However, there has been greater hue and cry over recent stories identifying his financial support of organizations with aggressive anti-LGBT agendas, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, the National Christian Foundation, and the Family Research Council. In response, Anschutz himself has issued a rare public statement on the matter, challenging some of the assertions now circulating: "Recent claims published in the media that I am anti-LGBTQ are nothing more than fake news -- it is all garbage," the statement reads.
We are fortunate to employ a wealth of diverse individuals throughout our family of companies, all of whom are important to us -- the only criteria on which they are judged is the quality of their job performance; we do not tolerate discrimination in any form.
Anschutz's political leanings certainly have not been a secret, and a source close to the situation questioned the timing of the articles, which seemed to stem from a Washington Post article published in July that identified him as one of the "enemies of equality" for the LGBT community. The Afropunk site appears to have been the first to publish such a report on Wednesday, although the news quickly spread and gained steam via a post on Teen Vogue. Billboard reached out to multiple acts on the Coachella lineup for comment, although none have responded as of press time.
However, Mitski posted on her Twitter account , linking to the Teen Vogue report and writing, "Ah f At this point it's difficult to gauge what impact these news reports will have on Anschutz's live-entertainment companies, as his political views have been public for many years and he has not been known to engage with the AEG Live division, let alone Goldenvoice and Coachella, on a localized level.
While for many years he spoke on a daily basis with Tim Leweike, who headed AEG from its founding through his departure in , rather than directly implement strategy with any of the regional offices, Anschutz has opted to focus on larger-scale financial engineering.
The billionaire made his fortune through the oil, railroad and telecom industries, later branching out into real estate and entertainment. The hockey team, which Anschutz bought in , won the Stanley Cup in and He bought his shares of the NBA team in The company's live entertainment division, AEG Presents, is one of the world's largest presenters of live music and entertainment events. In , more than , people attended Coachella each day. The festival, which had been planned from April 10 to 12 and April 17 to 19, will now be held from October 9 to 11 and October 16 to Those who bought tickets will be sent information by March 13 on how to get a refund if they're unable to attend in October, according to a statement emailed to Business Insider.
Goldenvoice, the festival's promoter, did not immediately respond to Business Insider's question of whether there would be changes to the lineup. He did just that in Anschutz also owns the Sea Island resort in Georgia, which he bought in While the details of Anschutz's real-estate holdings are unknown, he reportedly owns a square-mile cattle ranch in Wyoming that he plans on turning into the world's largest wind farm. Anschutz's company did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on his behalf regarding his real-estate and property ownership.
He often goes to see the Lakers or the Kings play at Staples, where he may go unrecognized. Nobody sees him, yet he has a huge impact on Los Angeles. Anschutz has only given two press conferences ever , according to Bloomberg. Little is known about his life there, but his hobbies reportedly include hunting, tennis, squash, and jogging.
Anschutz and his wife have three children : two daughters and a son. One of their daughters, Libby Anschutz, is a musician in a Denver-based band called Tracksuit Wedding. Their other daughter, Sarah Anschutz Hunt, sits on the board of trustees of the Anschutz Family Foundation, which was founded by Anschutz's parents and is now run by his sister, Sue Anschutz-Rodgers. Anschutz founded his own philanthropic foundation, the Anschutz Foundation , in , which donates primarily to nonprofit organizations in Colorado.
Anschutz is also known for supporting Republican political causes. Tax filings show his foundation donated to the Alliance Defending Freedom and the National Christian Foundation as recently as In a rare public statement on the matter in , Anschutz said: "Recent claims published in the media that I am anti-LGBTQ are nothing more than fake news — it is all garbage.
I unequivocally support the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation. The billionaire started conservative magazine The Washington Examiner in and later bought another conservative publication, The Weekly Standard, which shut down at the end of Before founding AEG, Anschutz earned a fortune investing in oil, railroads and real estate.
He has a reputation for building and selling successful companies. Now 74, Anschutz tried to sell AEG last year and still may want to find a successor or try again to cash out for billions of dollars. He declined to be interviewed for this story. Anschutz abruptly canceled his announced plan to sell AEG in March and vowed to more actively manage the company. Despite having residences at L.
Live and in the Palm Springs area, however, he is rarely spotted in public. It has been one of the key actors in the renaissance of downtown Los Angeles over the last decade and a half. Staples Center and L. AEG has also been a major presence in civic affairs, including its highly watched campaign to bring pro football back to Los Angeles, in a new stadium to be built on its downtown land called Farmers Field.
The tour sparked a lawsuit against AEG by the Jackson family seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The family accused the company of negligence for hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, who gave Jackson a fatal dose of anesthetic. One of the keys to profitability is multimillion-dollar sponsorships of AEG arenas, events and sports teams. Nutrition company Herbalife pays an undisclosed amount to put its name on the jerseys of AEG-owned soccer team the Los Angeles Galaxy and keeps its world headquarters in offices at L.
Live rented from AEG. AEG also provides ticketing services and promotes musical tours and sports events that keep arenas active.
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