Guy Oseary

Early life

Guy Oseary was born on October 3, 1972, in Jerusalem, to a Jewish family. He moved to California when he was eight, and attended Beverly Hills High School.

Career

Oseary started Wise Guy Prods as an independent A&R rep in 1989 at the age of 17. Ice-T's DJ Evil E and his brother Hen-Gee were his first major signings as a manager.

Maverick

In 1992 at the age of 19, he became one of the first employees of Madonna's Maverick Records record label, as an A&R executive. He rose through the ranks to chairman, developing a roster of artists that included The Prodigy, Alanis Morissette, Muse, Deftones, and Paul Oakenfold, and worked on the soundtracks on such film series as Austin Powers, The Matrix, and Kill Bill. He signed Morissette in 1995, and in 1996 her album Jagged Little Pill became the biggest selling album of the year, and eventually one of the best selling albums of all time..

In 2005, Oseary became the manager for his longtime business partner Madonna. Her Confessions Tour (2006), Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008–09), and The MDNA Tour (2012), were among the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. He won Top Manager at the Billboard Touring Awards in 2006 and 2009. In 2007, Oseary negotiated a 360 deal partnering Madonna with Live Nation worth $120 million. In 2016, he again won Top Manager at the Billboard Touring Awards.

As part of Maverick Films, Oseary executive produced all five films of The Twilight Saga: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn – Part 1, and Breaking Dawn – Part 2, as well as Rob Zombie's first two ventures into feature filmmaking: House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. He also produced the films Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and Agent Cody Banks.

On November 12, 2013, it was announced that Oseary would be replacing Paul McGuinness as manager of U2 in a $30 million deal which would see Live Nation buy both Maverick and U2's management company Principle Management. McGuinness was quoted as saying "I have long regarded Guy Oseary as the best manager of his generation, and there is no one else I would have considered to take over the day-to-day running of our business." He managed U2 until October 2022. He began managing the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2021.

In 2014, Oseary relaunched Maverick as a consortium of nine artist managers. The artist managers managed over two dozen of the world's largest musical acts, including Madonna, Paul McCartney, U2, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Shania Twain, and Nicki Minaj.

In March 2020, Oseary stepped down from his role at Maverick, reportedly to concentrate more on his "entrepreneurial interests, investing in and incubating companies on the cutting edge of technology and entertainment”, according to a statement by Live Nation.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Oseary began managing the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2021. According to Rolling Stone Magazine, the band was the highest earning non-solo musical act in 2021, with $145 million.

In January 2024 it was announced that Scar Tissue, the autobiography of Anthony Kiedis, singer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, will be turned into a theatrical movie with Oseary, Kiedis and Brian Grazer producing the film for Universal Pictures.

Other work

In May 2004, Oseary partnered with Jason Weinberg and Stephanie Simon to become a principal in Untitled Entertainment, a management company with offices in Beverly Hills and New York City.

Oseary appears in cameos in movies such as Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and You Don't Mess with the Zohan. He also made a cameo in Madonna's 1992 music video for her single "Deeper and Deeper."

He also served as executive producer on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly and New Year's Eve with Carson Daly, starting in 2002.

In October 2020, he co-founded Pearpop with Cole Mason.

Investments

A-Grade Investments

Oseary, along with Ashton Kutcher and Ronald Burkle, is a co-founder at A-Grade Investments, a venture capital firm that has made numerous investments in companies such as Airbnb, Duolingo, Foursquare, Shazam, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Uber.

Sound Ventures

Oseary co-founded Sound Ventures in 2015 with Ashton Kutcher to focus on emerging technologies at the intersection of entertainment and AI. The co-founders were featured on the cover of the April 19, 2016 issue of Forbes for the magazine's story on top tech investors. As of July 2022, Variety reported the pair had invested over $600 million in platforms across a wide spectrum of sectors, including social networks, fintech, alternative energy, health care, mobile gaming, sustainability, virtual fashion and SaaS (Software as a Service). In 2024, they launched a $243 million VC fund to invest in artificial intelligence companies. As of July 2024, the firm reportedly managed over $1 billion in assets across its various funds. Investmenrts include OpenAI, Anthropic, and Stability AI.

NFTs

In October 2021, Oseary signed Yuga Labs, the creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible token (NFT) project, for representation. Yuga labs contributed to the BAYC-insprired ApeCoin token launched in March 2022, which as of October 2022 had a valuation of $4 billion. The valuation has since fallen over 95% to under $200 million as of January 2026.

Books

Oseary has written four books, including a book on Jewish influences in the music industry titled Jews Who Rock. His second book, On the Record, is a collection of first-hand accounts on how to break into the music industry from successful artists, producers, and executives. He also wrote two coffee table books with his own photography of Madonna's 2006 and 2008–09 tours respectively titled Madonna: Confessions and Madonna: Sticky & Sweet.

Philanthropy

In 2012, Oseary co-founded Good Today (previously Good St.), a non-profit giving platform. The company encourages donations as small as $0.25 and allows donors to vote to select where the funds are donated each day.

Personal life

Together since 2006, he married Brazilian model Michelle Alves on October 24, 2017 at Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They have four children.

