At first, advertisers and investors flocked to the new SFX. Some noted that Sillerman was paying huge amounts of goodwill in his deals, so eager was he to build the company. In June 2007, Sillerman told investors of CKX--a Nasdaq vehicle hed created with intellectual property rights to American Idol, Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali--that hed pay $13.75 a share to take the company private. Though these unfortunate events have more to do with the young generation experimenting with different ways of altering their consciousness while listening to music than the music itself, MDMA-based drugs have a certainly become a part of EDM culture. 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. Robert F.X. Well, its a little early to ask that question. Really? Robert F.X. around. As for Sillermans take on Lisa: I was impressed with how real and grounded she was. Says his longtime business partner, disc jockey Cousin Brucie Morrow: Bob is very exhausting to be with. [39], On November 24, 2019, Sillerman died at the age of 71 after a respiratory illness.[40]. They had a per diem, and they were missing meals and saving money so they could buy more stuff at the shop. Soden has escorted everyone from William F. Buckley to I.M. Robert Francis Xavier Sillerman was born on April 12, 1948, in the Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale in a very typical, liberal, educated Jewish household, according to the 2011 book Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalpedby Dean Budnick and Josh Baron, which secured an interview with Sillerman. He can outlast and outtalk anybody. Says a close colleague: His BlackBerry messages start at 6 A.M. and never stop into the night. Though the Elvis business isnt that big yet, it gives us a window into how Sillerman operates. Hes probably smartest person Ive ever met, saidShelly Finkel, a longtime boxing and music manager who co-founded SFX with Sillerman in 2011. Robert F.X. And dont forget about the Heartbreak Hotel. Elvis's 37-year-old daughter and heir, Lisa Marie, has been unhappy . Only Mike Darnell [at Fox] got it straight away., Man in the middle: Simon Fuller (in back) with Idol stars Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, and Fantasia Barrino.Ray Mickshaw WireImage/Getty Images. Robert FX Sillerman (born 1949) is an American businessman and media entrepreneur. 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 that spirit, he named Kermit the Frog as the 1996 commencement speaker: 31 newspapers picked up the story, a free marketing bonanza that raised the college's profile and drew hundreds of new admissions. At the time, Sillerman said he expected to deliver equity and debt financing on the billion-dollar deal when a 60-day sale process was completed. By then Sillerman was already toiling away on his next project, SFX Entertainment, a company that would own concert venues and other media properties. The transaction renamed the company to Function (X), Inc. and changing its listing on the stock exchange to FNCX. Once Morrow had a beef with the late-night deejay at their Middletown station. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Revenues at the company that manages his affairs, Elvis Presley Enterprises, have been flat at $40 million for five years. But isnt American Idol just another reality show that will soon run out of gas? "[9], On February 8, 2011, Sillerman announced an agreement to acquire control of Gateway Industries, Inc. (GWAY.PK). [19][20] In July 2015, Viggle had more than 9.5 million registered users across all properties, up from 5.4 million registered users at the end of 2014. And she had a great sense of humor., Here then are the terms of the deal between Sillerman and Lisa Presley: CKX paid $114 million for an 85% interest in Elvis Presley Enterprises; Lisa retains the other 15%. Mr. Sillerman gained control of the Presley estate. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Not bad for a years work. He set up what became his signature company, SFX, which he took public in 1993 at $15 a share. 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. And the show garners the highest ad rates on network TV, between $660,000 and $705,000 for a 30-second spot, which is higher than CSI or Desperate Housewives. I liked him, she says. In February 2014, a lawsuit was filed against Sillerman, for allegedly having defrauded a trio of business partners. Robert, who grew up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, was born on the third anniversary of the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and his original middle name was a tribute to the former president. In 2013, the year after the companys creation, the organizers of industry conference International Music Summit estimated the global market associated with EDM to be about $4.5 billion in sales. After that big deal, as with so many American business stories in 2000, things began to sour. A brash figure in the financial pages, he bought and sold lucrative radio and concert businesses and