Ari Emanuel Net Worth (Money & Salary)

Ari Emanuel’s Net Worth and Salary: What Is It?

With a net worth of $450 million, Ari Emanuel is an American talent agent known primarily for his role as co-CEO of William Morris Endeavor-IMG (WME-IMG), an agency in the entertainment and media sector. He inspired the character Ari Gold, portrayed by Jeremy Piven in the HBO series “Entourage.”

Stock Ownership

As per the IPO prospectus from Endeavor published in April 2021, Ari and his partner Patrick Whitesell collectively possess 37.6 million shares in the company, which totals 430 million shares. When the prospectus was shared, the share price was listed at $24, leading to both Whitesell and Emanuel’s paper net worth being around $450 million.

Compensation in 2021

A filing with the SEC in March 2022 disclosed that Ari’s total compensation in 2021 was $308 million. This amount included a base salary of $4 million, a cash bonus of $10 million, with the remainder comprised of stock options.

This figure made Ari the third highest-paid executive at a public company in 2021, trailing only the co-CEOs of private equity firm KKR, who earned more than $500 million each.

Background

Ari Emanuel was born on March 29, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised in the suburbs of Wilmette, Illinois. He has two brothers and an adopted sister, Shoshana. His brother, Rahm Emanuel, previously served as the mayor of Chicago, while his other brother is the well-known bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel.

Their father, Dr. Benjamin Emanuel, a pediatrician, was involved with the Irgun, a militant Zionist group deemed a terrorist organization by the British during the ’30s and ’40s. Their mother, Marsha Emanuel, was an advocate for civil rights, ran a rock and roll club in the Chicago area, and took Ari to protests against the Vietnam War in his youth. Diagnosed with both hyperactivity and dyslexia as a child, Ari received significant reading assistance from his mother. He completed his education at New Trier High School and later attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he shared a room with Peter Berg, the director known for “Friday Night Lights.”

Professional Journey

Ari’s entertainment career kicked off as an agent trainee at CAA. He gradually advanced at ICM Partners, eventually reaching a partner position. In March 1995, Ari and fellow ICM television agents devised a plan to create their own agency, a scheme detected by ICM Chairman Jeff Berg, resulting in their immediate termination. Subsequently, on March 30, 1995, the four agents founded Endeavor.

They quickly built an impressive roster of clients, representing well-known talents such as Adam Sandler, Hank Azaria, Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kevin James, and David Spade.

In April 2009, Ari facilitated Endeavor’s acquisition of its competitor, William Morris, a notable agency with a long-standing reputation of 111 years. The Federal Trade Commission fast-tracked this acquisition without a hitch.

A new type of super-agency was established by creating a client roster that includes over 1,000 of the world’s most renowned and gifted actors, writers, musicians, directors, and producers. The newly-formed William Morris Endeavor immediately became a competitor to the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), a corporate giant established by the iconic Michael Ovitz in the mid-1970s, which, in recent years, had grown so extensive and prosperous that it eclipsed all other entities in Hollywood.

Endeavor’s acquisition of IMG in 2013 for $2.4 billion was made possible through funding from the private equity firm Silver Lake. Following the successful acquisition, Silver Lake received a 51% interest in the new mega-agency, leaving Emmanuel and his partners with a 47% share.

The conservative estimated current worth of WME-IMG stands at $10 billion. With this valuation, Ari and Patrick both hold stakes valued at approximately $450 million. Upon Silver Lake’s investment, Ari and Patrick entered into 10-year employment agreements with annual base salaries of $10 million.

An SEC filing disclosed that Ari liquidated $160 million worth of his Endeavor equity in 2017.

In 2013, it became known that Emanuel expressed dissatisfaction with an interview conducted by NBC anchor Brian Williams with Ari and his two brothers, reportedly taking issue with the “tone” of the interview. His legal counsel sent a formal letter to NBC addressing the matter. Both Emanuel and Whitesell have made it onto “Fortune’s” Businessperson of the Year list. In 2013, “Fortune” referred to him as “one of the biggest guns in the consolidating entertainment business.” Since September 2007, Ari has been a member of the board of directors for Live Nation Entertainment.

Personal Life

Emanuel is married to Sarah Hardwick Addington, and together they have three sons. In July 2006, he garnered considerable media attention when he urged Hollywood to blacklist Mel Gibson following Gibson’s anti-Semitic comments made during his DUI arrest.

A dedicated fundraiser for the Democratic party, Emanuel contributed $2,700 to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Ari has been actively involved in art philanthropy and has served for a long time on the board of trustees of P.S. Arts, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles that aims to provide art education programs to schools across Southern California. He played a role in helping the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles establish MOCAtv, a YouTube channel devoted to art. In 2012, he became a member of the museum’s board.

Real Estate Assets

In 2015, Ari purchased a Los Angeles home for $9.8 million, which he still retains though it is not his primary residence. That same year, he spent $16.55 million on a property located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. In 2018, he acquired his neighbor’s property for $11.5 million intending to create a remarkable 1.25-acre compound. However, for reasons unknown, Ari abandoned the plans for the compound and ultimately sold the first Brentwood house for $19.4 million. A beneficial transaction that was unfortunately offset when he sold the second house for $6.5 million, resulting in approximately a $4 million loss.

In October 2020, Emanuel purchased a residence in Beverly Hills, California for $27.5 million, with the seller being Edward Slatkin, who has ownership of several boutique properties.

The properties on Santa Monica, specifically Shutters on the Beach and Hotel Casa del Mar, are part of the listed hotels. Initially, Slatkin placed the home on the market for $36 million.