated in 1958 as Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

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In 1967, he resigned as vice-chairman and a director of First Boston after his activities were dissected in a first article in the Wall Street Journal.