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William Morris and Endeavour merger

By | Published on Tuesday 28 April 2009

As expected, talent agencies William Morris and Endeavour yesterday merged. The combined WME Entertainment will be the second biggest talent agency after CAA. William Morris’s Jim Wiatt will be Chairman of the new agency, while the merged company will have no less than three CEOs, David Wirtschafter from William Morris and Ariel Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell from Endeavour. Yeah, that’ll work.

While the merger has been expected for a while, it is interesting in that William Morris is one of the longest established names in the business, having been founded in 1898, while Endeavour is a relative upstart, having been established just fourteen years ago by four former ICM agents. Insiders say the corporate cultures of the two companies are very different, which could lead to stresses once their operations are brought together.

It is thought about 100 of the merged agency’s 380 agents may be cut as a result of the merger. With 300 of those agents coming from William Morris, it’s thought they will take the brunt of the job cuts.

As previously reported, while Endeavour mainly represent actors and movie producers, William Morris boasts a substantial music roster too, representing the likes of Diddy, Eminem, 50 Cent, The Killers, Weezer, The Flaming Lips, Britney, Prince, Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo, MIA, Duffy, Rihanna and Estelle.



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