The Billion-Dollar Scramble for Wasserman
The inside chatter as private equity, rival agencies and power players size up a shaken empire — and its worth whole or in pieces
I cover top dealmakers for paid subscribers. I wrote about the ruthless new rules of Super Bowl ad deals, a fix for film’s mid-budget crisis, the new foreign presales playbook for indies, animation’s box office boom and who’s scoring big feature film deals.
Call it Wasserman whiplash.
In the span of two weeks, Casey Wasserman went from running a global sports, music and entertainment empire and leading the L.A. Olympic Organizing Committee, an effort he has staked his entire career and reputation on, to selling his namesake company and holding on to that civic role for dear life.
With Wasserman’s agency now officially up for sale, private equity firms and rivals are circling, and I’ve been gathering the intel dealmakers are quietly swapping as they assess the market for a company the industry can’t stop talking about.
Wasserman’s statement on Jan. 31 that he “deeply regrets” his interactions with Ghislaine Maxwell — the Jeffrey Epstein associate and convicted sex offender whose crimes were revealed years after she and Wasserman exchanged provocative emails — wasn’t enough to stave off client exits (including Chappell Roan, retired Olympic soccer star Abby Wambach and as of today, pop star Laufey) or stanch reported internal ultimatums.
From Super Bowl parties in Santa Clara to conference rooms in L.A., even people who don’t do business with Wasserman found themselves talking about whether or not he should step down. Before Hollywood had the chance to fully reconcile what, if any, consequences were warranted, Wasserman on Friday sent staff a memo apologizing that he’d “become a distraction” and announced that he’d be selling the company.
His plan to focus entirely on the Olympics quickly grew more complicated. After the L.A. Olympic Organizing Committee publicly affirmed its support, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass — a former ally — told CNN that he should step down, throwing fresh uncertainty into what was meant to be his next chapter.
Whatever comes next for Wasserman personally, the fate of his sports, music and entertainment empire carries consequences for thousands of employees and clients — and for the broader entertainment ecosystem. Even before he formally announced a sale, I was speaking with dealmakers about the rumors and the potential M&A scenarios.
None of them expected those hypothetical conversations to become urgent so quickly.
I’ve since continued those discussions — and started new ones — with financial advisors, lawyers, investors and executives about who might realistically buy Wasserman, what conflicts could complicate a deal and whether the smarter play would be to, as one executive put it, “strip it and sell it for parts.”
In this issue for paid subscribers, I’ll cover…
What Wasserman’s company is worth in all, and who’s big enough to buy it
The No. 1 obstacle for any buyer considering the whole company
The agent and client assets of each division
The private equity firms, competitors and other top Hollywood investors in the mix
Which parts of the business WME, CAA and UTA might be circling
Why Wasserman’s sports business is arguably its hottest property but also its most complicated for a buyer
The Brillstein opportunity as management firms have been a hot sector for M&A
The wide web of entertainment backers with stakes in this market-changing development