Investors reach $500 million deal to acquire Weinstein Co. assets


The Weinstein Co. has agreed to sell its assets to an investment team led by Maria Contreras-Sweet and Ron Burkle, the company's board of directors confirmed Thursday night.
Most of the company's 150 employees will be invited to stay at its new iteration, and the deal should ensure that small businesses owed money by The Weinstein Co. are paid. Contreras-Sweet said they will launch a new studio with a board of directors made up mostly of women and create a $90 million fund to compensate women who were allegedly sexually harassed and abused by the once-powerful producer Harvey Weinstein. Since last fall, when The New York Times published allegations of misconduct against Weinstein, the company has been sued by several women who say the board was complicit in Weinstein's harassment.
Before a deal was reached on Thursday, talks collapsed twice: on Feb. 11, when New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office filed a complaint, seeking oversight and conditions on the sale, and on Feb. 25, when The Weinstein Co. said it was backing out of negotiations and eyeing bankruptcy. A name for this new company has not yet been chosen.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
What taxes do you pay on a home sale?
The Explainer Some people — though not many — will need to pay capital gains taxes upon selling their home
-
Schools: The return of a dreaded fitness test
Feature Donald Trump is bringing the Presidential Fitness Test back to classrooms nationwide
-
An insatiable hunger for protein
Feature Americans can't get enough of the macronutrient. But how much do we really need?
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages