Sillerman, the founder of SFX Entertainment, has died at the age of 71 due to respiratory illness. I liked him, she says. He also acquired a majority of the Presley estate, with the right to operate Graceland, the Presley home in Memphis; took over the company behind the long-running television hit American Idol; and acquired the rights to Muhammad Alis name and likeness. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Clear Channel would later spin off its concert holdings into Live Nation in 2005 with CEO Michael Rapino at the helm, which grewinto the most dominate company in music, with $15 billion in revenue reported in 2019. Sillerman has a $1 billion plan to conquer the world of dance music, read the publications cover line. He often named his companies using some combination of those initials. Part of that underwhelming reality may have to do with the public relations nightmares that can occur while running EDM festivals. On the subject of corporate partnerships, Sillerman said he underestimated the time it would take to sign up sponsors for SFXs events. Fullers company doesnt get a direct share of ad revenues from Fox; rather, it receives a $1.2 million fee per episode. In 1989 he sold a group of radio stations to Westinghouse (now Viacom) for $389 million. Its different, Sillerman says. In 2011, he sold that company for $512 million and tried his hand at commercial real estate with decidely less luck, defaulting on a loan from Credit Suisse equalling $21.4 million. Sillerman became one of the most intriguing and wealthiest men in the media business but died in bankruptcy, pursued by the government and suffering the painful complications of a decade. Not a clue. How big will CKX become? According to Billboard, Sillerman died of a. SFX, however, had problems from day one. And dont even think about asking him what his middle initials, F.X., stand for. The companys chief Michael Rapino declined a request for an interview through a spokesperson. Mr. Sillerman was the founder, a major shareholder and served as Executive Chairman of SFX Entertainment from its inception in 1997 until its sale to Clear Channel Communications in August 2000. While he pointed to lucrative deals with Anheuser Busch, MasterCard and T-Mobile and those companies increased yearly ad spend, the SFX CEO admitted that his earlier business models anticipated greater participation from brands. Several managers and big-name acts from Ozzy Osborne to Shania Twain reportedly bristled over having to negotiate with such a corporate gorilla. Sillerman, the entertainment entrepreneur who helped. Elvis left the building 28 years ago, but as a pop icon hes still hot. That is, if SFX is still around in a year to run those events. By that time Mr. Sillerman had turned his sights on another industry ripe for consolidation: the nationwide concert circuit, which had long remained a loosely connected network of venues and promoters who operated regional fiefs. But stars still do get born. But when I took it to America, almost everyone rejected it, Fuller recalls. Sillerman, an investor and media executive who built and sold radio empires, controlled the Elvis Presley estate and consolidated the American concert industry, died on Sunday. . The orginal goal was to buy Pasquale RotellasInsomniac, explained Estopinal. Robert F.X. This ultimately led to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowing for ownership of multiple stations in single markets Capstar merged with Command Communications, another radio group Sillerman founded, ultimately changing its name to SFX Broadcasting. During its public run, the company also sold $295 million debt to finance additional acquisitions and fund operating losses. On Friday, the stock closed at 91 cents a share. In the mid-1970s he scraped together $600,000 and enlisted Cousin Brucie Morrow, then one of the top deejays in the country, to become his partner and buy a rock & roll radio station in Middletown, N.Y. Bob can sell igloos, says Morrow. Bear Stearns analyst R. Glen Reid says to also look for a 2,000-seat Elvis theater in Vegas. Sillerman, a triathlete who loves vigorous games of volleyball and basketball, has recovered and now sports a yellow Livestrong bracelet. The stock cratered. Im also confident that we will create a better experience for the fans, Mr. Sillerman said in an interview with The New York Times. Among them was former Beatport CEO Matthew Adell, who stepped down less than two years after selling his company for $50 million in early 2013. [6] Sillerman was married to copywriter Laura Baudo, whom he met at Ingalls. Few suggest the genre is decliningnot yet, anywaybut theres evidence that points to a plateau. The results supported theories that Sillerman--who proposed in late May to take the company private at a price of $5.25 per share--didnt have the financial partners or intent to buy his cash-strapped company. Fuller is signed up to head 19 Entertainment in a five-year contract. Sillerman denied this when talking to FORBES, noting that he never founded the company with Moreno and stopped working with him after learning of past legal run-ins, a conclusion that Feldman also disputes. The hotel, Sillerman and Soden say, is just screaming to be expanded, upgraded, and replicated in other locations. Investor Robert Sillerman is combining the King, American Idol, and other entertainment assets to build his next media conglomerate. A year later, Sillerman was pushed into bankruptcy over an unpaid $7.4 million promissory note to React Presents during the SFX rollup. CKX raised $251 million at its IPO earlier this year, which it used to pay back $150 million in loans from Bear Stearnsthe rest it paid directly to 19 Entertainment or kept as capital. The five-story home, between Lexington and Third avenues, is 5,885 square feet and was built in 1920. