2024 Impact 50 Honoree: Noah Assad

CEO
Rimas Entertainment

FIRST GIG IN THE BUSINESS: 26
WHAT MADE HIS ‘HEART SING’: Having a No. 1 album 100% in Spanish.

The music industry has seen many great managers, but with two of the highest-grossing tours in the past two years, Noah Assad is making the case for being the top young executive in live entertainment.

The CEO of Rimas Entertainment helped Bad Bunny become the highest-grossing Latin touring artist in a calendar year in 2022, and since taking on Karol G as a client, Assad catapulted her to superstardom. The Colombian singer made the jump to stadiums last year and grossed a gargantuan $138.4 million off 15 shows in the U.S., according to reports submitted to Pollstar’s Boxoffice. She carried that success into the Latin American leg of her tour, which recently concluded and hauled in $111,296,660 across 27 concerts, and she’s currently in Europe to perform 18 shows, including four dates at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, July 20-23.

That’s the “Noah Assad effect,” a manager who understands his clients and how to use their music and characteristics to their advantage. Jbeau Lewis, a partner and agent at United Talent Agency who represents Bad Bunny and Karol G, praised the Puerto Rican executive for his work ethic and willingness to work with others.

“Not only is Noah one of if not the smartest gifted and savvy managers I’ve ever worked with, but he’s also a true partner,” Lewis told Pollstar. “It’s a team effort here. It’s not just me, it’s not just our touring team. It’s [UTA’s] Nigel Meiojas and our film and television team who put Bad Bunny into ‘Narcos’ and ‘Bullet Train’ and Karol in ‘Griselda’ on Netflix, and Toni Wallace and Melissa Newhart on our brand partnerships group who have done everything from Bad Bunny’s Adidas deal to Karol’s various partnerships over the years. We’re all in this together, and we look at ourselves as an extension of Noah and his team, and I think he and his team see it the same way.”

What’s remarkable is that Assad, whose empire has expanded into sports management, has accomplished all of this before the age of 35.

“I rarely have ever worked with someone who is connected to his artists and the journey they should go on and as fearless and sure of the way that they should go about getting there,” Lewis said of Assad.