controlled the Elvis Presley estate. It comes with five bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. Thats the whole game., Robert F.X. [4] After graduating from the Collegiate School, he attended Brandeis University. He was an executive. The truth is, for all of Elviss transcendent mystique, EPE has never been much of a business. That business was built from a spree of acquisitions from 1997 to 2000 when Sillerman bought up Houston outfit Pace Concerts, New York promoter Delsener/Slater enterprises, Boston big man Don Laws Blackstone Entertainment, Los AngelesAvalon Attractions, Jack Boyles Cellar Door International, Bill Graham Presents in Northern California and Jimmy Koplicks 4,800-seat Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut. Sillerman had no intention of consolidating the EDM industry before he met Paolo Moreno in January 2012, said Steven Feldman, a Hueston Hennigan LLP attorney representing Moreno and two other plaintiffs. 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. Mr. Sillerman called it an inside joke. Correction: In The Man Who Bought Elvis (Dec. 12), we wrote that SFX Entertainment once owned New York Citys Roseland Ballroom. Robert Sillerman, born April 12, 1948 in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, early on had a strong entrepreneurial bent starting a greeting card in high school and a youth marketing company while at Brandeis University. Sillerman, Transform Television? The founder of SFX Entertainment rarely spoke about the impact of his daughter's death but his friends say it weighed on him and changed his outlook. The massive property that was assembled from four different plots of land has just hit the market for a staggering $150 million. That show is American Idol, and as with Elvis, Sillerman is convinced he can make it an even bigger deal than it already is. dialogue with Robert Sillerman. Another show with legs? After selling SFX Entertainment, Mr. Sillerman pursued various entertainment projects. Sillerman was eventually pushed out of the company by creditors and it re-emerged as LiveStyle in 2017 with entertainment veteran Randy Phillips at the helm. A crucial part of his strategy was using the nationwide audience at SFXs shows to lure sponsorship deals by big consumer brands like Smirnoff and Levis. [29] In December, the company went private and was renamed LiveStyle, with Sillerman exiting the company in favor of former AEG Live executive Randy Phillips as CEO. At the time of the companys formation, Sillerman boasted of his ability to go toe-to-toe with Live Nation Entertainment, the live events behemoth which was formed out of the firm he sold to Clear Channel for $4.4 billion in 2000. I have a million ideas all the time, says Fuller, but before I could only do one a year. That greatly reduces the number of viewers who DVR it and skip the commercials. 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. Robert F.X. How Trust In Institutions Determines COVID Vaccination Rates In The EU, Clubhouses Future Depends On Data - How To Build A TikTok Like Algorithm. However, since doubts of Sillerman's take-private began to emerge in July, the company hasn't disclosed a bona fide competing offer. Profanity was part of a larger schtick punctuated with sexist, racist and generally inappropriate language that was softened by Sillermans own self-deprecating jokes with his Jewish heritage being the punchline. Undervalued? Todays star- making machinery is half-a-century and light years away from that process. [36] Sillerman was also a donor and fundraiser for the Democratic Party in the United States. SFX Broadcasting sold its 71 radio stations for $2.1 billion in 1998. In February 2016, SFX filed for bankruptcy, brought down in a cash crunch that Estopinal now partially blames on overpaying for the assets that came to make up SFX. Sillerman also bought the business of sports superagent David Falk (he repped Michael Jordan, among others) and other pieces of the sports world, such as figure-skating championships. But an informed source says that Lisa Presleys spending habits were also an issue: She had been running through $5 million to $7 million a year, amounts that closely matched the annual net income of EPE. He has unbounded energy when it comes to business. Sillerman worth at the age of 71 years old? [30][31], In an interview with Billboard, Sillerman admitted that there were "no easy answers" surrounding why the company collapsed, but added that he didn't "begrudge the disappointment and anger" of his staff because he was just as disappointed over the company's performance. F Former SFX Entertainment founder Robert Sillerman has agreed to pay a $179,000 fine after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the businessman with fraud for illegally. And there are between 105 and 110 scheduled for next year.. As the genre has grown in popularity, so too has the quantity of reports of drug-induced injuries and deaths at concerts. And thats just part of the American Idol money train. Unable to eat solid