Anschutz Entertainment Group

He got the bug early, walking precincts in his Los Angeles neighborhood at the age of 14, talking politics with aplomb, prompting adults to marvel and agree: John Pérez was going places. Now, after his rookie year as a Sacramento lawmaker, Pérez is on the cusp of catapulting from a relatively obscure spot in the state Assembly to its most powerful position, the speaker's chair. Assembly Democrats are expected to formally vote him into office next month. A former union official who grew up in the neighborhoods of Highland Park and El Sereno and is a cousin of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Pérez bested more seasoned competitors in a long, behind-the-scenes battle for the speakership.

Michael Jackson's death nearly four years ago has been the subject of intense curiosity, endless media speculation and even a dramatic courtroom drama in which the King of Pop's doctor was found guilty of causing his death. But all that may end up being a warm-up act for the legal showdown set to begin Monday . In a wrongful death lawsuit, the singer's mother and three children accuse concert promoter Anschutz Entertainment Group of threatening to end Jackson's career if he failed to deliver on a series of comeback concerts in London and hiring the doctor who was later convicted of giving the singer a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol.

Billionaire Philip Anschutz tapped longtime finance man Dan Beckerman to take the helm of AEG after the sale of the company was halted Thursday.  Beckerman will now serve as chief executive and president of Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc., replacing Tim Leiweke, who is leaving the company. AEG: A look back But who is Beckerman? Here's a rundown: -- Beckerman joined AEG in 1997 as chief financial officer of the Los Angeles Kings. -- Before he joined AEG, Beckerman was vice president of finance for the Los Angeles Clippers for two seasons.

Los Angeles officials agreed Wednesday to pursue a parallel track for redeveloping the city's Convention Center in the event that Anschutz Entertainment Group and the National Football League fail to reach agreement on the Farmers Field stadium downtown. Jan Perry, chair of a special City Council committee overseeing the AEG deal, said she remains hopeful that the city can continue to work with the entertainment giant in both drawing an NFL franchise and building the stadium in the L.A. Live area.

The Emmy Awards are moving from the venerable Shrine Auditorium to the new Nokia Theatre in downtown L.A. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences signed a 10-year deal with Anschutz Entertainment Group to stage the annual Emmys show at the 6,500-seat Nokia, starting with this year's show on Sept. 21. The Emmys' after-show Governors Ball will be held next door at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Anschutz Entertainment Group named veteran music executive Randy Phillips as chief of its live-entertainment division, which has promoted tours by such acts as Britney Spears and Barry Manilow. Phillips, a former artist manager who ran the Red Ant record label, will oversee an operation that includes concert promoters AEG Concerts and Goldenvoice as well as music pay-per-view outfit Spring Communications.

Anschutz Entertainment Group said it settled a contract dispute with Nederlander Concerts and reached a new deal to share booking and promotion of events at Staples Center. Sources said the two firms reached a financial settlement to resolve a dispute about payments Nederlander guaranteed to Anschutz as part of its exclusive booking contract.

Anschutz Entertainment Group has reached an estimated $7-million deal to purchase Los Angeles concert firm Goldenvoice, the region's most prominent promoter of rock and punk shows. The deal, to be announced today, should give Anschutz's concert division, Concerts West, added credibility in rock music circles and increase its share of the lucrative Southern California market. Goldenvoice, launched in 1981, booked such acts as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana before they were widely known.

The developers and operators of Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles have been hired to manage the new 4,000-seat theater that will serve as the permanent home for the Academy Awards show in Hollywood. Anschutz Entertainment Group will manage the Kodak Theatre as part of a partnership formed with Canadian developer TrizecHahn Development Corp., which is building the theater as part of the $567-million Hollywood & Highland real estate project.

After seeking a buyer for months, the billionaire owner of entertainment giant AEG abruptly took the company off the market, leaving a parade of high-profile suitors empty-handed and damaging the prospect that professional football will return to Los Angeles any time soon. Philip Anschutz announced Thursday that he is retaining ownership of Anschutz Entertainment Group and parting ways with Chief Executive Tim Leiweke, the company's public face and force behind the development of L.A. Live and the plan to build an NFL stadium downtown.

