One of a Kind…Live Nation Lives Large
By Russ Banham

 
Where does Kathy Willard find the time? As CFO of the giant entertainment and e-commerce company Live Nation Entertainment since 2007, Willard has handled the financial details of multiple divestitures, spin-offs and more than 200 acquisitions, including the prized though contentious acquisition of Ticketmaster in 2010. She then pulled off a complex post-merger refinancing and integration of two massive companies, forging a singular business that has no equal in the industry. Today, Willard manages an extraordinary global financial structure that supports more than 11,000 venue clients like New York's Madison Square Garden for which Ticketmaster sells tickets, and supports the concert tours at these venues that Live Nation secures for more than 2,000 artists, about 20,000 shows each year.

Willard is also in charge of the finances of the 128 venues that Live Nation owns or operates as a concert promoter, such as the House of Blues franchise, the Fillmore brand and the Hollywood Palladium.

If only that was the extent of her job. She also must manage the financials related to the company's 250 contracted entertainers, such as the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett and Christina Aguilera. Then there are artists like Madonna, Jay-Z and U2 that Live Nation does not manage but holds long-term contracts with in relation to their music properties. In the case of U2, the company signed a 12-year deal worth a reported $100 million to sponsor the band's concerts, control related merchandise and market other rights such as fan sites and premium ticket packages.

Each of Live Nation's 11,000 venue clients requires its own profit and loss statement, and each has a box office, which means oodles of cash that has to be accounted for and transported to hundreds of banks around the world. Just imagine 50 million people each year lining up to buy tickets using a wide range of currencies. On top of it all, Willard is in a business—entertainment—known for its outsized personalities. Live Nation's chairman is Irving Azoff, the personal manager of Aguilera and other artists before becoming CEO of Front Line Management and then Ticketmaster. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Azoff "has long been known in the music industry for his short fuse."

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