Latest news with #Len
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Veteran family celebrates new home through Habitat for Humanity
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Habitat for Humanity has provided a fresh start to one family in Vandalia. The Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton hosted a special house dedication on Friday for Navy veteran Len and his family. The family of four was previously living in a small, two-bedroom rental. Through Habitat for Humanity's Veterans Build, Len, his wife Alicia and their two kids will get to live in a much more spacious house. Habitat offers zero percent interest mortgages while requiring potential homeowners to complete homeownership classes and 275 sweat-equity volunteer hours to quality for their new home. Through it all, Len says the organization went above and beyond to help his family succeed. 'When I look back on everything this program has provided for us, it's totally unbelievable,' said Len, veteran, new homeowner. 'All the things they taught us, all the things that they actually helped us through. They never left our side when we had dark moments, and they supported us all the way.' Len and Alicia say they discovered the Habitat for Humanity program by chance, and are grateful for the opportunity. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Billionaire Blavatnik courted to take Daily Telegraph stake
The billionaire who has bankrolled DAZN, the sports-streaming service, is being courted to take a stake in The Daily Telegraph alongside the newspaper's new American majority-owners. Sky News has learnt that Sir Len Blavatnik, whose holding company Access Entertainment owns assets in Britain, including the Theatre Royal Haymarket, has been approached by RedBird Capital Partners about becoming a minority investor in the Telegraph titles. Two sources close to the situation said on Thursday that Sir Len was being sounded out about a deal, although they cautioned that no agreement had been struck and it remained unclear whether one would be. Sir Len, who was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II for services to philanthropy in 2017, is a prolific investor in the arts, media and entertainment industries. Access Entertainment is run by Danny Cohen, the former BBC director of television. Announcing its agreement to acquire Telegraph Media Group last month for an enterprise valuation of £500m, RedBird Capital said it was "in discussions with select UK-based minority investors with print media expertise and strong commitment to upholding the editorial values of the Telegraph". This was principally a reference to Lord Rothermere, the Daily Mail proprietor, who remains in talks to pay more than £30m for a stake in the Mail's rival right-leaning newspaper group. Goldman Sachs is advising DMGT on the investment, with a deal the subject of ongoing discussions, according to insiders. Read more: The Abu Dhabi state-backed vehicle IMI is still expected to acquire the maximum 15% stake in the Telegraph permitted under proposed new media ownership rules. The government's decision to set the ownership threshold at 15% follows an intensive lobbying campaign by newspaper industry executives concerned that a permanent outright ban could cut off a vital source of funding to an already-embattled industry. However, the deal faces continued opposition from parliamentarians, with The Guardian reporting on Thursday that a cross-party group had written to Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, warning of "potential Chinese state influence" because of links between RedBird Capital chair John Thornton and China's sovereign wealth fund. This suggestion has been dismissed by RedBird Capital insiders. Ukraine-born Sir Len's portfolio of investments includes DAZN, which is now also backed by a Saudi sports group, mobile games studio Tripledot and Scenario Two, a theatre production company. Dovid Efune, the owner of The New York Sun, is meanwhile continuing to assemble a rival bid for the Telegraph, having secured backing from Jeremy Hosking, the prominent City investor. His prospects, however, look to have diminished after the former chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, was reported to have withdrawn from his so-called 'British bid'. The Telegraph titles' parent company was forced into insolvency proceedings two years ago by Lloyds Banking Group, which ran out of patience with the Barclay family, their long-standing owner. RedBird IMI, a joint venture between the two firms, paid £600m several months later to acquire a call option that was intended to convert into ownership of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator magazine. That objective was thwarted by a change in media ownership laws, which banned any form of foreign state ownership. Some parliamentarians are continuing to argue that a 15% threshold would be too high, and that the proposed rules are ambiguous because they potentially allow for more than one state investor to aggregate their holdings in British newspapers. The Spectator was sold last year for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund billionaire, who has installed Lord Gove, the former cabinet minister, as its editor. RedBird Capital has been contacted for comment, while a call to Access Industries' London office went unanswered on Thursday lunchtime.
