Celebrity Net Worth

All three Cue children love to play golf. Jeffrey Azoff qualified for the 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur, and his younger brother, Cameron, is also a tournament player. Together, they were responsible for many of the details at Ladera, including the scorecards, tee markers (the tips at 7,705 yards are pink, a whimsical twist on machismo), practice areas, golf-shop merchandise and more. Someday the children will inherit the club. To date, Cue and Azoff have sold nearly 40 non-equity memberships to their jet-setting friends, but ownership of Ladera will stay within the two families.

“Their friendship is aspirational,” Jeffrey says. “For two guys who deserve to make everything in the world about them, that they’d involve us in all the meetings about creating [Ladera] is humbling.”

“They all get along so great, and it’s cool to think about them one day sitting in these chairs with their grandkids, applying their own perspective and taking this place to a whole new level,” Cue says. As for his generation, Cue recently sent a recap email of a banner day made possible, in part, by the private air strip that’s a five-minute drive from the course—18 holes of golf, courtside at a Lakers game, backstage with U2 in Las Vegas—with the subject heading: Membership Has Its Privileges. Some of the early members include powerhitters like Fred Harman (co-owner of the Golden State Warriors), Rob Light (managing partner and director at Creative Artists Agency), Patrick Healy (CEO of Hellman & Friedman investments in London) and Harry Styles (you know what he does).

We’re sitting at a table in the temporary Ladera clubhouse where sleek steel beams and plush interior defy the word, and similarly unbelievable is how often Azoff’s iPhone rings and the names that pop up. In 10 minutes, a threatening letter with powder from a deranged fan has arrived for a legendary diva, a radio personality in New Zealand urgently needs a doctor for his kid, and the clubhouse manager wants to know if it’ll be lunch or dinner at next month’s inaugural member-guest tournament. Azoff treats each matter with equal and calm attention. That is, until Azoff and Cue start goofing by answering each other’s phones. The scene suggests the original name intended for the place, which the duo ultimately decided to call the par-3 course: Q&A.

Ladera translates to “Spanish foothills” and is the street name at one of Azoff’s homes, which is only sort of funny if you consider the club doesn’t have a paved entrance yet. For now, just park in any dirt space between the lemon trees bordering the driving range. The property is a construction site with fully finished golf facilities and is basically a second office for Azoff, who has been walking nine holes daily. It’s a getaway for Cue, who rarely plays golf in San Francisco where his real life is.

In the beginning, neither knew the other was a golfer. That happened in a surprise encounter at El Dorado Golf and Beach Club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Then the bromance really heated up at another Discovery Land property, Gozzer Ranch Golf and Lake Club in Idaho. A half-serious comment about wanting a house nearer the water got serious when a certain property became available, so they bought it together. Thus began many trips and holidays with their families to Gozzer and beyond.

“Irving is the super-agent because of three things,” begins Cue, swirling a glass of cabernet over a thick New York strip. (Cue, 59, was a standout high school basketball player and still has the appetite of an athlete, as well as a powerful voice that would command a locker room. Azoff, a smaller engine thrumming nicely at 75, is having iced tea with fish and greens, and will softly note that his rock ’n’ rollers were always comforted knowing somebody sober was at the helm.) “One, Irving will kill for his clients. Two, he answers his phone 24-7. Three, he’s never slipped into the trap of thinking he’s the talent.”

Then Azoff says, “Eddy makes decisions with financial implications that are 100 times what I deal with.”

Two decades ago Cue was busy launching a new service called iTunes, but the library didn’t include one of his boss’ favorite bands, the Eagles. To placate Steve Jobs, Cue tracked down their manager to clear the impasse with the record label. Azoff proved a useful contact because in addition to the Eagles, he has represented or promoted U2, Guns N’ Roses, Van Halen, Fleetwood Mac, Jimmy Buffett, Bon Jovi, Journey, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, yada yada. Together, they would revolutionize the digital sales and distribution of the music industry.

only thing better than building your own golf course is building one with your best friend. Better still is when money isn’t really a concern because you’ve both won low-net and gross in the game of life. Irving Azoff dropped out of the University of Illinois in 1970 because it would’ve been financially reckless not to transfer his robust booking business of fraternity bands (among them REO Speedwagon) to Los Angeles. He would run Ticketmaster and later be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Eddy Cue, a first-generation Cuban-American from Miami whose father was a stagehand and mother a butcher, studied computer science at Duke and has worked at Apple since 1989. Today, they count nearly two dozen memberships between them, mostly the same clubs, and play about 70 rounds a year together. Now that they’ve opened Ladera Golf Club in Thermal, Calif., Golf Digest’s Best New Private Course of 2023, the worlds of music and tech have merged like never before. How did this power twosome get paired?

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/editors-letter-music-mogul-irving-azoff-apple-exec-eddy-cue-ultimate-golf-course

Skydance Media is in early talks over an all-cash offer for National Amusements, the parent of media giant Paramount Global, in an effort that would...

Skydance Media is in early talks over an all-cash offer for National Amusements, the parent of media giant Paramount Global, in an effort that would eventually merge both Skydance and Paramount, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Journal said that under the current offer being discussed, Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison and investors — including Larry Ellison, his father — would buy “at least a majority stake” in National Amusements from the Redstone family. From there, they would try to combine Skydance with Paramount PARA, -0.77%, the Journal said.

