The cuts Deadline described last month for Endeavor are taking shape and will be felt through its many divisions including WME and Endeavor Content.
The company, which has 7,500 employees, said Wednesday it will see one-third of its workers impacted by either furloughs, reduced work for reduced pay, or elimination of roles. The majority will be furloughs or given reduced roles for reduced pay.
“The long-term prospects for Endeavor remain unchanged, but like other companies, we are taking a variety of actions to mitigate the impact of this pandemic,” a company spokesperson said today. “Since late March, we have been rolling out cost-saving measures in phases across our companies and geographies and intend to complete most of this process in late May. Approximately a third of our population will be impacted by reduced pay for reduced work, furlough, or position elimination, with the majority affected by reduced work and furlough.”
The company clarifying its game plan comes after toppers Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell sent out a note to staff March 25 describing the cutbacks. As part of the measures, Emanuel and Whitesell said they would not take salaries for the remainder of the year.
Originally the cuts numbered about 250, coming mostly from the elimination of operational roles across Endeavor in which staffers couldn’t perform their jobs from home. That included employees at hotels, and restaurants owned by the parent company, with only a small fraction involving the WME agency.
Earlier in March, Deadline revealed that a liquidation event that had been scheduled for early April in which partners could cash out 20% of their equity had been indefinitely postponed because of the unforeseen impact of the pandemic.
Endeavor’s holdings include talent agency WME, the UFC, sports and fashion management firm IMG and the Professional Bull Riders, companies that have all been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Back in September, Endeavor at its private equity partners withdrew a long-planned IPO owing to various factors including a softening market and shrinking demand from investors.
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