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Phillips upbeat about AEG departure

By | Published on Wednesday 27 November 2013

Randy Phillips

Randy Phillips remained upbeat yesterday following the news that he was being axed from the top role at AEG Live, the concerts division of the AEG company. Phillips’ departure came as a surprise – he has been with the company for thirteen years and signed a new five year contract last year – though is possibly a logical conclusion of the also surprise departure of overall AEG CEO Tim Leiweke earlier this year.

With AEG itself making next to no comment about Phillips’ sudden exit, the man himself told Billboard yesterday: “They want to start the new year with the re-org, and it gives them time amongst the holidays [to put the new team in place]. Part of it is, I was a larger than life presence there, and the face of the company. What’s the best time to get rid of a king? Right before the holidays. By the time Monday starts, it’s all new”.

Phillips insisted he wasn’t angry about his departure, though admitted his lawyers were now negotiating the terms of his exit. Saying he was pleased to have turned AEG Live into a serious number two competitor to Live Nation during his tenure there, and that he was leaving at the end of “the biggest year” the firm ever had, Phillips told Billboard he is now looking for an entrepreneurial opportunity, though the exact terms of his exit agreement with AEG will have to be finalised first.

Of his next project, he said: “Whatever it is will probably involve management, touring, marketing. I know a lot of people say that, but having had the experience of running a big company the last thirteen years, I really know what works and what doesn’t. If there’s anything I learned from this whole experience it’s having a good eye and the ability to hire great people and mentor them. That’s what I’m leaving behind, and that’s the saddest thing, and it is for them to. But life goes on, and at the end of the day it’s just a job, it’s not who I am”.



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