Scooter Braun is officially retiring from managing some of the music industry’s biggest stars. This decision allows Braun to fully embrace his role as CEO of Hybe America and dedicate more time to his children.
The announcement on Monday was not entirely unexpected, following last year’s headlines about Braun’s firm, SB Projects, parting ways with Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and Idina Menzel.
“After more than 20 years, this chapter as a music manager has come to an end,” read Braun’s statement shared on social media. The 42-year-old music mogul said the decision had been at least two years in the making, and was solidified by a conversation with a client last year.
“One of my biggest clients and friends told me that they wanted to spread their wings and go in a new direction,” Braun shared. “We had been through so much together over the last decade, but instead of being hurt I saw it as a sign.”
Per Variety, Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, which includes his SB Projects merged with HYBE, the home of BTS, in 2021. At the time, Braun joined the company’s board and became the co-CEO of the South Korean company’s American outpost, working alongside Lenzo Yoon. Braun became the sole CEO in January 2023.
Balancing work and personal life has been challenging for Braun, especially following his divorce from Yael Cohen in 2021. Reflecting on his career as a talent manager, Braun noted the constant demands of the job.
“As my children got older, and my personal life took some hits, I came to the realization that my kids were 3 superstars I wasn’t willing to lose,” he shared on Instagram. “The sacrifices I was once willing to make I could no longer justify. It was time to step into a new role.”
Braun expressed enthusiasm about growing Hybe and investing in new talent in his new role as CEO. He also took a moment to reflect on the careers of Justin Bieber and Grande, whom he managed from a young age.
“To see them both come up to be the legends they are today will forever be one of my greatest honors,” Braun stated. “As we change our working relationships now, I will continue to root for them with the same passion that I did at each of their humble beginnings.”
Braun’s firm will continue under the leadership of Allison Kaye and Jennifer McDaniels. He praised them, saying, “These two incredibly powerful women will now step into a role that I know will grow into the most impressive women-led management business our industry has even seen.”
In 2018, Braun opened up about an incident in 2016 where he hinted that Grande had fired him as a manager.
“With Ariana, I could have said a lot of stuff, and in fact my team wanted me to, because they were so pissed. But I said, ‘We’re not gonna say a word, and this is gonna come back around,'” Braun said during a talk as part of Fast Company’s Innovation Festival. “They were like, ‘Never take her back!,’ and I just said, ‘Let’s stay quiet and let our truth be our actions.'”
Braun joked that the reasoning behind the apparent firing was due to one of her former flings. “And when the sh*tty boyfriends leave, she starts to see the light on some stuff, and one day I got a phone call,” he continued. “She said, ‘Can I see you tomorrow?’ and I said, ‘No, I’m busy’ — I actually couldn’t, so I said, ‘I could see you Thursday’ or whatever and I went over there and we had a very honest conversation.”
Braun went on to note that the apparent firing changed his relationship with Grande, which proved important in 2017 when a bomb went off at her concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 people.
“That relationship we had, from being fired and getting back together, really gave us the strength for what we never imagined would come that following year,” he said.
Braun believed the incident also made him a better manager.
“It allowed me know that I can be fired — I had never been fired before,” he said. “It made me know that as much as you give to people in a service business — we do a lot of asset business, but this is a service business — you can never expect anyone to reciprocate. You have to do it for the right reasons, and if you get screwed over in the end, so be it, and hope you had a hell of a ride along the way.”