Perth Now
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Len Wiseman hopes to establish Ballerina franchise
Len Wiseman would "love" to establish a 'Ballerina' franchise. The 52-year-old director recently helmed the 'John Wick' spin-off movie, and Len has revealed that he'd love to continue working with Ana de Armas, who plays Eve Macarro, a ballerina who becomes an assassin, in the new film. Asked about the character's long-term future, Len told The Hollywood Reporter: "I wanted this film to be the best that it could possibly be, but it's hard not to wonder. "Often, when I am asked that, I'll say, 'No, I want to wait and see what happens.' And that's true to a point, but when you're developing something and you get so immersed in a character, you have to build out what their story is before and after the movie you're making. That's how you really understand the character, so that's always on my mind. "The movie ends a bit ambiguously on purpose. Who's putting the contract out on her? I'd like to hear theories about where it goes. I definitely have my theory. I would love it if it were to continue, and I think it would surprise people where we would go with it. So we're just waiting for what the reaction is to this one, but yes, I totally have fantasy plans about where Eve would go." Len has been a fan of Ana for years, and he's admitted to being wowed by her performance in 'No Time to Die', the 2021 James Bond film. The director shared: "I would love to see that character show up again; it was just too brief. "We had already gotten involved with Ana. I had Ana in mind for quite a while before that. I went and saw a private screening of 'No Time to Die', and that confirmed her casting even more." Ana recently revealed that she's loved becoming part of the 'John Wick' franchise. The 37-year-old actress told The Hollywood Reporter: "I love the character and I think we can go anywhere from where we left it." Ana hailed Chad Stahelski, the director of the 'John Wick' movies, and Keanu Reeves - who plays the legendary hitman - for helping to establish the film franchise. And Ana is now excited to see what the future holds. The actress - who worked with Keanu on 2015's 'Knock Knock' and 2016's 'Exposed' - said: "It's really cool. I really like this character and the story and the universe and everything that Chad and Keanu created with the 'John Wick' films, and now to be a part of it, it's really special." Ana pushed herself to her physical limits in preparation for her role in 'Ballerina'. She said: "Every day tested my limits, just endurance and the level of discipline and commitment and focus that you have to have to take on a movie like this is something that I had never done before, and especially for a long period of time."
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aging CEOs, Ambitious Nepo Babies and a Tech Revolution: Succession in the Music Biz
The business of music long has been an incestuous one, even when the players aren't related. But some of the leaders of today's recorded music industry — 84 percent of which is housed under the three major label groups, Universal, Warner and Sony — actually are. When Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of UMG, took the reins in 2011, his son, Elliot, had barely graduated college. Today, the junior Grainge is running Warner's Atlantic Records (home to Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and Bruno Mars) alongside another so-called 'nepo baby,' WMG's billionaire majority owner Len Blavatnik's 27-year-old son, Val Blavatnik, who is a member of WMG's board of directors with an increasing presence at the company. Elliot was brought in at age 30 in late 2024 to turn around the label's declining market share (from 10 percent at the end of 2020, down to 5.7 percent last year). While the results of his appointment are yet to be assessed, his track record for breaking acts on platforms like TikTok at his record label 10K Projects — where his successes included Ice Spice and the controversial 6ix9ine — preceded him. (WMG bought a majority stake in 10K in 2023.) More from The Hollywood Reporter Billy Joel Tells Howard Stern: "I'm Not Dying" ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus on Writing a Musical Assisted by AI and Those Kiss Avatars: SXSW London Diddy Trial Sees Heckler Disrupt Court as Judge Learns Anonymous Witness' Name Leaked Online 'Everyone in the industry is doing the same stuff,' Elliot told The Wall Street Journal earlier this year. 'I'm not doubting any of the human capabilities of these great guys, women and companies — however, they grew up in the fax machine era.' Elliot's ascent to CEO brought with it some upheaval — namely the exit of Julie Greenwald, a beloved executive who had shepherded the Atlantic labels for 20 years. Now, the industry's eyes are on the bigger Warner picture. Specifically, the company's succession line. THR talked to nearly a dozen executives across management, recorded music and publishing — all of whom requested anonymity to speak freely on the matter — who parroted a common refrain: that CEO Robert Kyncl, who joined WMG from YouTube in 2022, may be nearing the end of his run. (A rep for WMG says 'these are just totally false rumors,' declining further comment.) While not everyone had the same theory about who would take over if that happened, the most likely candidate, most agreed, was Val Blavatnik. 