Mark Shapiro Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Endeavor President and COO Mark Shapiro said the ultimate resolution of the WGA strike will improve the fortunes of the company’s representation business.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Ari Emanuel, in his capacity as CEO of TKO Group Holdings — the parent company of UFC and WWE — had a compensation package last year that hit nearly $65 million. TKO granted Emanuel, who also is CEO of Endeavor, a base salary of $911,538, plus a $24 million cash bonus and stock awards worth $40 million in 2023, per a regulatory filing by TKO. All told, the exec’s pay package totaled $64.91 million.

Ari Emanuel, CEO of TKO Group as well as the soon-to-be-private Endeavor, saw a pay package valued at $64.9 million in 2023 as CE0 of TKO Group, the home of WWE and UFC. TKO is a relatively new company that started trading on the New York Stock Exchange last September.

More of former TKO Group Executive Chairman Vince McMahon‘s large stake in the company is changing hands, with Endeavor and TKO agreeing to buy a combined $311.2 million of his stock.

Silver Lake’s plan to take Endeavor private includes an investment of $250 million of seed equity “into a new business to be founded, managed and controlled” by executive chairman Patrick Whitesell.

WWE is making another change with it’s Monday Night Raw programming!

WWE‘s weekly flagship wrestling programme Raw will be shown on Netflix from next year.Starting in January 2025, Netflix will become the exclusive new home of Raw in the US, Canada, UK and Latin America, among other territories, with additional countries and regions to be added over time. This also marks Raw‘s departure from linear television after 31 years.Netflix is also set to show all WWE shows and specials outside the US, including its other weekly shows SmackDown and NXT, as well as the company’s Premium Live Events, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble.“This deal is transformative,” said Mark Shapiro, president of WWE’s holding company TKO, in a press release.

Addie Morfoot Contributor In “Downwind,” a documentary executive produced by Matthew Modine, directors Mark Shapiro and Douglas Brian Miller chronicle the lethal effects that nuclear testing on American soil has had on U.S. citizens. The Oscar hopeful reveals that from 1951 to 1992, Mercury, Nevada, was the site for the testing of 928 large scale nuclear weapons.

Vince McMahon, the longtime former CEO of WWE, is selling nearly one-third of his stake in TKO Group Holdings.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Vince McMahon is cashing out. McMahon, the former CEO of WWE, intends to offer 8.4 million shares of Class A common stock in TKO Group, the company formed by the merger of WWE and UFC, which was engineered by Endeavor. Those shares are currently worth about $713 million at TKO’s most recently closing share price.

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel expressed hope that “the strike ends in the next couple days,” referring to the SAG-AFTRA impasse still paralyzing Hollywood.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor In the quarter that included the marriage of UFC and WWE under the TKO Group umbrella, Endeavor saw its Q3 revenue rise despite headwinds from Hollywood strikes and other market conditions, but operating expenses climbed even more. Endeavor’s conference call with analysts today is expected to give Wall Streeters a chance to grill company executives, including CEO Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, president and chief operating officer, on the news earlier this month that Endeavor is considering “strategic alternatives” for some of its businesses.

A major WWE show is moving to a new network.

Endeavor has drop-kicked a newly created sports entity that is built for the future of both television and fandom. As of Sept. 12, that new entity has started trading on the NYSE under the feisty ticker symbol TKO.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Investors cheered as TKO Group Holdings, the new parent company of UFC and WWE, clambered into the Wall Street ring. Shares of TKO, which began trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange, closed up 2.6% on the day, to $103.22 per share after opening at $102. TKO Group has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, per data from CNBC.

UFC, the mixed martial arts powerhouse, has officially tied the knot with Vince McMahon’s professional wresting juggernaut WWE, creating a new company called TKO Group that starts trading on the New York Stock Exchange today.

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.

Endeavor Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel, whose bonus-laden $308 million pay package turned heads in 2021, made $19.1 million in 2022, according to the company’s latest proxy filing.

new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Emanuel’s 2022 package included a $4 million base salary, an $8.2 million bonus, $6 million in non-equity incentive compensation and $868,011 in “other compensation,” which represents $225,000 in business and management and tax advisory services provided to Emanuel, personal aircraft use, personal security-related services, reserved parking, personal cell phone expenses, a club membership fee and 401(k) matching contributions.Meanwhile, executive chairman Patrick Whitesell saw his pay fall to $12.2 million from $123.1 million in 2021, chief financial officer Jason Lublin saw his pay slightly increase to $18.5 million from $18.03 million in 2021, president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro saw his pay slip to $18.5 million from $41.99 million in 2021 and chief legal officer Seth Krauss saw his 2022 pay drop to $6.5 million from 10.6 million in 2021. For full-year 2022, Endeavor reported net income of 321.7 million, revenue of $5.268 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.164 billion, significant improvements from 2021.