Skydance is one of Hollywood’s top independent studios, and has produced Paramount blockbusters such as “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”

The entertainment industry is bracing for more consolidation, more investor pressure for streaming profits, a migration away from cable TV and changes in the movie-theater business. The Journal’s report follows reports last month of Skydance’s interest, as well as reports that Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. WBD, -0.54% was in talks to combine with Paramount.

The Journal on Wednesday said that WBD “has continued to express interest” but that the discussions “haven’t advanced.”

Shares of Paramount were up 0.9% after hours. The stock is down about 30% over the past 12 months, compared to the S&P 500’s SPX roughly 20% gain.

Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav and the Motion Picture Group’s co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy have hammered out a new strategic partnership deal with Tom Cruise that takes

Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav and the Motion Picture Group’s co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy have hammered out a new strategic partnership deal with Tom Cruise that takes effect this year.

The $13 billion-grossing star and producer will develop and produce original and franchise theatrical titles which he’ll star in. Cruise and his production company will have an office on the Burbank, CA lot. The last time Cruise starred in a Warner Bros movie was the 2014 sci-fi action title Edge of Tomorrow ($370.5 million global gross), one of eight titles he made with the studio including Rock of Ages, The Last Samurai, Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, Interview with the Vampire, Risky Business and The Outsiders.

Note, this isn’t an exclusive deal, as Cruise will continue to work with Paramount, where he’s shooting Mission: Impossible 8, and Universal, where he’s making the $200M shot-in-space movie directed by Doug Liman. Overall, Cruise doesn’t have exclusive deals at any studio. No projects at this point in time are in the works or greenlit, as it’s still early.

“We are thrilled to be working with Tom, an absolute legend in the film industry,” De Luca and Abdy said Tuesday. “Our vision, from day one, has been to rebuild this iconic studio to the heights of its glory days, and, in fact, when we first sat down with David Zaslav to talk about joining the Warner Bros Discovery team, he said to us, ‘We are on a mission to bring Warner Bros back – we have the best resources, storytelling IP, and talent in the business – and we need to bring Tom Cruise back to Warner Bros!’ Today, that becomes a reality and we are one step closer to achieving our ambition. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Tom back to Warner Bros and look forward to bringing more of his genius to life on screen in the years ahead.”

Said Cruise: “I have great respect and admiration for David, Pam, Mike, and the entire team at Warner Bros. Discovery and their commitment to movies, movie fans, and the theatrical experience. I look forward to making great movies together!”

The three-time Oscar-nominated Cruise saw the biggest-grossing film of his career with 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, which made $1.49 billion worldwide and was nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture. Last year, his Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning made $567.5M worldwide, the sixth highest-grossing movie of his career.

Tyler Perry about to start shooting ‘Madea’s Destination Wedding’ for Netflix

Tyler Perry‘s catalog of BET series, including “Tyler Perry’s Sistas,” “Tyler Perry’s The Oval” and “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” is hitting the off-net market. BET was set to announce on Wednesday at the CES convention in Las Vegas that its library of Tyler Perry original series will soon be available for licensing and syndication by third-party platforms, including SVOD, AVOD, FAST and broadcast. According to BET, the offering includes eight different original series encompassing more than 750 episodes and nearly 600 hours of content.

Most of those series have not been available for platforms outside of BET and its streamer BET+ until now. Besides “Sistas,” “The Oval” and “House of Pain,” the catalog includes BET+ originals “Tyler Perry’s Zatima” and “All the Queen’s Men.”

According to BET, “Sistas” was the No. 1 show among Black viewers 18-49 this past fall, while the three top shows among Black viewers are “Sistas,” “Zatima” and “The Oval.”

“There’s this ownership of me from my audience, and it’s been that way since I’ve been on stage,” Perry told Variety last month. “I’m brother, cousin, uncle, husband, friend, to my audience, and we share this kindred relationship. The way that I’m speaking to my audience is the way that I want shows to speak to me. I want to be entertained this kind of way.”

Mills first orchestrated sealed a rich and wide-ranging production pact for Perry with BET (and its parent, then known as Viacom) in July 2017. Perry immediately got going on new series such as “Sistas” and “The Oval.” Both became tremendous hits for BET, and have spawned multiple spinoffs.

Tyler Perry's hit BET catalog,including "Sistas" and "The Oval," will be made available for the first time to be licensed by FAST, SVOD and broadcast.

“In 2017, we began our historic partnership with Tyler Perry, and every year since his content arrived, BET has driven growth across our ecosystem. To date, the Tyler Perry portfolio of content is among the highest-rated programming among Black Americans on television,” said Scott Mills, President & CEO, BET Media Group. “Our offering of Tyler Perry’s expansive library of hit series will offer third-party platforms a unique opportunity that will increase retention and super-serve viewers like never before.”

BET is coordinating with Paramount Global Content Distribution in bringing its Tyler Perry catalog to market.

As Variety recently reported, BET’s Tyler Perry series rep the top 3 series on cable among Black viewers and five of the Top 10 shows on cable with this audience. Of the list of top cable series among Black audiences, BET titles make up seven of the Top 10 shows — five of which come from its partnership with Perry.

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