Endeavor Goes Private as $25 Billion Silver Lake Transaction Closes, Mark Shapiro Leads Renamed WME Group

As TheWrap exclusively reported, Ari Emanuel is changing his role and Patrick Whitesell is exiting the company

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Adam Chitwood, TheGrill 2023

Endeavor is now a private company as the $25 billion acquisition by the private equity gian Silver Lake was completed on Monday, marked by a significant change in leadership.

As TheWrap exclusively reported last week, Ari Emanuel is moving from CEO to executive chairman of the newly named WME Group while Patrick Whitesell is exiting the company altogether to become the CEO and Founder of a new platform in partnership with Silver Lake.

Mark Shapiro now serves as president and managing partner of WME Group.

The Silver Lake transaction returns WME to its roots as it focuses primarily on being a talent agency after a period of expansion over the last decade that saw WME and Silver Lake acquire professional sports entertainment assets including WWE, UFC Professional Bull Riders and the Miss Universe Organization.

Adam Chitwood, TheGrill 2023

Adam Chitwood

Adam is the Executive Editor of TheWrap. He joined in 2021 as Assistant Managing Editor for Audience after working for over a decade at Collider, where he spent five years as Managing Editor after previously serving as Deputy Editor at the entertainment website where he helped build and manage the site’s content strategy. As Assistant…

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