Endeavor Group Holdings has sold sports educational institution IMG Academy to a division of private equity firm EQT.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Endeavor is bringing together two of the world’s biggest combat-sports franchises — UFC and WWE — in a blockbuster merger announced Monday. It’s a deal in which “one plus one equals three,” said Endeavor president and COO Mark Shapiro, who will serve in the same role for the merged UFC-WWE. The pact, valuing the combined company at roughly $21.4 billion, is anticipated to close in the second half of 2023. The deal will result in an estimated $50 million to $100 million in annualized run-rate cost synergies, according to Endeavor, including by moving WWE to Endeavor’s back-office infrastructure. Shapiro said Endeavor, when it acquired UFC, realized $70 million in cost savings.

Endeavor Group Holdings and Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment have entered a definitive agreement to create a new $21.4 billion live sports and entertainment company consisting of UFC and WWE.The deal, which was unanimously approved by Endeavor and WWE’s boards of directors, values UFC at $12.1 billion and WWE at $9.3 billion. It is expected to close in the second half of 2023.Under the terms of the transaction, existing WWE shareholders will roll all existing equity into a new entity that will be the parent company of UFC and WWE (“NewCo” until it is named at a later date) and intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “TKO”.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Endeavor Group Holdings and World Wrestling Entertainment said Monday that they had signed a definitive agreement to form a new, publicly listed company consisting of two complementary, global sports and entertainment brands: UFC and WWE. The deal was reported to be close over the weekend by financial media CNBC and Bloomberg. Upon closing, Endeavor will hold a 51% controlling interest in the new company and existing WWE shareholders will hold a 49% interest. “Together, UFC and WWE will have global reach, impressive scale and omnichannel distribution,” Endeavor said in a statement.

William Earl Endeavor has made an investment in Asylum Entertainment Group, which is home to a number of production banners focused on unscripted TV series. Asylum’s collection of companies includes the Content Group, Texas Crew Productions, Big City TV, Breaklight Pictures, and Audity. Those banners will become part of Endeavor’s nonscripted content division, led by Rebecca Sanhueza, executive VP of content strategy and development and head of nonscripted content at Endeavor. Asylum CEO Steve Michaels and Jodi Flynn, president of Asylum, will report to Sanhueza. Mark Shapiro, president of Endeavor, called the deal complimentary to its existing assets. Endeavor will provide Asylum with financing and other resources to grow, particularly with international acquisitions.

Maura McGreevy, who has served as head of communications for Endeavor subsidiaries IMG and 160/90 since 2014, has been promoted to Chief Communications Officer for the global sports and entertainment company.

The extensive ties between UFC parent Endeavor Group Holdings and Disney mean the media company is likely to be “open to a renewal conversation sooner rather than later,” in the assessment of Endeavor president Mark Shapiro.

Endeavor’s IMG global events group has sold The Miss Universe Organization to Thailand-based JKN Global Media.

William Earl WME veterans Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz have been promoted to co-chairmen of the powerful talent agency that is a cornerstone of Endeavor. The pair will succeed Lloyd Braun, who will step down from the WME chairman role at year’s end. “The appointment of Richard and Christian marks a truly transformative day for WME, which continues to be the inspirational core of Endeavor,” said Endeavor president Mark Shapiro. “I’ve seen first-hand their innate ability to lead, to build meaningful relationships, and to leverage the broader Endeavor network in service to our clients’ aspirations. Coupled with their deep understanding of the entertainment landscape, I can say with certainty that there are no better or more complementary individuals to now lead the agency.”

WME announced Thursday that executives Richard Weitz and Christian Muirhead will replace Lloyd Braun as co-chairmen. Braun will exit the role he served for three years at the end of 2022.“I would like to thank Lloyd for his leadership over these past three years, navigating WME through the pandemic and setting the agency on course for its best financial year on record,” said Mark Shapiro, president of WME’s parent company Endeavor.

Richard Weitz and Christian Muirhead have been upped to co-chairmen of Endeavor’s WME talent agency, succeeding Lloyd Braun who will step down as chairman at the end of 2022 when his contract is up. Both are agency veterans, having come from the two companies that formed WME, Endeavor (Weitz) and WMA (Muirhead), and also come from different backgrounds, agenting and corporate communications, respectively. Ari Greenburg remains WME president and will now report to Weitz an Muirhead.