'Len will throw his kid in the seat as fast as he can,' one artist manager says. 'It's the succession. Warner's like a vanity [asset] for Len.' Adds a top manager: 'Val and Elliot are very close. It would make sense to bring Elliot in so he could sit and see for a while and help Val.' Another insider puts it more bluntly: 'This has always been a dynastic play for Len and Val.' To be fair, Kyncl is an easy target for rumor fodder given that he's the only CEO with a background in tech and media rather than music, and the music industry — with its less conventional work environment and reliance on intangibles like golden 'ears' — hasn't typically embraced outsiders. Coming off an underwhelming Q1 earnings report (WMG's stock price is down 16 percent since this time last year) also makes it easy for onlookers to put Kyncl under the microscope even if the chatter is unfounded. A change would be somewhat ironic, though, at a time when AI is poised to upend the music business if a digital native wouldn't have the mandate to navigate those rough waters. While insiders are turned toward Warner, it's worth remembering the fickle and cyclical nature of the music business, where hits still remain the top currency. With enough of them, the conversation could change. Currently WMG holds five of the Top 10 slots on Spotify's Global 50 chart as Alex Warren's 'Ordinary' (Atlantic) remains the biggest song in the world, Warner Records' Sombr hold two spots, 'La Plena – W Sound 05″ out of Warner Music Latina is seventh, and Atlantic's Rosé and Bruno Mars are in eighth with Apt.' If the past tells us anything, it's that seismic technological shifts have often served as a precursor for a changing of the guard at the record companies. In the early days of Napster and peer-to-peer file-sharing, Doug Morris (and his Universal colleagues, including Jimmy Iovine, who would go on to sell his Beats by Dr. Dre headphone line to Apple for $3 billion in 2014) was tasked with fending off the death of the CD, to mixed results. The era of digital downloads followed, making Apple's iTunes the world's biggest music store. Still, the 2000s would see year-over-year declines as album sales (typically $9.99 and up) ceded to song sales at 99 cents. By 2011, just ahead of the streaming era, Lucian Grainge spearheaded Universal's acquisition binge, beginning with the catalog-rich EMI (bought for $1.9 billion in 2012, not coincidentally the year Spotify launched in the U.S.) and continuing to the present, where its holdings now claim two-thirds of music's global market share. Today, Grainge, who netted handsomely when the company public in 2021, is the longest-tenured CEO across the three label groups. Sony Music Group chairman Rob Stringer is a not-too-distant second. After working at the company all of his professional life, he replaced Morris as chief executive in 2017 and has gone on to see some formidable wins, including record-breakers like Adele, and culture-shifting albums by Beyonce and Tyler, the Creator, to say nothing of bringing to the world Harry Styles. Is another change on the horizon? It's certainly a topic making the rounds as executives and industry insiders question when the old guard will pass the torch to a younger generation gearing up for the next era. Some wonder if Grainge will continue to occupy the top seat past his contract-end date in May 2028, though others suggest it's still premature to speculate on Grainge's successor as he's still very active in the company and has laid out a vision for the company for the years ahead. Still, succession has been discussed at UMG board meetings, and a source familiar with the agenda scoffs at the idea of going outside the UMG family in the future. Indeed, insiders and reports have cited Republic Collective CEO Monte Lipman (who runs the label group with his brother, Avery, its co-president and COO) and Interscope chairman/CEO John Janick as logical candidates from Universal's U.S. operations, but leaders in other territories shouldn't be counted out, says a source. 'There's a deep bench of internal players who are more than qualified to step into this position.' As succession names float, a pattern becoming more apparent is the lack of women helming labels contending to take the top C-suite jobs. For a time just a few years ago, that picture looked brighter as Michelle Jubelirer was chairwoman and CEO of Capitol Music Group, Greenwald was chairwoman and CEO of Atlantic Music Group, Ethiopia Habtemariam was CEO of Motown and Sylvia Rhone was CEO and Chairwoman of Epic. (The publishing side fares slightly better as Jody Gerson logs a decade as CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group while Carianne Marshall has been Warner Chappell's COO since 2018.) 