New York Post

READY TO RUMBLE

UFC firm adding Musk

- By ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD

Elon Musk is being tapped to oversee Ultimate Fighting Championsh­ip, a bunch of Hollywood agents and the Miss Universe Pageant. What could go wrong? Tesla’s eccentric, Twitter-happy chief executive plans to join the board of Endeavor — the Hollywood conglomera­te controlled by Ari Emanuel that owns a majority stake in the UFC, as well as the WME talent agency and the Miss Universe global beauty contest, a securities filing revealed late Wednesday.

The so-called S-1 filing revealed that Endeavor has raised nearly $1.7 billion from a who’s who of high-profile, private investors including billionair­e Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, Michael Dell’s MSD Capital, Silver Lake, Tencent and Third Point.

Meanwhile, the filing only vaguely explained why Endeavor — which, as reported by The Post last week, aims to file for an IPO early next month after scrapping an effort to go public in 2019 because of weak demand — believes that adding the controvers­ial Musk to its board would be a good idea.

In addition to Musk’s “profession­al background and experience running a public company,” Endeavor cited his “previously held senior executive-level positions, his service on other public company boards and his experience starting, growing and integratin­g businesses.”

Los Angeles-based Endeavor was also quick, however, to admit that Musk has a rocky record when it comes to corporate governance. That includes his infamous August 2018 tweet that he planned to take Tesla private for $420 a share.

The market-scrambling tweet — which amounted to a pot joke, as “420” is slang for marijuana use — got Musk a $20 million fine and banned as chairman of Tesla by the SEC for two years, Endeavor acknowledg­ed in its Wednesday securities filing.

Neverthele­ss, Endeavor added, “There are no restrictio­ns on Mr. Musk’s ability to serve as an officer or a director on a company’s board.”

According to sources close to the situation, Musk and Emanuel have connection­s in common that include Egon Durban, the co-CEO of private equity firm Silver Lake. Musk consulted Durban, who helped bankroll Michael Dell’s buyout of his computer company, when he was considerin­g taking Tesla private. At the time, Musk also spoke to Dell, himself, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, as reported exclusivel­y by The Post, Silver Lake owns a 35 percent stake in Endeavor and a 20 percent stake in the UFC. Endeavor is looking to buy out those stakes and take 100-percent control of UFC as part of its bid for an IPO. Dell also owns a 2 percent stake in the MMA company.

Endeavor also revealed in its filing that Fawn Weaver, an investor and author of “Happy Wives Club,” would also be joining the board.

An Endeavor rep declined to comment on Wednesday.

 ??  ?? In this corner . . .
Elon Musk has been selected to join the board of Endeavor, the company that holds a majority stake in Ultimate Fighting Championsh­ip and also controls the WME talent agency and Miss Universe.
In this corner . . . Elon Musk has been selected to join the board of Endeavor, the company that holds a majority stake in Ultimate Fighting Championsh­ip and also controls the WME talent agency and Miss Universe.

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