United Expertise Company has been accused of breach of contract and fraud in relation to its 2021 acquisition of the consultancy agency MediaLink.

MediaLink founder and UTA associate Michael Kassan, whose exit from the corporate almost per week in the past has not but been reported, claims that UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer and two different high executives engaged in dangerous religion within the absorption and administration of his firm, in accordance with paperwork filed with mediation service JAMS which Selection reviewed. This led Kassan to resign final week, the submitting says. By way of a spokesperson, UTA stated it had fired Kassan for trigger following an “an exhaustive third-party investigation into misappropriation of firm funds,” and has taken authorized motion towards him in Los Angeles (Selection may discover no such submitting at press time).

MediaLink is a outstanding however not simply outlined company that sits on the intersection of tech, leisure and media. They’re recognized for internet hosting lavish and common events at occasions just like the Cannes Lion pageant and international editions of CES. The corporate can be employed to assist fill high C-suite jobs and craft company methods. Their shoppers have included J.P. Morgan Chase, AT&T and Conde Nast. On Tuesday, it was named one in all Forbes’ greatest administration consulting companies within the nation.

The authorized motion from Kassan, which was additionally filed Tuesday as a request for arbitration, says Zimmer and colleagues Julian Jacobs (Zimmer’s former assistant) and David Anderson did not ship on key guarantees of the acquisition. Essentially the most urgent is that UTA’s advertising and marketing division, which serves as a competing enterprise to MediaLink, was purported to be centralized underneath Kassan. The doc asserts that UTA as a substitute made MediaLink a “silo,” pressuring Kassan to dramatically increase charges for outdoor prospects whereas providing appreciable reductions to UTA shoppers. The submitting additionally says Kassan was informed to stop providing government search providers for company shoppers as a way to good thing about one other UTA-owned firm, the title of which was not disclosed. Kassan is looking for damages value a minimum of $25,000,000 and compensation for attorneys charges.

“When Zimmer broke guarantees and started to impede the success of MediaLink, Michael was left with no different possibility apart from to resign and file this lawsuit towards Zimmer and UTA for breach of contract,” stated Kassan’s lawyer Sanford Michelman of Michelman and Robinson. “Michael’s first precedence is the success and continued progress of MediaLink, an organization he began greater than 17 years in the past, and he appears to be like ahead to making sure its continued success within the business.”

In a full assertion, UTA stated that Kassan “was terminated for trigger by UTA on March seventh 2024, following an intensive and exhaustive third-party investigation into misappropriation of firm funds. We filed a lawsuit towards him right now and stay up for presenting the info in courtroom.” Kassan’s personal submitting accommodates a resignation letter dated March 6.

Within the doc, Kassan alleges that Zimmer aggressively tried to slash prices at MediaLink. Kassan is thought to spend generously to woo shoppers, and within the UTA deal he negotiated a $950,000 discretionary fund to pay for items and perks. This included Kassan’s use of personal jets (which Zimmer and his household utilized, the doc stated, as did some UTA shoppers in search of “a trip”). Following the merger, UTA pushed again on the spending.

“Michael is the type of man who would let you know that should you discuss to him for ten minutes, you’re getting one thing from Brunello Cucinelli to thanks on your time,” one particular person acquainted with Kassan stated. UTA, in accordance with the doc, additionally took difficulty with MediaLink’s charitable giving, allegedly calling the annual quantity “too excessive and inappropriate.”

Whereas the aforementioned authorized motion from UTA towards Kassan was not instantly obtainable, the latter’s request for arbitration makes reference to a “sham audit” of MediaLink. In mild of those conflicts, Kassan resigned his publish and waived an almost $10 million severance bundle from UTA as a way to retain his proper to compete towards them, the submitting stated.

Pictured above, from left: Michael Kassan, founder and CEO of MediaLink; UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer.