Scurrilous Rumor Watch – Succession: The CAA Years
There’s a great rumor slowly rumbling its way through town today that if it bears out, could be the final earthquake we’ve all been waiting for.
Disclaimer that The Ankler‘s track record on CAA rumors is not quite gold medal qualifying. A year ago, we reported on serious scuttlebutt suggesting Richard Lovett would imminently be stepping down. That proved out to be less accurate than you’d like your rumors to be. So take that grain of salt and consider the following.
The word in certain circles is that David Zaslav, as he looks to hire his number two, the content overlord of the Discovery empire to be, had set his sights on the Godfather of Hollywood himself, one Bryan Lourd. And they are — depending which version you believe — either in talks, or have just ended talks with Lourd turning down the job.
It is a potent rumor because it checks so many boxes and most important, lets history repeat itself.
It was back in 1995, that Michael Ovitz, having held the leadership of his company since its founding 20 years before, felt the eyes glaring and knives being sharpened from below by his once-loyal proteges, a group of ambitious young agents including Bryan Lourd and Richard Lovett, now hungry for their turn at the wheel. Feeling their hot breath on their back, Ovitz left while the getting was still good, taking the job as Michael Eisner’s #2 at Disney and riding off into the history books.
Twenty-seven years later, another generation — or two — has been waiting for their turn and the rumors have swirled for years now about the final bow of the not-so-Young Turks, making room for new blood.
And for Lourd himself, it is said, the moment for exit is at hand. If he stays at the wheel when CAA launches its IPO — as it is presumed they will momentarily — he’ll be obliged to promise to serve on for several years to come.
Taking the job at Warners Discovery will put him atop what could be the hot company of the moment if all goes well…if Discovery is going to pour money in as promised. A fittingly august capstone on a career that has overseen the transformation of Hollywood into the platinum-plated imperial capital we know today.
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