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google. In 2017, he almost lost the home after defaulting on a $12.5 million. Perhaps the bigger question centers on the inherent limits of EDMs popularity. In 1985 Sillerman entered into a partnership with radio/television industry executive Carl E. Hirsch (known as Legacy Broadcasting) to acquire KJOI-FM, Los Angeles for a then record-setting $44 million, as well as other stations in Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis, Washington D.C., Houston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and New York City. Robert Sillerman and Laura Baudo Sillerman attend NEW YORKERS FOR CHILDREN 2007 Fall Gala at 583 Park Avenue on September 18, 2007 in New York City. Clear Channel had integration issues with SFX, according to one analyst, and now plans to spin off that business by early next year. (Photo: Robin Marchant/Getty Images). Sillerman worth at the age of 71 years old? He made a lot of people wealthy, and he made himself even wealthier., Visit with Sillerman for an hour or two in his Manhattan office, and you are likely to get a rapid-fire discourse on politics from the 1960s to today, or rock & roll radio, or Thoreau, or education in America, or all of the above. In characteristic form, Sillerman wont give investors any firm commitments. Sitting kitty-corner from Graceland across Elvis Presley Boulevard, it is a 128-room boutique property with a small pool and a tiny bar, perennially packed to the gills with Elvis fans. At Fridays price of 91 cents, SFXs shares are down 93% from its IPO price. Sillerman, Concert Industry Consolidator, Dies at 71 By Roy Trakin Mark Chilvers/The Independent/Shutterstock Robert F.X. Capstar applied for and received permission to operate more than one class of radio station in the same market. Recognizing the environment she was raised in, I thought she was astounding. Its a word Ive never liked. Robert Francis Xavier Sillerman (April 12, 1948 November 24, 2019)[1] was an American businessman and media entrepreneur. Additionally, Robert FX Sillerman has had 6 past jobs including Founder at Live Nation. However, since doubts of Sillerman's take-private began to emerge in July, the company hasn't disclosed a bona fide competing offer. Besides buying Elvis Presley Enterprises from Lisa Marie Presley last February, Sillerman and his lieutenants have purchased the smash-hit TV show American Idol and other properties from a company called 19 Entertainment, which was owned by British pop impresario Simon Fuller. More and more content can go directly to consumers through cellphones, devices like iPods, and home video, which makes content even more valuable. But doesnt Sillermans strategy fly in the face of what big media is doing right now? Clear Channel, which had already purchased many of Sillermans radio stations from Hicks Muse, agreed to buy SFX Entertainment for a reported $3 billion. Striking a deal shouldnt be that difficult. Robert F.X. Attracting funds, at least at this point, wont be a limitation. On August 14, Sillerman tabled his bid, saying that the markets made the ability to complete a deal virtually impossible., The fact the market said--which its entitled to--We dont believe that this deal is going to close is one thing, he said. I should get a waterproof one for the shower., At this particular sit-down, when Sillerman gets around to talking about CKX, he says, Technology is breaking down the old lines of distribution. . Early rewards included gift cards to retail establishments. Robert F.X. That means $125 million out of the $306 million paid for these two companies exceeds any tangible assets, including the value of trademarks. This company owned "American Idol" and the licensing rights to Elvis Presley and his Graceland estate. Meet the Women in Music Honoree Who Escaped the IronCurtain, Manson Accusers Recantation Cant Be Used for Now in Case Against Evan Rachel Wood, JudgeSays, Fadia Kader Joins Venice Music as EVP &GM. He also carried heavy personal pain after the suicide of his 18-year-old daughter Mackinley in 2012, losing his only child in the home he shared with his wife Laura Baudo Sillerman. In 2011, Apollo Management purchased CKX in 2011 for $512 million. Sillermans actions signaled to the market that he saw significant value in SFX. Sillerman insists that cancer hasnt impeded his business or his social life, which can be a bit wild and woolly. When asked if Bob was dishonest about the companys health, Finkel told Billboard, It was more complicated than that. Embattled music executive Robert Sillerman, who founded the company that would eventually become ticketing and concert giant Live Nation, has died at the age of 71. Robert F.X. He was 71. But where did it go wrong for SFX? Even so, says Lisa Presley, theres only so far you can take a family-run business. Sillermans personal take was a reported $219 million. SFX Entertainment is likely well-managed on the festivals and business unit level and the companys shortcomings, in our view, appear to be with holding company management and its board of directors, which have arguably destroyed shareholder value, said analyst Richard Tullo of Albert Fried. SFX now has a market capitalization of $88 million. A serial media-industry entrepreneur, Sillerman