- Author, Lucy Clarke-Billings
- Role, BBC News
Music mogul Scooter Braun has announced his retirement from talent management after 23 years.
The entrepreneur, 42, said he has stepped back to focus on his role as a father, as well as chief executive of entertainment company HYBE America.
Last year, it was reported that a number of Braun’s high-profile clients, including Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, were parting ways with the manager.
In a nearly 1,400-word statement posted to his Instagram account, Braun said he is now “a father first, a CEO second, and a manager no more”.
New York-born Braun is one the world’s most successful music managers.
His big break came in 2008, when he spotted a 12-year-old Justin Bieber singing on YouTube.
He tracked the youngster down through his school, asking board members to put him in touch with Bieber’s mother, and signed him to a record label he had formed with R&B star Usher.
Braun’s other clients have included Demi Lovato, David Guetta, Black Eyed Peas, Ava Max, Carly Rae Jepsen and Quavo.
Braun said he decided to step away from music management after “one of my biggest clients and friends told me that they wanted to spread their wings and go in a new direction”.
He did not say who the client was.
Braun said despite working “24 hours a day, seven days a week” for his “entire adult life”, it was “time to step into a new role”.
“As my children got older, and my personal life took some hits, I came to the realisation that my kids were three superstars I wasn’t willing to lose,” he said.
“The sacrifices I was once willing to make I could no longer justify.”
Braun is also well-known for his feud with Taylor Swift, which began in 2019 when he bought her former record label Big Machine for $300m (£227m) through his investment group Ithaca Holdings.
It meant he gained control of the master recordings of Swift’s first six albums.
In response, Swift blocked requests for her music to be used in TV shows and films – cutting off a vital source of income for Braun’s investment group.
She then started re-recording all of her old material, reclaiming ownership of the albums and further devaluing the originals.
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