Clive Calder
{{Short description|South African-born British businessman (born 1946)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Clive Calder
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| image_size =
| birth_name = Clive Ian Calder
| citizenship = British citizenship and South African citizenship - dual citizenship
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|12|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa
| death_date =
| occupation = Businessman
| known_for = Co-founder, Zomba Group
| years_active = 1971–2003
| spouse = Patricia
| children = 2
| website =
}}
Clive Ian Calder (born 13 December 1946) is a South African-British billionaire record executive and businessman primarily known for co-founding the Zomba Group with Ralph Simon, and its subsidiary Jive Records. As of October 2021, Calder has an estimated net worth of US$5.5 billion.{{cite web|title=Forbes profile: Clive Calder |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/clive-calder/ |website=Forbes |accessdate=12 October 2021}}
Early life
Calder was born in and grew up in Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa.
Career
Calder started his first record company in 1971 in South Africa with Ralph Simon.{{Cite magazine|last=Malan|first=Rian|date=25 July 2002|title=The $3 Billion Man: Clive Calder|pages=26, 28|magazine=Rolling Stone}} By 1975, Calder and Simon had relocated to London and established Zomba as an artist and producer management company. By 1978, Zomba had expanded to include music publishing and opened offices in New York City. In 1981 Calder and Simon formed their first record label Jive, and Calder began to create a name for Jive as an important outlet for hip hop and rap music with the help of new hire Barry Weiss.{{Cite web|last=Goldstein|first=Patrick|date=1988-06-19|title=A Rappin' Big Year for Little Jive Records|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-19-ca-7788-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213080636/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-19-ca-7788-story.html |archive-date=13 December 2019 }}{{Cite web|last=Newman|first=Melinda|date=25 April 2008|title=BMG's Weiss brings business savvy|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-apr-25-et-weiss25-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530090809/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/25/entertainment/et-weiss25 |archive-date=30 May 2013 }}
Jive's success was followed by Silvertone Records in 1988 and countless others throughout the nineties.{{Cite magazine|last1=Newman|first1=Melinda|last2=White|first2=Adam|date=5 May 2001|title=The Untold Saga of the Zomba Group|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1|magazine=Billboard|pages=1, 98–100}} After an unspecified "ethical disagreement," Calder bought Simon's stake in Zomba and became the sole owner in 1990.{{Cite web|date=19 March 2001|title=Jive Talking|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2001/0319/138.html|url-status=live|access-date=|website=Forbes|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021017190453/http://www.forbes.com:80/forbes/2001/0319/138.html |archive-date=17 October 2002 }} In the late nineties, Jive expanded its success to include teen pop phenomenons such as the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and Britney Spears, all of which topped the charts.{{Cite book|last=Knopper|first=Steve|title=Appetite for Self-destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2009}} In 2002 he sold Zomba for US$2.74 billion to the German-based media group Bertelsmann.{{cite web|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Zomba-Records-Ltd-Company-History.html|title=History of Zomba Records Ltd. – FundingUniverse|work=fundinguniverse.com|access-date=24 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201143052/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Zomba-Records-Ltd-Company-History.html|archive-date=1 December 2007|url-status=dead}} Though Calder was offered a position within the newly restructured Zomba Label Group, he instead chose to stay on temporarily as an advisor during the integration period, and eventually left the music business in 2003. The Zomba Label Group, which had been founded by BMG as parent for all Zomba labels in 2004, was integrated with all its labels into BMG Label Group in 2007, while at the same time the Zomba brand ceased to exist. In 2009 the group was renamed as RCA/Jive Label Group under Sony Music, and in October 2011, Jive Records, as well as the whole Jive brand, was discontinued, with their most successful artists being moved to RCA Records and partly to Epic Records.{{cite magazine|last=Halperin|first=Shirley|date=7 October 2011|title=RCA's Peter Edge, Tom Corson on the Shuttering of Jive, J and Arista|url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/rca-s-peter-edge-tom-corson-on-the-shuttering-1005394732.story|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010034734/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/rca-s-peter-edge-tom-corson-on-the-shuttering-1005394732.story|archive-date=10 October 2011|magazine=Billboard}} In May 2018, The Washington Post reporter Geoff Edgers wrote "The Star Treatment", a lengthy article alleging music industry executives' willful blindness to label artist R. Kelly's sexually abusive behavior toward underage girls. Edgers reported that as early as 1994, Kelly's tour manager urged Calder to tell Kelly he would not release the singer's records if he continued to have "incidents" with young women and minors after every concert he gave. Calder told the Post that he regretted not having done more at the time, saying "Clearly, we missed something."{{cite news |last=Edgers |first=Geoff |date=May 4, 2018 |title=The Star Treatment |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/05/04/feature/how-the-music-industry-overlooked-r-kellys-alleged-abuse-of-young-women/ |url-status=live |access-date=May 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504212853/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/05/04/feature/how-the-music-industry-overlooked-r-kellys-alleged-abuse-of-young-women/ |archive-date=2018-05-04}}
In 2018, Calder and his son Keith invested $46 million into Cloud Imperium Games, taking a 10% stake in the studio behind the Star Citizen game.{{Cite web|last=Perez|first=Matt|title='Star Citizen' Studio Gets $46 Million Investment From Billionaire Clive Calder And Son|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2018/12/20/billionaire-clive-calder-and-son-invest-46-million-in-studio-behind-crowdfunded-game-star-citizen/|access-date=2020-11-29|website=Forbes|language=en}}
Personal life
Calder is married to Patricia Calder, with whom he has two children. They live in the Cayman Islands.{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Grant |title=Big New Grant Maker Plans to Make Awards in Africa |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Big-New-Grant-Maker-Plans-to/172389 |accessdate=18 June 2020 |work=The Chronicle of Philanthropy |date=24 November 2005}}
In May 2020, the ELMA Group of Foundations, which was founded by Calder and supports children's health and education initiatives around the world, pledged $107 million to fight COVID-19 in Africa. Around $26 million of this was allocated to fight the pandemic in South Africa, his birth country.{{Cite web|date=2020-05-15|title=Africa: $107 Million Cash Injection to Fight COVID-19 in Africa|url=https://allafrica.com/stories/202005150103.html|access-date=2020-11-29|website=allAfrica.com|language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051112030922/http://www.mio.co.za/article.php?cat=industry_labels_pub&id=435 Music Industry Online]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4993862.stm BBC Online]
{{Zomba Group of Companies}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calder, Clive Ian}}
Category:British businesspeople
Category:British music industry executives
Category:Businesspeople from Johannesburg
Category:Zomba Group of Companies