'Old white men have had a choke hold on the industry for years,' says one female executive, who blames the lack of women on the industry's inability to properly groom talent. 'It's pretty pathetic of the labels, but it's not surprising. … And now there's been such a revolt around DEI, everyone has permission to just do the easy thing and hire the average white man instead.' (Rhone is the sole remaining female label head, but at 73, her retirement has become a perennial musing.) There are signs of hope under the conglomerate umbrella, however, with a slew of next-gen execs in the wings. At UMG's Island Records (home to Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan), Imran Majid and Justin Eshak were named co-CEOs in 2021; at Def Jam (Justin Bieber, Big Sean), Tunji Balogun came in as chairman CEO in 2022; and at Mercury (Post Malone), 32-year-old Tyler Arnold assumed the chairman and CEO title in March. Meanwhile at Sony, new leadership for Arista (Maneskin) was just announced with Clio Massey, daughter of outgoing chairman David Massey, transitioning to co-president alongside Matt D'Arduini. And WMG's own Warner Records has seen its parent company's most consistent recent successes between Zach Bryan, Benson Boone and Teddy Swims under the watch of co-chairman and CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck who, at 43, is among the more senior of the bunch. Elliot Grainge, now 31, certainly tips the scale towards a younger, more nimble record executive less constrained by the old-boys-club way of doing things. But when that elder is your father and mentor, the nepotism-whispers will linger until he's had enough hits of his own. And in a business where names like Azoff, Davis and Wasserman all evoke the nepo tag, the song remains the same. 'Imagine if Bob Iger had a son who went to work at a competing company — it would never happen,' says one prominent industry lifer. 'In music, it's like, 'Oh well, we're fucking morons.' Time and time again, these CEOs refuse to leave or to do what's right as far as their corporate responsibility.' A version of this story appeared in the June 4 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More
USA Today
21-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Lakers 2024-25 season player grades: Alex Len
Lakers 2024-25 season player grades: Alex Len The massive Luka Doncic trade on Feb. 1 created a massive hole at the center position for the Los Angeles Lakers, as it sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers were already thin at that spot outside of Davis, and after the deal was made, they badly needed help there. They agreed to send rookie Dalton Knecht, forward Cam Reddish, a 2031 first-round draft pick and a future first-round pick swap to the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams, a promising young center. But that trade was rescinded a few days later when Williams failed his physical. On Feb. 11, the Lakers signed veteran big man Alex Len from the buyout market in an attempt to plug their hole at the center position. Not a whole lot was expected from him, but they ended up getting even less from him. Alex Len's season stats In 10 games with the Lakers, Len averaged 2.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.3 blocks in 12.2 minutes a game. Overall, he had averages of 1.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.5 blocks in 8.3 minutes a game for the season. Overall analysis When the Lakers signed Len, there was some hope that he could at least be an innings-eater and be somewhat serviceable for about 15 minutes or so a game. In the past, the 31-year-old had been the type of player who could provide solid rebounding and defense for roughly 20 minutes a game while finishing strong near the rim. But his abilities had significantly diminished over the last few years. In his first game with Los Angeles, he played 22 minutes and grabbed seven rebounds while adding four points, two assists and one block. But from that point on, his playing time was sporadic, and there were many games during which he never got off the bench. Defensively, he just didn't cut it, and he wasn't the type of rim-runner or lob threat L.A. needed offensively. In the team's five-game loss in the NBA playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Len appeared in two games for a grand total of three minutes and 40 seconds. During that time, he grabbed four rebounds but made no other statistical contributions. Len's contract situation Since Len was only signed for the remainder of the season, he will become a free agent this summer. It is hard to imagine the Lakers bringing him back, especially given how rapidly he fell out of head coach JJ Redick's rotation. In fact, it could be argued he was never in that rotation to begin with. Overall season grade: D-minus
