Michael Ryan-Southern

Michael Ryan-Southern joined Hakkasan Group in January 2019 as Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the Global Finance Function, Business Strategy, Corporate Governance, Human Resources and IT for the international hospitality company. In his role, Michael leads the Executive Team at Hakkasan Group to coordinate the company’s aggressive growth strategy. In December 2019, it was announced Michael will also be President of Hakkasan Group.

Michael Ryan-Southern joins Hakkasan Group with a proven track record in global finance, holding fifteen years of experience in finance and leadership. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President Finance at EMI Music Publishing. There, Michael managed the $4.75 billion acquisition of the international music publishing company to Sony Corporation in 2018. He additionally managed and led bond deals, working closely and negotiating with investment banks to close multimillion-dollar transactions; and was responsible for leading teams in 32 countries, working with each division to build and grow the overall business.

Prior to his tenure at EMI, Michael spent 10 years at KPMG, one of the world’s most prominent financial firms providing audit, tax, and advisory services. As Senior Manager International Tax, he managed tax planning for leading international companies including IBM, Sony, Thomson Reuters, Google, and EMI Music Publishing. Most notably, he served as a key contact in the initial $2.2 billion Acquisition of the EMI Music Publishing by Mubadala Capital in 2012.

Growing up he spent most of his time on a working farm in Northern England, Michael moved from the UK to New York in 2010 and holds Master’s Degrees in both Business Administration and International Tax & Treasury, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting.