He kept his allies close and had no interest in diplomacy with enemies: He called Jackson"archangel Michael" whentook off, but he referred to his boss, CBS Inc. owner Laurence Tisch, as"The Little Dwarf," and powerful Columbia Records president Goddard Lieberson as"Potted Lieberfarb." Irving Azoff, the Eagles manager, gave a speech declaring CBS had a drug addict at the helm."If you just focus on the outrageous things he says and does . . .
When Lieberson departed, CBS made Yetnikoff president and CEO in 1975."The appointment went to my head, went to my dick, and over a period of years turned me into a madman," he wrote."The more powerful I became, the greater my rewards, the deeper my lunacy." Big-bearded and open-shirted, Yetnikoff also declared war on Warner and was reported to have stopped an industry investigation of Mob-connected independent radio promoters who muscled hits onto the airwaves. One of the central figures, Fred DiSipio, was a Yetnikoff friend."I like street characters," he wrote.