Agents & Stars: Equity Stakes are the New 10%. While They Last
With packaging gone, the race for the next Ryan Reynolds — not the 'Deadpool' star but the gin pitchman — is facing market burn-out
CAA co-chairman and CEO Bryan Lourd isn’t exactly known for leaving money on the table. But when beverage behemoth Diageo ponied up a reported $1 billion in 2017 to acquire Casamigos — the tequila brand synonymous with CAA client George Clooney — it was a rare instance of Lourd and CAA missing out on a potential massive payday. Diageo was acquiring a brand but it was also, in essence, buying a piece of the Clooney magic.
Yes, Casamigos has a trio of cofounders — the others being Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman — but only one of them has a mantle holding up two Academy Awards, five Golden Globes and a pair of sexiest man alive trophies. Yet somehow, CAA, the agency famed for its ruthless and cutting-edge dealmaking and which had represented Clooney since his ER days, didn't make a dime on the deal.
A year after Casamigos sold, Ryan Reynolds acquired a stake in Aviation Gin with the support and participation of his agency, WME. When Diageo came calling in 2020 and acquired Aviation for $650 million, Reynolds made a fortune and WME walked away with what would amount to an eight-figure sum, according to several sources (a WME spokesperson declined to comment).
WME agents like to cite this as an example of their superior negotiating prowess (of course), but CAA has been at the forefront of equity-based brand building since the early aughts. Says a CAA source about the Casamigos deal, “Clooney didn’t ask for help and didn’t need it. Honestly, everyone was just really happy for them.”
But the tale of the two celebrity liquor brand deals reflects a sharp evolutionary leap for the talent representation industry that has now become laser focused on not missing out on the next big liquidity event involving one of their clients.
As one executive recently put it to me, “It seems like equity is the new packaging.”
Today I talk to dealmakers including Endeavor’s Ben Enowitz; Superconnector Studios’ Jae Goodman; UTA’s Paul Yoo; CAA’s Michael Yanover; lawyer Alexei Cowett; Todd Shemarya; and Range Media’s Mahmoud Youssef about the state of this new form of celebrity deal.
