Justice Department Announces it Pushed Ari Emanuel Into Resigning from Live Nation Board Over Antitrust Concerns

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The Justice Department announced Monday it forced Endeavor Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel — the brother to former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — to step down from Live Nation’s board of directors.

The department said in a press release that Emanuel and Endeavor President Mark Shapiro resigned from the board after officials “expressed concerns that their positions … created an illegal interlocking directorate,” where one individual serves as an officer or director of two companies.

Emanuel joined Live Nation in 2007. He co-founded Endeavor Group — an entertainment agency — in 1995, where he represented clients including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson” and Charlize Theron. However, Endeavor didn’t go public until April of this year, when it entered the market with an opening valuation of $10 billion.

Live Nation and Endeavor both have subsidiaries that selling tickets to live events, a fact the DOJ indicated in its statement could represent a conflict of interest. Live Nation has also been under scrutiny by congressional Democrats, who called on the DOJ in April to investigate whether its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster created a monopoly on ticket sales.

“These resignations ensure that Endeavor and Live Nation will compete independently,” Assistant Attorney General Richard Powers said in a statement. “Executives are not permitted to hold board positions on companies that compete with each other. The division will enforce the antitrust laws to make sure that all companies compete on the merits.”