Miss Universe pageant for sale for US$20M - report


Reigning Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu of India (Facebook)

Any takers?

Miss Universe, the most prestigious and publicized beauty pageant, is being sold for US$20 million.

This was revealed in a report by the New York Post in an online article entitled "Superagent Ari Emanuel struggles to dump Miss Universe pageant for $20M: source" dated Sept. 2, 2022.

In a lengthy article, the report said that "famed superagent Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor is having an ugly time trying to find a buyer for his struggling beauty pageant business and refuses to chop the price."

Emanuel has been shopping around his Miss Universe business for the last six months for $20 million, with no luck, a source with knowledge said.

Endeavor bought the beauty pageant organization from Donald Trump in 2015 ahead of his presidential bid.

Emanuel has been trying to woo foreign investors based in Asia and South America, the sources said. "A person familiar with Endeavor’s thinking said in order to offload the asset, the price of Miss Universe may be lowered a little, but not much."

The mogul doesn’t like “admitting” he “lost money” on anything, so the price likely won’t be dropped “enough,” the person added.  Endeavor refused to comment.

A person familiar with the situation said a buyer is interested but declined to provide details.

The Miss Universe pageant, which was founded in 1952, was first televised in 1955 by CBS. It emerged as a competitor to the Miss America pageant, which was founded in 1921. Although the two pageants are often confused, the Miss America pageant is owned by the nonprofit Miss America Organization, which also runs a scholarship program that was launched in 1945.

For Endeavor, selling off Miss Universe will help it shore up cash for other business opportunities, a source said, noting that Emanuel has many investment ideas in mind, the report also added.

The 2022 Miss Universe pageant will be held in December. In 2023, the beauty pageant will allow married women and mothers to compete.