Philip Anschutz, the billionaire chairman of AEG, announced Thursday that the sale of the behemoth entertainment company would be halted. Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc. owns L.A. Live, Staples Center and the Los Angeles Kings, among other holdings. AEG: A look back Here is the full text of the statement the company released Thursday: "The Anschutz Company announced today that it will retain ownership of Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. and terminate the sales process for AEG. Philip F. Anschutz, as Chairman of AEG, will resume a more active role in the Company, with a particular focus on the Company's world-wide strategy and operations.

Billionaire Philip Anschutz tapped longtime finance man Dan Beckerman to take the helm of AEG after the sale of the company was halted Thursday.  Beckerman will now serve as chief executive and president of Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc., replacing Tim Leiweke, who is leaving the company. AEG: A look back But who is Beckerman? Here's a rundown: -- Beckerman joined AEG in 1997 as chief financial officer of the Los Angeles Kings. -- Before he joined AEG, Beckerman was vice president of finance for the Los Angeles Clippers for two seasons.

Philip Anschutz and the no-longer-for-sale AEG have been key players in sports and entertainment in Los Angeles. Here are some highlights: -- Oct. 1995: Denver-based billionaire Philip Anschutz and Southern California developer Ed Roski Jr. buy the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. -- May 1997: Anschutz and Roski announce a plan to revamp the L.A. Memorial Coliseum and bring a professional football team to the city by 2000. -- March 1998: Work begins on Staples Center, Anschutz and Roski's new downtown arena.

After seeking a buyer for months, the billionaire owner of entertainment giant AEG abruptly took the company off the market, leaving a parade of high-profile suitors empty-handed and damaging the prospect that professional football will return to Los Angeles any time soon. Philip Anschutz announced Thursday that he is retaining ownership of Anschutz Entertainment Group and parting ways with Chief Executive Tim Leiweke, the company's public face and force behind the development of L.A. Live and the plan to build an NFL stadium downtown.

Los Angeles took its biggest step yet toward luring the NFL back after a 17-year absence, signing off on crucial agreements for a new downtown stadium even as uncertainty continues to shroud the ownership of the company seeking to build the $1.2-billion facility. City Council members unanimously approved an array of documents that will clear the path for 72,000-seat Farmers Field, billed as the most environmentally friendly stadium in NFL history, to rise on the southwest edge of downtown.

Los Angeles took its biggest step yet toward luring the NFL back after a 17-year absence, signing off on crucial agreements for a new downtown stadium even though it remains unclear who will own the company seeking to build the $1.2-billion facility. City Council members unanimously approved an array of documents that will clear the path for 72,000-seat Farmers Field, billed as the most environmentally friendly stadium in NFL history, to rise on the southwest edge of downtown. The complex deal could further establish downtown Los Angeles - home to the Lakers, Clippers and Kings - as a professional sports powerhouse, sparking new economic activity and bringing major renovations to the struggling Los Angeles Convention Center next door.

Anschutz Entertainment Group subsidiaries that run Staples Center and the Forum on Friday terminated the venues' exclusive concert booker, Nederlander, and sued the firm for breach of contract for allegedly failing to keep up on guaranteed payments. The Anschutz firms are seeking about $500,000 in overdue payments and an estimated $5 million that would have come due before the contract expired in 2004.

Re "Subsidies may aid L.A. Live," June 14 Let me get this straight. Staples Center owner Philip Anschutz is the 41st richest man in America. He, through the Anschutz Entertainment Group, is investing about $2.5 billion in the L.A. Live project. Yet he still needs an additional $30 million from a state bond fund that was voter approved for low-income housing. Considering the size of the project, this amount is a rounding error. I don't recall language in the proposition presented to the voters that said the money could be used in furtherance of a private development, but I might be mistaken.

Tim Leiweke stepped away from a meeting in his L.A. Live office last week to take a phone call. On the line was Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), one of the most powerful men in the state capital, and he wanted some answers. "I'm not going anywhere," said Leiweke, the president and chief executive of Anschutz Entertainment Group, better know as AEG. He assured the Senate president pro tem, who has thrown his weight behind an effort to bring a National Football League team to Los Angeles, that AEG was committed to closing the deal.