Biz blues: IMG’s fraudster finds himself an Italian festival

Billboard is running a massive feature by Frederic Dannen on the rise and fall of IMG Artists under its dodgy duopoly of Barrett Wissman and Alexander Shustorovich. Wissmann, who has pleaded guilty to fraud in the US, is now being pushed out by his Russian partner.

“Alex is very much running the show,” says Ian Smallbone, former managing director of IMG in Europe. Wissman, 58, is designated chairman and Shustorovich president/CEO, but those are not legal corporate titles. Shustorovich says he now has majority control of the privately held company. Wissman claims his stake and Shustorovich’s are equal. The two men do not appear to agree on much, and their mutual distaste is palpable. Wissman will not speak of it on the record; Shustorovich has no such qualms.

“People have asked, why would I get in bed with a guy like this?” says Shustorovich of his fellow shareholder. “I thought he’d done his penance. He presents himself like he’s a nice guy, and a lot of people fall for that crap. Now that I’ve got to know him better, I’ve learned to be more careful.”

Shustorovich says he recently had to sue Wissman in New York State Supreme Court for failing to repay a large personal loan. Wissman is currently suing Shustorovich in the same court for allegedly overcharging the agency for rental space in a New York townhouse Shustorovich owns….

Read on here.

There are some misapprehensions in the piece about IMG’s connections to some of its breakaway boutiques but on the whole it is a solid and valuable piece of reporting. If Shustorovich takes total control of the agency, this could point to a happier future.

Meanwhile Wissman has found himself a new niche as Executive and co-Artistic Director of Italy’s Taormina Film Festival.