Randy Phillips To Run SFX?

The former AEG Live impresario has been interviewed by the debt holders at the company and is in the “final stages of vetting” for the CEO position vacated by Bob Sillerman, according to several high-level sources. A decision is expected soon, potentially paving the way for the longtime entertainment executive to helm the EDM giant.

Phillips was CEO of AEG Live for 13 years and helped stage some of the world’s biggest concerts and festivals. He also brokered the comeback deal for Michael Jackson and the “This Is It” tour, which was to kick off at London’s O2 Arena. Jackson died during LA rehearsals for the tour, leading to two high-profile court cases including a civil trial where Phillips and several other AEG top brass testified that they had little control over Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Jackson’s death.

Phillips left AEG in 2013, eight months after Tim Leiweke was fired by company owner Phil Anschutz. In 2015, Phillips was hired as CEO of Ashley Tabor’s Global Entertainment, but left in September after only seven months on the job.

If Phillips is hired to take on SFX, he will take on a fractured EDM giant that has been in bankruptcy since January and has an unclear path forward. In June the company’s debtors terminated SFX’s restructuring agreement, paving the way to finally oust Sillerman, who stepped down as CEO but is still the company’s chairman.

Since filing for bankruptcy, SFX has sold off its marketing unit Fame House to Universal Music Group and auctioned off Flavorus to See Tickets. SFX bondholders also put its streaming service Beatport up for auction but ultimately withdrew the sale because of lack of interest from buyers.

Earlier this month, SFX reached a settlement with David Grutman, whom the company had hired in 2012 following the acquisition of MMG Nightlife in Miami. The settlement has Grutman continuing on with SFX with a salary of $350,000 a year and an agreement to manage two Miami Beach hotspots – the popular Story nightclub and the LIV nightclub at the Fountainbleau hotel.

With the Florida contracts now settled, the company can focus on its largest creditors, like ID&T, which manages the popular Tomorrowland festival in Belgium.

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