What's Next for MediaLink Following CEO Michael Kassan's Exit

The legal fallout between MediaLink founder Michael Kassan and its owner, United Talent Agency (UTA), has caught the world’s entertainment and advertising industries by surprise, including many within the management consultancy itself. Now MediaLink, without its figurehead, is facing questions about its leadership plans moving forward, as the succession plan for Kassan has long been an unresolved issue. At the heart of the dispute is a “Special Expenses” account that Kassan had requested in the Purchase and Sale Agreement during the 2022 $125 million sale of MediaLink by Ascential to UTA. Kassan alleges breach of contract in a $25 million lawsuit filed against UTA, CEO Jeremy Zimmer and two other executives that UTA backtracked on giving him the $1.5 million expense fund to “create new business opportunities for MediaLink.” UTA provided ADWEEK with a copy of its lawsuit against Kassan, alleging that the fund has been misused by Kassan to pay off debts and other personal expenses. Following news of Kassan’s departure and subsequent legal action, UTA released a further statement from its counsel, Bryan Freedman. “Michael Kassan was terminated by UTA on March 7 and made aware well before that that UTA had grounds to fire him,” Freedman said. “His claim against UTA has no merit and is an attempt to divert attention from the misappropriation of company funds that led to his termination.” The consultancy holds a unique place in the industry, helping brands work through marketing transformation projects, conducting agency reviews and placing executives in new marketing roles. While Kassan had built a team around him to handle the client work, he’s been the relationship builder who’s made MediaLink into the industry leader in the space, and industry execs are skeptical MediaLink will be as attractive to CMOs without him. “There is a strong executive leadership team in place at MediaLink that continues to carry the business forward,” said a UTA spokesperson when asked about a succession plan. The company declined to explain further who will lead the business. A perfect match goes south In a 2023 interview with Beet.TV at CES, Kassan spoke about how he saw his role as being “in the middle of a lot of conversations” within the marketing and media sectors. He also spoke about his relationship with UTA after five years with Ascential. “I saw a better life for MediaLink in a different environment and what UTA promised me, and delivered in spades … was the proximity to the creator economy. The proximity of content creation … and the proximity to the most important people who create the content in the world,” he explained. Michael Kassan at a dinner party hosted by iHeartmedia and Medialink. He viewed UTA’s ability to connect Medialink with culture and content as an unparalleled advantage in the marketplace. He also praised the internal culture at UTA, saying “I’ve never been in a culture that’s more inviting, that’s more welcoming and more strategic." Kassan had a reputation for being one of the industry’s most prolific networkers, continually wining and dining clients and maintaining a high profile, always up for emceeing industry events featuring executives and celebrities. That reputation for entertainment did not deter UTA from purchasing the business, according to its suit against Kassan. “In order to secure UTA’s investment, Kassan presented himself as a trustworthy businessman, who had operated within the stringent controls and regulations of a publicly traded company. That turned out not to be the case,” according to the suit. But Kassan and UTA’s leadership clashed over not just the expense budget but the formation of UTA’s Brand Partnerships arm, according to a source familiar with MediaLink. The source told ADWEEK that Kassan believed the new division could bridge UTA and MediaLink. He had expected that it would report to him to create some connective tissue with MediaLink; however, that never transpired. This is alluded to within Kassan’s action: “Respondents engaged in a deliberate secret scheme to fraudulently induce Kassan to agree to a sale of MediaLink only to then walk back the very promises made in the purchase contract, specifically regarding what Kassan would oversee at UTA and his ‘Special Expenses.” The days of gifting are over Another intermediary executive who wishes to remain anonymous told ADWEEK that the days of extravagant client entertainment were gone, as fees had become much tighter in recent years and corporate transparency had become stricter. Multiple ad agency execs, who requested anonymity because of preexisting relationships with MediaLink, agreed with that assertion, saying that clients are increasingly turned off by exorbitant spending. They said ad agencies over the past few decades have faced a similar reckoning as clients (and their procurement teams) don’t want to see their marketing dollars funding gifts and private flights. In other words—Kassan’s strategy was one that was already falling out of favor even before he and UTA began trading accusations over the use of the $1.5 million expense fund. Is Kassan bigger than MediaLink? Nearly a half dozen ad agency execs and search consultants who spoke with ADWEEK expressed similar sentiments of “Michael Kassan is MediaLink” and “MediaLink is Michael Kassan.” But multiple sources said MediaLink has built out an infrastructure that could survive Kassan’s departure, with several sources calling out three current executies—Lena Petersen, chief brand officer and managing director; Mark Wagman, managing director; and Emma Gryce, chief financial officer—as critically important to MediaLink’s future success. One agency source described MediaLink as the strongest offering in the business for marketing transformation at the moment, and that’s largely in part not because of Kassan but the team now around him—an assertion echoed by multiple ad execs who have been invited to a number of MediaLink reviews. Michael Kassan and Jeremy Zimmer on the Convergence of Advertising, Celebrity, Media and Commerce But the industry is intrigued over who will take over for Kassan as the face of the business, and multiple sources are expecting that some clients will walk out the door without Kassan at the helm. ADWEEK’s sources indicated a number of CMOs will remain loyal to Kassan because of MediaLink’s executive talent and search department. After Kassan rejected a $10 million severance, he is able to create a new business and potentially take some of his clients with him. One source pointed out this would likely only be a small dent in MediaLink’s business because Kassan would lack the infrastructure to take on a meaningful number of clients, at first. One former MediaLink executive described Kassan as “a very kind individual” whose generosity had built the business, citing the Pfizer global advertising account appointment, which went to Publicis and IPG last year, as being a piece of business he had personally conducted. With no leadership announced for the business following Kassan’s departure, for the short term at least, succession is a problem for the consultancy. No obvious internal candidate is understood to be seen as being able to step up immediately, perhaps surprising considering Kassan is 73. It is clear he had no intention to retire in the short term. In the past, Kassan has attempted to hire a global president to work with him, but one source close to the business told ADWEEK that Ascential balked at the prospect of paying a second executive wage, and so one was never hired.