foods, he was prone to horrible coughing fits and had to eat through a feeding tube. I know nothing about EDM, Sillerman told Billboard in Sept. 2012. He declined to comment for this story via email. Sillerman, the former CEO of Function (x), Inc., with orchestrating an offering fraud and diverting offering proceeds to repay loans he had previously made to the company. In 2017, he almost lost the home after defaulting on a $12.5 million. All these ballet dancers from Russia were huge Elvis fans, and [their handlers] were asking for our help to get them out of here and back to rehearsal. His brother, Michael, confirmed his death but gave no other details. At the time it was the largest gift ever received by an alumnus to the university. Today about 600,000 visitors make the pilgrimage to Graceland each year (30% from abroad), paying between $22 and $55 apiece. (A hip-hop-style remix of A Little Less Conversation was a No. 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. Robert F.X. He was married to Laura Baudo. But Fuller had an even bigger idea, a kind of interactive on-air talent show. (Photo: Robin Marchant/Getty Images). In the mid-1980s the Federal Communications Commission was beginning to loosen its restrictions on the number of radio stations that could be owned by a single operator. The prior owner, ex-HBO CEO Richard Plepler now founder and CEO of Eden Productions had once listed it for $18.5 million in 2008 after buying it for $2.33 million in 2002. Fullers company doesnt get a direct share of ad revenues from Fox; rather, it receives a $1.2 million fee per episode. Beyond the lawsuit, questions have also been raised about the fundamentals of a business that some analysts said relied on what they deemed a cultural fad. CKX Inc. has been flying under the radar despite owning stakes in some of the biggest pop culture icons of our time, including "American Idol," Elvis Presley . 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. Sillerman was looking to become the single big fish in this business so that when acts like Eric Clapton went on tour, his manager would deal with SFX and SFX only when booking venues. In 1993 he founded SFX Broadcasting with a partner, R. Steven Hicks. Even so, Sillermans 47% stake is worth some $400 million. It didnt scale and this round was young promoters that werent as established as the promoters from the first round of buyouts in the 1990s. Investor Robert Sillerman, who bought Elvis Presley Enterprises, photographed with Elvis impersonators, 2005. When he did sell to Live Nation, the number was closer to $100 million the only thing that changed was were out there buying promoters., Dance music was rapidly growing in popularity with ticket sales increasing by nearly 30% from 2011 to 2012, but most electronic promoters were putting everything they owned into the next show, explains Estopinal. [12], In May 2009, Credit Suisse filed a request for summary judgment in New York State Supreme Court, alleging Sillerman had failed to pay the outstanding balance due under a credit agreement with Flag Luxury Properties LLC and that Sillerman defaulted on a series of payments due since April 2008, totaling $21.4 million. Sillerman the former owner of Graceland who consolidated radio stations and concert ticket sales has sold for $7.7 million. At least so says a Wall Street entrepreneur who is hoping to make Elvis the centerpiece of his burgeoning media companynot only extending the Kings reign but also taking advantage of technological and demographic changes rocking the media and entertainment industries. Its main app NextGuide and Digit Reminder Button was integrated into Viggle software. Bob went out and taught salespeople; I taught the on-air staff. We want to make money both by selling tickets and by putting a live audience in front of Madison Avenue, he said in an interview in 1998. Young Sillerman graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis in 1969 after becoming immersed in counterculture politics and rock & roll. Improved top-line growth did little to stave off a panic from investors, who were troubled to see the company once again fall short of the profits it had promised. But the companys performance was weak, and its stock price eventually plunged by more than 95 percent. 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. Contestants on the new Fox hit So You Think You Can Dance.Jason Merritt FilmMagic/Getty Images, So why did Sillerman buy Fullers company? Elvis left the building 28 years ago, but as a pop icon hes still hot. . DJ Afrojack (left) and Sillerman at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York in 2013. He followed the 1998 sale with a Feb. 29, 2000, deal that Playbill called a quantum leap on the first Leap Day of the century, selling his concert and theatrical production firm SFX Entertainment to Clear Channel for $3.2billion. And Fuller is looking to bring a gritty nighttime soap opera that is popular in Britain to America next summer. 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