SFX Entertainment CEO Robert Sillerman Speaks Out
The former SFX Entertainment CEO Robert Sillerman has spoken out for the first time since the collapse of the company.
Robert Sillerman enjoyed a successful career as a media industry entrepreneur and did well at buying up concert promoters. He sold them on to radio giant Clear Channel in a deal that was reportedly worth $4.4 billion back in the early 2000’s.
He attempted something similar when he bought up a huge chunk of the EDM world and many of its festivals in the US. As we have reported before, SFX entertainment hit a wall with cash flow and bad management. The last resort was to declare bankruptcy and sell off parts of the company piece meal such as they have done with Beatport.
To say that the EDM world is far disconnected from the reality of Robert Sillerman’s world is something of an understatement. It appears that his lack of understanding for the EDM scene and its industry is a big part of what caused his latest venture to fail.
In the first eighteen months he agreed to acquire eight companies at the average cost of around $350 million in cash and stock.
This included online download store Beatport (for $58.6 million) and Dutch festival promoter ID&T ($130 million), which produces Tomorrowland, one of the foremost EDM festivals in the world.
SFX entertainment also went on to acquire promoters, including ticketing start-ups such as Paylogic & Flavorus, and Fame House, a digital marketing company.
The company also seemed to lack proper strategy…
“They thought they had a plan to make one plus one equal three. But there was never a point at which the company was functional.” Said a former SFX employee
The EDM giant rose and fell almost instantaneously. The SFX stock price fell from $13 to just over 1 cent per share, or an approximate valuation of $1.24 million in the last two years.
“We bought companies based on what we anticipated — that we could bring in incremental sources of revenue. There are no easy answers. I don’t begrudge them their disappointment and anger because I’m disappointed and angry, too.” Said Robert Sillerman
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