Some stakeholders are upset with CEO Ari Emanuel and other longtime players at EndeavorGETTY IMAGES
Endeavor "defied its critics and the odds" by successfully pulling off an IPO in April, but the company is now "facing major obstacles navigating the global pandemic and encountering resentment among select players who feel left out in the cold," according to Donnelly & Lang of VARIETY. Some of the roughly 300 employees with equity in the company are "furious over their diluted options and the new barriers to monetizing their stakes that have been put in place." Some stakeholders have been described as "'fuming' when they were informed this spring that their stock rewards were reduced and tacked with longer vesting schedules." Sources said that "daggers are pointed at CEO Ari Emanuel and other longtime players at the company." Sources said that the dispute is "largely among the most successful at the company who are not a part of that legacy group who have built up the firm over two decades." Some of the "smoothing of bruised egos" has fallen to Endeavor President Mark Shapiro. Meanwhile, Endeavor "faces headwinds from the COVID-19 delta variant, which has caused complications" for one of its prize assets: the UFC. Despite the "business challenges and displeasure" among Endeavor's rank and file, analysts are "impressed" by Emanuel's fortitude. Many in Hollywood and on Wall Street are "surprised at the level of composure that the notoriously hotheaded Emanuel has maintained" (VARIETY.com, 9/15).
