Thread by @FinancialTimes

The hits – and the killer business deals – just keep coming from the music industry’s most powerful CEO, Lucian Grainge. Beloved of stars like Taylor Swift, Elton John and The Weeknd, he’s about to take Universal public – with a potential $50bn valuation on.ft.com/2Xz2vBh

What does Lucian Grainge have that others don’t? In 2011, he scooped up most of EMI's labels, adding The Beatles, Coldplay & Katy Perry to his roster. A bigger market share allowed him to set terms with streaming platforms that powered an industry revival on.ft.com/2Xz2vBh

No music business legend – from Motown’s Berry Gordy to Atlantic Records’ Ahmet Ertegun – has ever controlled as much of the industry as Lucian Grainge does, says Chris Blackwell, who founded Island Records and signed Bob Marley on.ft.com/2Xz2vBh

Taylor Swift, who is re-recording for Universal the albums she made with her previous label, told the FT: ‘[Lucian Grainge] placed his trust in me as an artist and as a business person’ on.ft.com/2Xz2vBh

Listening to an artist’s music in front of them is an art and Lucian Grainge has perfected it, as demoed when The Weeknd dropped by Grainge’s Los Angeles home for an ‘album-listening party’ – the FT was there too on.ft.com/2Xz2vBh

Lucian Grainge gives these stars something they can’t buy: validation. ‘I feel like a young kid at a big company that I know actually cares about where my music is going, even though I’m 74,’ Elton John told the FT on.ft.com/2Xz2vBh

Not everyone is a fan, however. In a rare public rift between Universal Music’s chief and one of its stars, Kanye West last year demanded that he be let out of his contract. And some question whether Universal is sharing the spoils fairly with artists on.ft.com/2Xz2vBh

Universal’s IPO is set for Sept 21 – 18 months after Covid-19 nearly killed Lucian Grainge. In an industry that has staged an unexpected revival in the past five years, it is the ultimate test of recovery. But will going public mark the top of the market? on.ft.com/2Xz2vBh