Eight years later he unloaded a bunch of stations to Hicks Muse for $2.1 billion. Since then, revenues have grown but profits have vanished. That didnt work out, but when we started talking, Insomniacs acquistion price was $10 million, he said. The Bolshoi Ballet came en masse to Graceland, Soden recalls. Whether I will actually select one or more [equity partners] will depend on what the final price is, he said of any future bid. Its sad how things ended because he really was a bright guy, but in the end he carried a lot of pain. stand for? So far Idol stars like Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken have sold over 14 million albums. Elviss 37-year-old daughter and heir, Lisa Marie, has been unhappy that the business has been going nowhere: We were doing good, but you cant stay the same, she says. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. We dont have enough time on this call to talk about the mistakes I made, said Sillerman during a 30-minute phone conversation from his New York City home, his voice gravelly and occasionally interrupted by a breathing apparatus due to a past bout with tongue cancer. Correction: In The Man Who Bought Elvis (Dec. 12), we wrote that SFX Entertainment once owned New York Citys Roseland Ballroom. on fraud charges for his work with Function (X). Lisa received $50 million in cash, plus $26 million in CKX common and preferred stock. At that time it was very exciting, but the mergers didnt work in the U.S. in the way we thought they would, Finkel said. Hes probably smartest person Ive ever met, saidShelly Finkel, a longtime boxing and music manager who co-founded SFX with Sillerman in 2011. [21], In 2012, Sillerman rebooted SFX Entertainment, this time with a focus on the electronic dance music industry. This is a BETA experience. Those companies promised two things. As a business, though, Elvis has been stagnating. During its public run, the company also sold $295 million debt to finance additional acquisitions and fund operating losses. In the sale, SFX kept two small concert promoters, and renamed the company SFX Entertainment (concert promotion, sports agencies), turning SFX Entertainment into the world's largest producer, promoter and presenter of live entertainment. ), Sillerman with Rod Stewart and Dick Grasso at the NYSE.Henny Ray Abrams AFP/Getty Images. During the interview, he juggled responses to FORBES questions with babysitting duties, as his four godchildren begged him to go to the pool as soon as the conversation ended. Investor Robert Sillerman is combining the King, American Idol, and other entertainment assets to build his next media conglomerate. We've received your submission. Maglan Capital, an owner of roughly 1.5% of SFX Entertainment's outstanding stock, called Sillerman's $4.75 a share go private offer "a way low-ball bid." Inspite of the distractions, he explained that he is 100% committed to do a deal to take SFX private and is in robust conversation with several people that want to participate with him. Details surrounding the companys formation remain disputed, and today Sillerman faces a lawsuit from acquaintances who allege that they are cofounders. Even so, Sillermans 47% stake is worth some $400 million. [8], In 1989 Sillerman formed Capstar Communications. At various points heated negotiations and lawsuits ensued between Sillerman and the likes of PaineWebber, Steinhardt Partners, and W.R. Huff, who alleged that Sillerman was trying to shortchange investors. At the time it was the largest gift ever received by an alumnus to the university. Contestants on the new Fox hit So You Think You Can Dance.Jason Merritt FilmMagic/Getty Images, So why did Sillerman buy Fullers company? That means $125 million out of the $306 million paid for these two companies exceeds any tangible assets, including the value of trademarks. 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. Then, by an October 2008 drop dead date, Sillerman simply pulled out of the deal. Pei through the hallowed halls. 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. Some $124 million was in cash upfront and $31 million in stock, with the balance to be paid in cash or stock after Fullers company reports its year-end numbers. Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. But instead of a billion-dollar acquistion, Sillerman wiped out hundreds of millions in investor money and eventually had to file for bankruptcy. For its money, CKX got a 90-year lease on Graceland, stipulating, among other things, that the premises may not be used as a massage parlor, a mortuary, or [for] the manufacture, sale, or distribution of feminine hygiene products. (Gives you an idea of how much attention Lisa and Soden pay to protecting Elviss image.) 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. Robert Franklin Sillerman was born in Manhattan on April 12, 1948, to Michael McKinley Sillerman, a radio and television executive, and Estelle (Levande) Sillerman. Sillerman was the owner of a range of television and radio stations during the 1970s and 1980s, In 1993 he formed SFX Broadcasting, and then built SFX Entertainmenta concert and stage performance promoter that was sold to Clear Channel in 2000 for $4.4 billion. 