Business of Luxury: Multi-Brands
While the luxury industry has not been as hard hit as most enterprises, the crisis has had it’s impact. Some luxury goods manufactures have spotted the opportunity to slug it out by not reducing their skilled labor force but freezing hiring in most other areas. Luxury buyers in Russia and Eastern Europe have been the hardest to drive to the stores, yet declines in most segments have only been in the order of 10-15% in the region. According to CPP Management Consultants, the period February-May showed the decreases in key areas being as low as 5%. Asia has held steady. In fact, analysts believe most of the growth ahead will come from the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). According to Bain and Co. Brazil and China will be the two fastest growing markets through 2010. Read more >>
Media & Entertainment CEO Salary Breakdown
Bernstein Research analyst Michael Nathanson broke out Media CEO and CFO compensation for 2008, with special attention on CBS and Fox, giving Disney a slight pass as its exec bonuses are tied to shareholder returns. The top six include the major studios minus Sony (Stringer, Pascal, Lynton, Wiesenthal), NBC Universal (Immelt, Zucker, Meyer), Viacom/Paramount (Redstone, Grey) and upstart Dreamworks (Spielberg, Katzenberg, Geffen, Snider) .
Via Broadcasting & Cable and Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily:
- CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, who was paid $31.9 million last year
- Disney CEO Robert Iger, who earned $30.6 million
- News Corp #2 Chase Carey, who could haul in $43.1 million over the next year
- News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch, who took home $27.5 million
- Viacom’s Philippe Dauman, who was paid $23 million
- Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, who made $19.9 million
Sun Valley Media Mogulfest Roll-Call
Mogul stalking is the way of the “Bizzerazzi” – journos covering the prestigious Allen & Co. Sun Valley Media Summit. Below, a roll call on current attendees and missed attendees. The general lesson: difficult year to run a media co, potential need for further consolidation (a la Weinstein Co and potential Liberty Media investment) and spin-outs (a la Time Warner/AOL), Twitter-”It”-is yet need for paid online subscriptions for content, and much less access for journalists.
Who’s Who 2009 @ Sun Valley – Name (Company):
Lebron James (Cavaliers’ small forward), Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Sergey Brin, Larry Page + Eric Schmidt (Google), Rupert + James and Lachlan Murdoch (News Corp.), Bob Iger (Disney), Sir Howard Stringer (Sony), Jeffrey Immelt (GE), Leslie Moonves + Quincy Smith (CBS), Owen Van Natta (MySpace), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Chase Carey (Fox), John Malone + Greg Maffei (Liberty), Rob Wiesenthal (Sony), Evan Williams (Twitter, “Sun Valley It-Boy”), Tom Freston (Firefly3; advising OWN/Oprah net), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Rich Rosenblatt (Demand Media), Peter Chernin (former News Corp.), Steve Burke (Comcast), Brad Grey (Paramount), Jean-Bernard Levy (Vivendi), Bobby Kotick (Activision), Hank Vigil (Microsoft), Barry Diller (IAC), Marc Andreessen + Gina Bianchini (Ning, Andreessen Horowitz $300M fund). More after the jump…
Simon Cowell, America’s Idol-Maker
UPDATED: Ryan Seacrest just received $15 million in 3 year contract with CKX, parent of 19 Entertainment/”Idol” Producer. (7/13/09) It’s not a bad time to be the “bad boy” of American Idol, or better the “British invasion of blunt taste,” i.e., Simon Cowell. With a recession-proof request to re-up at Idol - from Cowell’s current $36 million per year (we’re assuming little if any individual merchandising tied to the show) to $144 million a year, and a newco deal with Sir Philip Green, a UK retail magnate, in Greenwell Entertainment, Cowell seems poised to take advantage of a struggling tv, talent and reality marketplace. Similar to what the falling fallen music business is doing, media studios are presumably locking in 360-degree deals with their talent, whereby the economics become all-inclusive and hedged beyond a single property.
Per Silicon Alley Insider, by way of the New York Post:
While $36 million may seem like a lot of money for five months worth of snarky comments and eye-rolls, it’s only a fraction of the estimated $900 million that “Idol” rakes in a year. As the lynchpin of the show — without him there would be no one to hate and no dramatic tension with Paula Abdul — Cowell believes he’s due for a raise.
Credit goes to Simon and Sir Philip for seeing an opportunity. Cowell brings contrast to Idol - among other spectacles – and really shines a light on the US celeb fascination. While everyone else fawns, he weaves in hyper criticism to the aspiring young singers (and Abdul and Seacrest).