References

References

1. (November 9, 2000). "Sex, Drugs and…Lots of Jews?". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
2. Underwood, Kathryn. (March 29, 2022). "Guy Oseary Is Worth Millions — Talent Manager, Producer, and VC Investor".
3. Greenburg, Zack O'Malley. "How Ashton Kutcher And Guy Oseary Built A $250 Million Portfolio With Startups Like Uber And Airbnb".
4. Mcshane, Larry. (July 6, 2008). "Madonna's other Guy is link between A-Rod, Lenny Kravitz". Daily News.
5. Halperin, Shirley. (July 27, 2022). "A Guide to Guy Oseary, Variety’s 2022 Music Mogul of the Year".
6. (October 17, 2014). "U2 and Madonna Manager Guy Oseary Is Trying to Reinvent the Music Biz".
7. Writers, CelebrityAccess Staff. (May 28, 2020). "Report: Guy Oseary Stepping Back At Maverick".
8. (November 26, 2000). "Meet 100 of Rock's Chosen People".
9. Rosen, Craig. (April 5, 2007). "Muse members become the popular kids".
10. Caulfield, Keith. (June 26, 2015). "Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’ Hits 15 Million in U.S. Sales".
11. (November 9, 2006). "Stones, Madonna Honored At Billboard Touring Awards".
12. (November 5, 2009). "Madonna Takes Top Honors At Billboard Touring Awards".
13. Waddell, Ray. (October 16, 2007). "Update: Madonna Confirms Deal With Live Nation".
14. Staff, Billboard. (November 10, 2016). "Billboard Touring Conference & Awards 2016: See the Photos".
15. Herman, Shirley Halperin,James Patrick. (May 28, 2020). "Madonna, U2 Manager Guy Oseary No Longer Running Maverick; What Does it Mean for the Collective?".
16. Brodesser, Claude. (June 24, 2004). "‘Lightning Thief’ strikes Maverick".
17. Thomas, Kevin. (March 12, 2004). "Agent Cody Banks clues into spirited fun in a London caper".
18. Sisario, Ben. (November 12, 2013). "Live Nation Nears a Deal for Managers of Music Acts". The New York Times.
19. (2022-10-06). "U2 to Join Irving and Jeffrey Azoff's Full Stop Management".
20. "CHILI PEPPERS SAY HE'S THEIR GUY".
21. Hampp, Andrew. (October 17, 2014). "Cover: Managers of U2, Pharrell, Madonna & More Unite to Revolutionize the Music Industry".
22. Mitchell, Gail. (September 21, 2016). "Shania Twain, Andrea Bocelli Sign With Maverick Management".
23. (2020-05-28). "Madonna, U2 Manager Guy Oseary No Longer Running Maverick; What Does it Mean for the Collective?".
24. Greenburg, Zack O'Malley. (January 14, 2022). "Nine of the 10 Highest-Paid Musicians of 2021 Were Men".
25. (January 17, 2024). "Anthony Kiedis Biopic In Works At Universal; Brian Grazer Producing Based On Red Hot Chili Peppers Frontman's Memoir 'Scar Tissue'".
26. Press, Kimberly Nordyke,The Associated. (August 7, 2007). "Not ‘Last Call’ for Daly; inks two-year deal".
27. Hampp, Andrew. (May 18, 2015). "Madonna’s Hard Candy Fitness Expands Into Licensing".
28. Born, Julie Naughton,Pete. (November 3, 2011). "Madonna to Launch Second Lifestyle Brand".
29. Sternlicht, Alexandra. "PearPop Just Raised $16 Million From Alexis Ohanian, Snoop Dogg, Amy Schumer And Others To Monetize TikTok Clout Sharing".
30. Hampp, Andrew. (May 1, 2013). "Guy Oseary and Ashton Kutcher's A-GRade Receives $100 Million Valuation".
31. (September 17, 2012). "Language-learning service Duolingo raises $15M Series B round - EdSurge News".
32. Graham, Michelai. (May 1, 2023). "Guy Oseary, Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures Launches AI Fund".
33. (November 20, 2020). "Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures Looks to Raise New Fund {{!}} Los Angeles Business Journal".
34. "3. Keep an open mind. - 2016-03-22 - Six Startup Secrets From Ashton Kutcher And Guy Oseary".
35. Halperin, Shirley. (July 27, 2022). "From Maverick to Mogul, Madonna’s Manager Guy Oseary Transcends the Music World to Take on NFTs".
36. Halperin, Shirley. (October 12, 2021). "Bored Ape Yacht Club Creators Yuga Labs Sign Representation Deal With Madonna, U2 Manager Guy Oseary".
37. Matney, Lucas. (March 16, 2022). "Bored Apes NFT project gets official 'ApeCoin' token".
38. Melinek, Jacquelyn. (October 27, 2022). "Yuga Labs’ Nicole Muniz to talk about NFTs and Bored Apes at TC Sessions: Crypto".
39. "ApeCoin Price: APE Live Price Chart, Market Cap & News Today".
40. (December 19, 2000). "IN PROMISED LAND OF ROCK, BOOK TUNES IN TO JEWISH HERITAGE".
41. (November 2, 2004). "Madonna in Guy Oseary's book on the record industry".
42. "Madonna: Confessions". powerHouse Books.
43. "Madonna: Sticky & Sweet". powerHouse Books.
44. Troiani, Daniele. (September 18, 2023). "Dust Magazine European biannual magazine about fashion and its opposites Guy Oseary in conversation with Penélope Cruz | Dust Magazine".
45. (October 29, 2019). "With Sean Rad signed on as board member, Good Today launches new tool for company-wide donations".
46. "Michelle Alves". New York.
47. (December 9, 2012). "Guy Oseary & Michelle Alves' Beach Babes".