A Conversation with Ariel Emanuel
Ariel Emanuel offers candid and compelling insights about the media and entertainment industry from his path from Hollywood agent to CEO of a global sports and entertainment company, challenging audiences to take risks, maximize the lesson in every experience, and build emotional endurance. Emanuel can speak to the current state of media and entertainment, his unique approach for identifying and capitalizing on cultural trends, and developing long-range visionary approaches to inevitable change.
Ariel Emanuel is Chief Executive Officer of Endeavor (NYSE: EDR), a global entertainment, sports and content company comprised of industry-leading brands including WME, IMG and UFC.
After co-founding the original Endeavor talent agency in 1995, Emanuel orchestrated the largest talent agency merger in history in 2009 when Endeavor joined forces with William Morris to form WME. WME now represents leading talent across books, culinary, digital, film, music, television and theater.
In 2012, WME forged a strategic partnership with Silver Lake, a global leader in private investments in technology. In 2014, WME and Silver Lake acquired premier sports, fashion, events and media company IMG, and in 2016, the company acquired UFC®, the world’s premier professional mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. One year later, Emanuel announced the formation of a holding company for his global portfolio, Endeavor. Since then, Endeavor has been named one of Inc.’s Fastest Growing Companies in America and one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies. The company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.
A graduate of Macalester College, Emanuel began his career at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and went on to become a senior agent at InterTalent and International Creative Management (ICM). Emanuel is an associate member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. Additionally, Emanuel has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, one of Fortune’s Businesspersons of the Year and one of Sport Business Journal’s 50 Most Influential People in Sports.
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