Former Live Nation Chairman Irving Azoff is one of the shrewdest operators in the music business, repping The Eagles and Christina Aguilera, among others.
But selling his 1.7 million shares in the Los Angeles-based touring and ticketing company to Liberty Media maybe wasn’t his sharpest of moves.
Azoff said he was leaving the company as of Dec. 31, 2012, back when the stock was $9.31.
It closed Friday at $18.53, a 99 percent increase, and Azoff’s potential loss is $50 million.
The company reported a second-quarter jump in concert attendance and a $30 million gain on the sale of New York’s Foxwoods Theatre, sending shares up 6.2 percent Aug. 6.
Azoff isn’t missing his old gig, however. He has been busy as a director of IMG, Clear Channel and Liberty’s pay-TV firm Starz, as well as building his own talent-management company. And, as he said at the time, he’d had enough of Wall Street and lawyers.
Meanwhile, our sources say the long-running feud between Azoff and William Morris Endeavor boss Ari Emanuel doesn’t look like it’s blowing over.
Nasty emails between the two surfaced on Hollywood website The Wrap back in June.
One Hollywood source told On The Money: “The troops are gathering; a lot of people are ganging up on Azoff.”–Claire Atkinson
Ebanks’ roll
Selita Ebanks , the former Victoria’s Secret model, is co-designing her first shoe collection with an emerging hot young designer.
Ryan Haber will be launching the Selita Ebanks for Ryan Haber collection of four to five styles of shoes.
The collection will be “very classic, and extremely sexy, ” featuring bamboo, as well as Cuban link chains, Haber says.
There’ll be a lot of bare skin.
Haber, who already has a steady stream of fans for his $695-and-up shoes, including Carrie Underwood, Helen Hunt and Carmen Electra, met Ebanks at a party in Ohio, where she professed she’s a shoe fanatic.
The shoe collection will launch in spring 2014 and start at about $700.
Haber launched his own company after working as an intern on the design team for Steve Madden in New York, and also BCBG Max Azria in Los Angeles.
He credits Madden’s internship for allowing him to design openly and freely. Haber has a degree in interior design from The Cleveland Institute of Art.
He moved to New York in October, and with family backing, invested $500,000 in his own company, launching his first collection of 18 styles in August 2011.
His hand-stitched and crafted shoes are made in Italy.–Julie Earle-Levine
Keeping the flame
Petra Nemcova is parlaying her supermodel prowess into selling pricey candles that capture “the scents of the far-flung cultures” she has encountered in the exotic photo shoots of her past. You can sniff America, Indonesia, Spain, Haiti, Mexico and the Czech Republic, all places to which Nemcova has a connection.
Nemcova’s lifestyle/home décor brand, Be the Light New York, is launching at Bergdorf Goodman in New York.
The first collection consists of six luxury candles to sell at Bergdorf’s and online for $98 a pop.
Nemcova teamed up with Christian Hosford, whose branding consultancy Rocketdog NYC has helped to launch companies including Fire Island Beer and Mobi Munch, a food-truck outfit. The company’s clients include Ralph Rucci and Roberta Freymann.
Nemcova says the message of her brand is about bringing light, enriching your soul and sharing treasures from around the world. In Indonesia, she had a life-changing experience, surviving the 2004 tsunami.
She founded Happy Hearts, which helps children and families caught up in natural disasters.
Hosford, the company’s co-founder, says the cost came to less than $1 million to launch, and he and Nemcova are projecting healthy sales.
The products will also be for sale at Neiman Marcus online, and in a variety of stores by January.
Discussions have begun with European partners to carry and distribute the collection.
Next up are home décor accessories, inspired by the artisans of Haiti and Indonesia. The line might ultimately include pillows, trays, furniture and fabrics.
That launch is projected for the first half of 2014.Julie Earle-Levine