Casey Wasserman has hired investment bank Moelis & Company to explore the sale of his eponymous talent and marketing agency, Deadline has confirmed. He put on the firm on the auction block recently as he deals with fallout from the Epstein Files.
“This organization, its leadership and the entire team mean the world to me,” Wasserman said in a memo to staff recently after flirtatious emails with Ghislaine Maxwell, the jailed associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, became public. But, he said, he believes he has “become a distraction.” He said the process of selling the company was underway. Potential buyer for all or parts of the sprawling Wasserman business could include CAA, UTA and WME and Patrick Whitesell, the former executive chair of Endeavor who launched an investment firm with Silver Lake last year.
Moelis has been on a roll lately. It’s currently the lead bank representing Netflix in its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. It previously worked with Skydance on its acquisition of Paramount.
Casey Wasserman owns 40% of the agency with giant PE firm Providence Equity holding the majority stake. The sale pressure had been building amid star defections like the Feb. 9 exit of Chappell Roan, who said, “No artist, agent or employee should ever be expected to defend or overlook actions that conflict so deeply with our own moral values.”
There’s also been growing pressure for Wasserman to resign as chair of LA28, the organizing committee of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games. LA Mayor Karen Bass has said he should step down.
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