{"id":297902,"date":"2023-11-08T14:54:50","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T20:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=297902"},"modified":"2023-11-08T15:08:47","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T21:08:47","slug":"sphere-cfo-quits-after-tirade-by-ceo-james-dolan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sphere-cfo-quits-after-tirade-by-ceo-james-dolan\/","title":{"rendered":"Sphere CFO Quits After Tirade by CEO James Dolan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The financial chief for the MSG Sphere quit his post last week after a particularly nasty dressing down from James Dolan, the legendarily mercurial billionaire owner of the Sphere and Madison Garden, according to the New York Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The MSG Sphere did not have a good fiscal first quarter, according to an earnings report released Wednesday, November 8. (Image: Alamy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For 11 months, Gautam Ranji had been the CFO for Dolan\u2019s venue behind the Venetian, which opened on September 29 with a critically and commercially successful residency by Irish rock superstars U2.<\/p>\n

Ranji resigned last Monday, according to The Post,<\/em> giving only four days notice. Greg Brunner, Sphere’s senior VP, controller, and principal accounting officer, temporarily assumed his responsibilities as of this Monday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Gautam Ranji served as the CFO for the MSG Sphere until last Friday. (Image: LinkedIn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A securities filing late Friday characterized Ranji\u2019s exit as \u201cnot a result of any disagreement with the company\u2019s independent auditors or any member of management on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or internal controls.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, an unnamed source quoted by The Post <\/em>contradicted this official account. The source said that Dolan was \u201cyelling and screaming\u201d at Ranji during a meeting of senior executives called, in part, to prepare Sphere Entertainment\u2019s quarterly earnings presentation.<\/p>\n

\n

That presentation, made Wednesday morning, revealed that the Sphere posted a first-quarter operating loss of $98.4M, which company officials blamed on \u201chigher depreciation and amortization, direct operating expenses, and selling, general and administrative costs.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Post<\/em>‘s source said Ranji \u201ccalmly\u201d exited the meeting and tendered his notice to the company\u2019s general counsel.<\/p>\n

\"\"
When James Dolan is not pleased with you, you know it. Here he is apparently not pleased with the performance of his New York Knicks. (Image: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Third Sphere Exit<\/h2>\n

Ranji is the third high-profile executive to exit the Sphere organization. In February, Dolan sacked president Lucas Watson and senior manager of business operations Jenna Wolfenson, taking a more hands-on role in leading the venue since.<\/p>\n

Dolan\u2019s empire also includes Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Knicks and Rangers, MSG Sports, and AMC Networks, most of which have also experienced high-profile exits in recent months.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2019, former MSG Entertainment president Seth Abraham recalled to Bloomberg News<\/em> some advice he was once given by former MSG president Dave Checketts: \u201cWhen you need to disagree with Jim, it\u2019s better to do it in public\u201d — \u00a0say, at a restaurant — to get around \u201cthe volcanic nature\u201d of his temperament.<\/p>\n

The Post<\/em>\u2019s source described Dolan as \u201cthe consummate hammer\u201d who \u201ctreats everyone like a nail.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The financial chief for the MSG Sphere quit his post last week after a particularly nasty dressing down from James Dolan, the legendarily mercurial billionaire owner of the Sphere and Madison Garden, according to the New York Post. For 11 months, Gautam Ranji had been the CFO for Dolan\u2019s venue behind the Venetian, which opened […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":297905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3313,10,81886],"tags":[83632,88698,85030,88699,83668,84381,83667,87683],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSphere CFO Quits After Tirade by CEO James Dolan - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The financial chief for the MSG Sphere quit his post last week after a particularly nasty dressing down from James Dolan, the legendarily mercurial\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sphere-cfo-quits-after-tirade-by-ceo-james-dolan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sphere CFO Quits After Tirade by CEO James Dolan - 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