was best-known at the time for buying up concert promoters under the rubric of SFX Entertainment and, in 2000, selling them to the radio giant. When Mr. Sillerman tried to corner the fractious world of dance music festivals in the early 2010s, for example, he played the part of a devil-may-care rebel to a sometimes puzzling extent. [7] The company was merged at the end of 1989 with a unit of Westinghouse Broadcasting in a then record-setting transaction worth $727 million. And the King is content! Estopinal says he last saw Sillerman at a deposition, but he remembers sending Sillerman a note after the bankruptcy, acknowledging the failures of SFX while also thanking him for the opportunity to be part of the company. As of December 2013, Viggle companies had a combined 17 million monthly users. But from 2013 to 2014, the increase slowed to 11%; this year, its only 2.5%. That company was also called SFX. 19 did some $92 million in revenues last yearwith about a third coming from the Idol showsand earned $12.6 million. Despite having established brands, the festivals that were acquired by Sillerman's empire collectively moved in the opposite direction of what was expected. Robert F.X. What Sillerman bought was Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), a company that gets its $40 million in annual revenue from Graceland tours, onsite retailing, and licensingeach contributing a bit less than a third of the totalwith the balance derived from an apartment complex and the Heartbreak Hotel. Dressed in all black, the music mogul--who once appeared on the 2005 Forbes 400 list with a net worth of $975 million--held a disco ball that had been colored in gold and silver to represent the earth. Even more worrying, SFXs cash reserves dwindled to $38.6 million. Starting in the late 1970s, Mr. Sillerman built a portfolio of radio and television stations worth nearly $1 billion. CKX also gets the publishing rights to 650 songs, but owns the more valuable royalty rights to only the few songs Elvis recorded after 1973. Over a few years in the late 1990s, Mr. Sillerman and his new company, SFX Entertainment, spent more than $2 billion acquiring dozens of promoters and venues, creating the concert worlds first truly national force. 1 show on television, drawing some 30 million viewers, which is great, but it means that fewer than one out of ten people in America watch it, Sillerman says. The company also acquired 80% in Muhammad Ali Enterprises. He was a good guy, but he knew he did bad things, Estopinal tells Billboard, noting that Sillerman was suffering from the complications of throat surgery through all of the SFX misadventure. After selling SFX Entertainment, Mr. Sillerman pursued various entertainment projects. A limestone mansion once owned by the late entertainment mogul Robert F.X. His brother, Michael, confirmed his death but gave no other details. Offers may be subject to change without notice. 19 also manages the career of soccer superstar David Beckham and his wife, Victoria (a.k.a. SFX CEO Entertainment Robert F.X. And sad. It comes with five bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. We had to do something right away to make money, and that something was to open up Graceland for tours., On the first day Soden and Elviss ex-wife, Priscilla, opened up the Memphis mansion, 3,024 fans filed in, paying $5 each. Sillerman was a significant player on Broadway. We took on more debt than I felt comfortable with, she says. EDM Mogul Bob Sillerman Finds a Buyer for His $28 M. Townhouse. There was no retirement plan. No, I dont think the mistakes I made had anything to do with my lack of background on this particular type of music, he said. While Sillermans buying spree made sense to few of the sellers in the later 90s, the dots quickly connected by the time he sold the business. But the flattening rates for top acts may be symptomatic of demand, a signal that EDM more broadly is approaching a saturation pointand that pouring more money into creating more festivals, Sillermans plan all along, is not a viable strategy anymore. Can we monetize that? Bob had his own way of doing things and it wasnt good in the end.. When asked what exactly went wrong with SFX, Sillerman offered two explanations: mistakes in management and a misunderstanding of the complexity and time of marketing partnerships. He did not name any specific people with regards to personnel issues, though music industry sources pointed to the fact that many of the people who sold their businesses to SFX did not stay long after closing their deals. Sillerman and Shelly Finkel, his close associate and SFX's eventual vice chairman, hardly listened to the music but saw the opportunity in what they believed to be the millennial generations rock and roll. Hes like a little boy. While some might find that a 25th wedding anniversary is best celebrated privately, Sillerman held his at the Manhattan rock hall Irving Plaza with hundreds of guests. Its sad how things ended because he really was a bright guy, but in the end he carried a lot of pain. As the genre has grown in popularity, so too has the quantity of reports of drug-induced injuries and deaths at concerts. Bob can sell anythingit doesnt matterhe has that kind of head. (Morrow says it was he who enlisted Sillerman, not the other way around. In addition to Mr. Sillermans brother, Ms. Baudo Sillerman survives him. 19 is the brainchild of Simon Fuller, whom Sillerman describes as a cherubic bundle of nonstop creative energy. 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