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| justinkurian |
Rock's greatest money man quits the Stones
Michael Hann
Friday May 25, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The Rolling Stones have reportedly suffered what could be their most damaging personnel loss yet, in the shape of a septuagenarian merchant banker with a royal title.
The music industry newsletter Record of the Day this morning reported that Prince Rupert zu Loewenstein, who has handled the group's financial affairs for nearly 40 years, has quit. A statement released by the band's UK PR firm said: "Prince Loewenstein is no longer taking care of the Rolling Stones day-to-day business but is currently retained on some aspects of their career."
Loewenstein, who was born in 1933, was hired by the Stones to sort out their financial affairs in the wake of their split from manager Allen Klein in 1971. He reconfigured the Stones into being more of a business than a band, advising them to make decisions about recording, rehearsing and performing on the basis of the tax advantages that might accrue from their location.
In a 2002 article in the US business magazine Fortune, Keith Richards summed up Loewenstein's contribution to the Stones: "He is a great financial mind for the market. He plays that like I play guitar. He does things like a little oil well. And currency - you know, Swiss francs in the morning, switch to marks in the afternoon, move to the yen, and by the end of the day, how many dollars? That's his financial genius, his wisdom. Little pieces of paper. As long as there's a smile on Rupert's face, I'm cool."
Loewenstein transformed the Stones, restructuring them as a blue-chip company, with four partners at the head of the pyramid and a variety of companies beneath to handle the various parts of the business. His greatest triumph, arguably, was matching them with a Canadian promoter called Michael Cohl in 1989. Cohl proposed to the Stones the touring model that they adopted for the Steel Wheels tour, which duly became the most lucrative rock tour in history, grossing $260m worldwide, and which has been the template for all their subsequent world tours. Those tours have made the Stones the most profitable rock act in the world.
Loewenstein, a descendant of Bavarian royalty, entered finance by buying a merchant bank in 1962. When Mick Jagger phoned and asked for help in sorting out the mess that was the Stones' finances, Loewenstein had never heard of them. Nevertheless, he told the Independent on Sunday in 1992, he prefers working with clients who are "new money". "It's much more interesting than old money," he said. "People with old money are nearly always having to be adjusted downwards; those with new money are much more realistic."
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 |
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| Gazza |
Thanks Justin
I thought this was another "where's JB thread" ?
Born in 1933? The stories going around a few days ago had him as 85.
With Rupert not being replaced and most of the staff at Keith's Raindrop Services reportedly being told to look for new employment, it would be quite easy to speculate if there's some winding down in operations going on... |
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| jostorm |
Hmmm, winding down ??? Fans' bank managers all over the World must be sighing a collective sigh of relief....
And, talking of money, isn't it funny how "true aristocracy" still sees Mick and Co as nouveau riches???(Although, from where I'm sitting, it would be the "riche" that truly matters  ) Despite all those years of really throwing it about, residing at Claridges,being knighted, etc...must really piss Jagger off, he's the epitomy of a social climber that failed to ever reach the summit....
[Edited by jostorm] |
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| LadyJane |
I'll never be prepared for the end. 
We were discussing it this weekend at the BBQ.
In attendance were fans in there 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's.
We agreed that we are the luckiest fans EVER since OUR band is still touring and has been for 40 damn years.
I wish I were going to Europe.
LJ. |
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| Gazza |
quote:
LadyJane wrote:
In attendance were fans in there 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's.
We agreed that we are the luckiest fans EVER since OUR band is still touring and has been for 40 damn years.
Yes. You're right. A unique group.
Fans of every other band have had to get a life many years ago..LOL..we've still been able to have an extended adolescence. |
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| Joey |
quote:
Gazza wrote:
Yes. You're right. A unique group.
Fans of every other band have had to get a life many years ago..LOL..we've still been able to have an extended adolescence.
Happy Happy Birthday Tomorrow Gazza !
'kins , Est. 1999 |
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| Moonisup |
maybe a stupid question, but what's :
"Keith's Raindrop Services" |
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