Ari Emanuel Compares CAA To Walmart, Talks LIV Golf, Saudi Arabia & Endeavor Succession Plans In ‘Freakonomics’ Interview
01.06.2023 - 03:03
/ deadline.com
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel went to town on CAA, said his company almost invested $1 billion in the new LIV Golf tour, and projected that COO Mark Shapiro will take over the company whenever Emanuel calls it quits.
The wide-ranging conversation with Freakonomics Radio host Stephen J. Dubner has just gone online as a podcast and will also air on public radio stations. (Listen HERE.) Deadline was provided with a transcript in advance. In addition to covering a few newsy items, Dubner aimed to give listeners a sense of Emanuel’s day-to-day to arrive at his answer to a simple question: Is he enjoying himself?
“I’m having a meeting, getting on a plane to England, then going to Madrid, then coming back, then back to New York, then coming back, then going to Cannes. Then I’m going to Tokyo. Yeah. And I enjoy it,” Emanuel said. “So when I don’t enjoy it, when I won’t show up is when I know I’m not in it. And when I’m not in it, I will not be in it. I’ll be out. And Mark Shapiro will be running the company. And it will be an incredible company, and that will be fine.”
Endeavor is in the process of acquiring WWE and merging it with UFC to create a separate public company, which will be majority-owned by Endeavor. It’s part of a diversification strategy he started years ago to make the company less dependent on the representation business via major subsidiaries like WME and IMG. “We still represent a lot of clients,” Emanuel said. “Anytime they need us, we’re there.”
The UFC, which Endeavor acquired in full in 2021, proved a talking point in the interview. Emanuel described UFC chief Dana White’s aggressive negotiating style and resourceful pivot during Covid to stage events on an island. White being caught on camera slapping his