Secret Deal to Avoid Ticketmaster Breakup Spurs Frantic Week

Michael Rapino had been slated to spend March 5 taking the stand in New York in the high-profile trial over the potential breakup of his $40 billion company. Instead, the Live Nation Entertainment Inc. chief was in Washington, signing a last-minute, secret agreement to resolve the federal case.

That accord traced a winding path from an October meeting where the owner of Ticketmaster made its case to Justice Department officials with the help of Kellyanne Conway, President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, and Ric Grenell, Live Nation board member and head of the Trump-Kennedy Center, according to people with knowledge of the meeting. According to court filings, negotiations “picked up” last month as the trial approached — and after the Trump administration ousted its former antitrust chief, Gail Slater.