Warner Music Group (WMG), also known as Warner Music, is an American major global record company headquartered in New York City. The largest American-owned music conglomerate worldwide, it is one of the ‘big three’ recording companies (the third largest in the global music industry). The company operates some of the largest and most successful recording labels in the world, including its flagship labels Warner Bros. Records, Parlophone Records and Atlantic Records. WMG also owns Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world’s largest music-publishing companies. Formerly owned by Time Warner, the world’s largest media conglomerate, the company was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange until May 2011, when it announced its privatization and sale to Access Industries, which was completed in July 2011. With a multi-billion dollar annual turnover, WMG employs in excess of 3,500 people and has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world.