Analysis: Madison Avenue's maverick consigliere finds it difficult to navigate the world of talent agencies. Will he be able to recover from the new cheating accusations?
Knowing Michael Kassan is like knowing the people in his Rolodex. At least, that's the promise.
The Madison Avenue impresario once ran a media acquisitions business, where he leveraged his experience to serve as the ultimate intermediary between advertising agencies, big-spending clients, and the news organizations that covet them. But at least for now, he is aware of himself. — Does not have a base of operations.
In an explosive arbitration claim that surfaced on Tuesday, Kassan alleges that UTA, which acquired his marketing consultancy MediaLink for $125 million in late 2021, has weakened the business since his arrival. did. Mr. Kassan's lawyers say UTA's top executives, including CEO Jeremy Zimmer and new New York City Commissioner Julian Jacobs, “secretly concocted a plan” that left UTA's remaining assets. medialink from its business with advertisers and marketers, and then pressured Mr. Kassan to cut costs and raise funds. Fees for existing customers. “After two years of battling Zimmer's repeated broken promises and a long line of UTA and MediaLink employees complaining about Zimmer, Kassan has had enough and has submitted his resignation. “,” the filing states.
Meanwhile, UTA said in a statement Tuesday that it had fired Mr. Kassan following a “thorough independent investigation into the misappropriation of company funds,” and that it intends to pursue legal action against Mr. Kassan in Los Angeles. suggested that. Among the allegations in the lawsuit are that Kassan used company funds to pay for personal expenses such as a driver's apartment, personal credit card debt and personal airfare for a family member. He draws a check to himself from his MediaLink account. And he diverted his $700,000 in MediaLink funds to a personal corporation.
“Michael Kassan was fired by UTA on March 7, but UTA knew long before that that it had grounds to fire him,” said attorney Brian Friedman, who is representing UTA. This is what the statement says: “His allegations against UTA are baseless and an attempt to divert attention from the misappropriation of company funds that led to his termination.”
At stake is MediaLink, a little-known but savvy business operator that provides behind-the-scenes advisors to executives in the technology, media, entertainment, and advertising sectors. He has held similar roles for many years. At any time, Mr. Kassan's consulting firm could be involved in executive searches or advise companies on where to allocate key advertising accounts. Mr. Kassan was able to garner goodwill from the people he helped land jobs and the companies he helped win new business.
Such an operation could be valuable for UTA. UTA needs a differentiator as rivals like CAA expand with its $750 million acquisition of ICM in 2022 and Endeavor moves into the sports world and public markets is. Representing actors, anchors, producers and others would make even more money if they could earn commissions for advising advertisers on how to deploy marketing spend or hiring executives for new roles.
Additionally, UTA already has a large business helping major brands reach Hollywood. UTA has a team of approximately 40 executives with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and London, all reporting to Jacobs. Clients include Amazon, Ancestry.com, The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, General Motors, Google, Hulu, Hyatt, LinkedIn, and Lyft. UTA played a key role in helping General Motors come up with two outstanding Super Bowl commercials in 2022 based on contributions from actor Michael Myers and 'The Sopranos' creator David Chase . Last year, the company supported GM's partnership with Netflix with a single ad featuring actor Will Ferrell and the streamer's popular “Squid Game.”
For some reason, integrating them seemed like a non-starter. In fact, the Kassan incident proves that it is difficult for experienced pirates to walk astride the same ship.
Kassan is in a similar predicament. In 1999, Kassan found himself fired by Western Initiative Media Worldwide, a major media acquisition business owned by advertising giant Interpublic Group, where Kassan was president of its U.S. operations. Kassan had previously sued Western for $63.5 million for alleged breach of contract and defamation of his reputation. The legal Imbroglios were seen as adversaries to the Interpublic hoping to oust Kassan in favor of another executive, not uncommon in Madison Avenue operations. The two sides eventually reconciled. And Kassan once received a slap on the wrist in 1995 when he was suspended from practicing law in California following a conviction for grand theft by embezzlement. His charges were later reduced to misdemeanors and expunged from his record.
He may have left Interpublic, but Kassan never left the advertising industry. True, he no longer works for Interpublic or its rivals such as Omnicom, Havas, WPP, Publicis, etc., but he continues to have a presence in their halls for years. He has been involved in larger issues regarding the state of the industry. Author Ken Auletta, in his 2018 book Frenemies: The Epic Disruption of the Advertising Business (And Everything Else), describes Kassan's attitude as “a relationship that brought together artists and managers, clients and scientists.” “A dependable and charming man,” he said, hinting at Kassan's attitude. He belied the power he wielded, portraying him as a “pear-shaped teddy bear with the soft, round, tanned face, beaming smile of a seasoned politician, and the banter of a stand-up comedian.”
It's not entirely clear what UTA's MediaLink would look like without Kassan. The executive has chased the company to new owners in the past. In 2017, Kassan sold Medialink to Ascential, owner of the Cannes Lions advertising festival, in a deal that included a $69 million cash payment, but could be worth $207 million over three years if the company met certain targets. possible to reach. Once the agreement was completed, Kassan held a large gathering used for networking and meetings.
But Kassan without UTA? Maybe he'll be fine — as long as he's still connected.