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. Despite this, the 67-year-old CEO said that he is the right man to run the troubled business and that he still wants to own the company even though he reneged on a plan to take it private earlier this month. NEW YORK CITY, NY - SEPTEMBER 18: (L-R) Jody Morrow, Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, Laura Baudo Sillerman and Robert Sillerman attend NEW YORKERS FOR CHILDREN 2007 Fall Gala at 583 Park Avenue on September 18, 2007 in New York City. SFX grew into the nations seventh-largest chain and sold its 71 radio stations for $2.1 billion in 1998. The orginal goal was to buy Pasquale RotellasInsomniac, explained Estopinal. Later, the private equity firm Apollo Global Management acquired CKX in 2011. In the years following that tragic 2012 event, he was often treated as a cartoon villain in the media, trying for a third, fourth and even fifth act in business, and some say the death of his daughter hardened him to any criticism. 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. Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk), sold the rights to RCAnow part of Sony BMGdecades ago. Around that time Sillerman was diagnosed with tongue cancer and underwent chemotherapy, which sidelined him for several months. His cost basis on these shares? Didnt work. Okay, so come on, Bob, what does F.X. Clear Channels stock, which hit a high of $95 in 2000, is trading at $32. Elvis's 37-year-old daughter and heir, Lisa Marie, has been unhappy . The company also acquired 80% in Muhammad Ali Enterprises. Sillerman announced in early June that he'd be making a return to the live entertainment industry, and today he made his second purchase toward that. It runs in the family: Lisa Marie Presley signs autographs for NASCAR fans at Daytona Speedway this past July.Jeff Gross Getty Images, Sillermans latest publicly traded corporate incarnation is called CKX. On Saturday, however, Sillerman was fielding questions on whether the company would go bankrupt--he said there was a zero percent chance--and admitting that he didnt work with the right people. Its also unclear if he was ever the right man for the job. When Sillerman offered to take SFX private this spring, his board (which included many holdovers from CKX) allowed him to float a bid without having financing or equity partners lined up. 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. Sillermans new frontier was to be EDM, a genre whose live events like Electric Daisy Carnival and Belgiums Tomorrowland were drawing millions of neon-wearing, glow stick-flashing young adults to festival grounds around the world. Robert F.X. Sillerman's net worth , money, salary, income, and . What was most impressive about his $389 million deal with Westinghouse (which was convinced that it needed to become a big player in the business) in 1989 wasnt that it was his biggest score ever; it was the fact that the market for radio stations tanked soon after. Sillerman intends to buy more high-profile properties like these (think athletes and rock groups, for instanceSillerman is tightlipped about possible deals), find new ways to distribute them, and increase their value. Mr. Sillerman, right, at the New York Stock Exchange in 1999 with its chairman, Richard Grasso, and the singer Rod Stewart shortly after stock in Mr. Sillermans company, SFX Entertainment, began being traded on the exchange. The second floor boasts two main bedroom suites with ensuitemarble bathrooms, woodburning fireplaces and a large planted terrace. Elviss legendary manager, Colonel Tom Parker (a.k.a. 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. You and I buy a couple loaves of bread, Bob buys the bakery, Morrow told Budnick and Baron of Sillermans sales abilities, which by 1988, netted nearly $1 billion value in broadcast assets. 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, Concert Industry Consolidator, Dies at 71 By Roy Trakin Mark Chilvers/The Independent/Shutterstock Robert F.X. Within a matter of weeks it is likely that CKX will announce some sort of Elvis Presley or Graceland-themed casino in Las Vegas. Bear Stearns analyst R. Glen Reid says to also look for a 2,000-seat Elvis theater in Vegas. He wa Bob went out and taught salespeople; I taught the on-air staff. First, understand that Sillerman actually owns very little of Elviss music. The company that emerged would become Clear Channel, which is now known as iHeartRadio. S&P Index data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. He is also the founder of Viggle and the namesake of The Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy at Brandeis University. 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. All Rights Reserved. Despite having established brands, the festivals that were acquired by Sillerman's empire collectively moved in the opposite direction of what was expected. R. Glen Reid says to also look for a 2,000-seat Elvis theater in Vegas wiped out hundreds millions! Property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors and Clay Aiken have sold over 14 million albums despite established. Him for several months sold over 14 million albums company that emerged would become clear Channel, is... Would become clear Channel, which sidelined him for several months IP Limited, registered in the and. 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