Jon Rosen, a longtime WME agent and executive who has represented some of TV’s best known news anchors and celebrity chefs, is leaving the Endeavor-owned agency to launch his own management firm, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Rosen, who represents NBC News’ Stephanie Ruhle, Willie Geist and Hallie Jackson as well as CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, is set to manage many of his current clients, according to one of these people, and they are expected to retain WME as an agency. A WME spokesperson did not respond immediately to a query seeking comment and Rosen could not be reached immediately for comment via a call Wednesday.
His exit comes as WME parent Endeavor has come under new scrutiny on Wall Street. The company, which recently helped create the combat-sports company TKO, suggested in October that it might consider going private.
Rosen, who has closed deals for ABC News’ Robin Roberts as well as celebrity chef Rachael Ray, is known in industry circles for being early to see the business possible representing the stars of Food Network and HGTV programs. Not only could such talent cook or renovate homes, but they could form alliances with various advertisers; launch their own bespoke businesses; and provide endorsements. Among the deals he struck for his clients were one that aligned Kohl’s with Bobby Flay and another that matched Target with Giada DeLaurentis.
That’s not how he started, though. “Jon had been a striker on the soccer team at Boston University, but not good enough to turn pro, so he’d decided to become a sports agent. Out of college, a family connection helped him land an internship at the Fifi Oscard talent agency, then an aunt helped Jon land a job in the William Morris mailroom,” recounted author Allen Salkin in his book, “From Scratch: Inside The Food Network.” Rosen would eventually become an assistant to an agent who represented Regis Philbin and Geraldo Rivera. Rosen was “stoked with an inner hunger,” the author wrote.
Rosen was “instrumental in turning these chefs into A-list celebrities through choosing appropriate endorsements, merchandising deals, venues, etc., to build their brands. It was trailblazing,” Brooke Johnson a former president of Food Network told The New York Times in 2009.
Rosen was named WME’s head of East Coast television in 2006 and would go on to head a “branded lifestyle” group during his tenure. He has also represented Al Roker, Lara Spencer and Ming Tsai.
