UTA Settles Litigation With Michael Kassan Over Exit
United Talent Agency has reached an undisclosed settlement with Michael Kassan after the MediaLink founder’s exit last year led to a legal battle, TheWrap has learned.
“UTA and Michael Kassan have agreed to amicably end their dispute,” legal teams for both said in a joint statement on Thursday. “The parties are not at liberty to comment further.”
On March 7, 2024, UTA claimed it had terminated Kassan for cause after he allegedly misappropriated funds. Kassan disputed that, however, claiming he resigned the day prior and accusing UTA’s then-CEO Jeremy Zimmer of mishandling MediaLink, which the agency had acquired for $125 million in 2021. As part of that initial deal, Kassan remained the head of MediaLink and was named a partner at UTA.
Both sides accused each other of breach of contract, with Kassan accusing UTA of pressuring him to increase his firm’s prices while slashing its budget and UTA accusing Kassan of treating agency funds as his “personal slush fund.” The two sides went to arbitration, leading to this settlement five months after Zimmer’s departure from UTA.
MediaLink was founded in 2003 and has assisted top companies like J.P. Morgan Chase and AT&T in executive job searches. The firm was acquired by the British company Ascential in 2016, who then sold it to UTA five years later.
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