Robert Thorne (lawyer)

Robert Thorne
BornCirca 1955[1]
EducationUC Berkeley
TitleCEO of Dualstar (1993-2005)

Robert Throne is an entertainment and licensing lawyer, formerly known for being the manager of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, in addition to the CEO of their company Dualstar Entertainment. Thorne founded Dualstar in 1993 with the Olsens and turned it into a billion dollar company by the time he left in 2005.[2] Robert Thorne is Founder and CEO of The Robert Thorne Company, former President of the Century City Bar Association and a former law partner at Loeb & Loeb in Century City, California.[3]

Career

Thorne was admitted to the State Bar of California on December 16, 1980,[4] and began his career as an entertainment lawyer.[3] From 1987 to 1990, Thorne served as the chair of the Entertainment Law Section of the Century City Bar Association.[5]

In February 1990, Thorne was made a partner at the law firm Loeb & Loeb in California.[6]

Robert Thorne, was hired by Dave Olsen, Mary-Kate and Ashley's father, in 1990. At the time, they were only four years old, and Thorne was retained to help renegotiate their contracts for Full House.[7] The legal advice morphed, and Thorne became the managers of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen when they were only 4 1/2-years old.[8]

In March 1992, Thorne was named president-elect of Century City Bar Association in Los Angeles, after serving as the secretary for a number of years.[9][5]

In 1993, on behalf of Mary-Kate and Ashley, Thorne founded the company Dualstar Entertainment.[10]

As Executive Producer of So Little Time, Thorne had an office located on the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California.[8]

In a 2001 interview, Thorne said, "Even though they're 14 years old, I work for them." Of the Dualstar success, he went on to say, "It started as a fiction, to be candid, that it was Mary-Kate and Ashley's deal, this brand, this whole thing. They were involved more like: 'Is this O.K.?' 'Sure.' Now they say we created a monster, but I don't think so. I think we created two professional executives."[8]

On March 6, 2002, Thorne filed the articles of incorporation for a new business venture entitled Thorne Enterprises, Inc.[11] A month later, on April 9, he filed an amendment updating the name to The Robert Thorne Company, and listing himself as its president and secretary.[12]

In 2004, when the Olsen twins decided to move to New York for college, Thorne as their manager and CEO followed them across the country. He signed a contract for a $3.35 million town house in the complex. In February, he also bought a three-bedroom apartment on the 14th floor, directly below the Olsens' penthouse, for $2.13 million.[13]

After Mary-Kate and Ashley turned 18-years old, they wanted to take on the full leadership position of their production company Dualstar Entertainment.[14] Thorne, who officially had a minority stake in the company, was bought out for an undisclosed amount.[15] "The decision was to respect their desire to take the helm perhaps a few years earlier than I had anticipated," Thorne told Reuters. "But I didn’t want to stand in their way provided that I was taken care of, as I was handsomely."[16] At the time of Thorne's departure from Dualstar, the company was generating a profit of $1.2 billion in sales a year.[17]

The following year, Thorne was secured by Hilary Duff to spearhead her new merchandising venture.[18] In 2007, Thorne was quoted, "I don’t really represent people, I build businesses."[19] Merchandising Hilary Duff happened much more quickly than with the Olsens, establishing the tween-targeted brand "Stuff by Hilary Duff", and the more adult oriented partnership with Elizabeth Arden producing the fragrance With Love... Hilary Duff.[20]

Personal life

Education

A graduate of UC Berkeley.[3]

Thorne graduated from Hastings College of the Law on May 17, 1980.[21][3]

Family

Thorne's kids Griffen and Harrison were both trained by a private tennis coach.[22]

In 2017, Thorne sold his three-story townhouse at One Morton Square in the West Village for $8.24 million.[23]

Filmography

Year Title Writer Producer Network Notes
1993 Our First Video No Executive Direct-to-video
2000 Our Lips Are Sealed No Executive
2001 Winning London No Executive
2001 Holiday In The Sun No Executive
2001-2002 So Little Time No Executive FOX Family Channel
2001-2002 Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action! Yes Executive ABC Kids Wrote live-action segments to four episodes
2002 Getting There No Executive Direct-to-video
2002 When In Rome No Executive
2003 The Challenge No Executive
2004 New York Minute No Yes

References

  1. ^ Lippmann, John (March 10, 1997). "Twins Are 'No Shirley Temple,' But Olsens Mine Girls' Market". The Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ Fischer Spalding, Rachel (October 12–14, 2001). "Mary-Kate and Ashley (Special Issue) - Q & A: Robert Thorne" (PDF). The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, CA: Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d "Greg Redlitz and Robert Thorne Celebrate 25 Years Representing Celebrity Brands". PR Newswire. August 26, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  4. ^ "Attorney Profile - Robert Thorne #94419". State Bar of California. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Thorne Named To Head Bar Association". The Signal. Santa Clarita, California. March 6, 1992. p. 7.
  6. ^ "People: Loeb and Loeb". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. February 22, 1990. p. 54.
  7. ^ Vernon, Polly (September 27, 2003). "Teen Tycoons". The Guardian.
  8. ^ a b c Udovitch, Mim (May 27, 2001). "The Olsen Juggernaut". The New York Times.
  9. ^ "People: Robert Thorne". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. May 10, 1992. p. J5.
  10. ^ D'Innocenzio, Anne (July 6, 2004). "Twins All Grown Up". Press and Sun-Bulletin. Binghamton, New York. p. 28.
  11. ^ "Business Entity Filing - Thorne Enterprises". California Business Entity Search. March 6, 2002. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  12. ^ "Certificate of Amendment of Articles of Incorporation of Thorne Enterprises, Inc. A California Corporation". California Business Entity Search. April 9, 2002. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  13. ^ Neuman, William (August 8, 2004). "For the Olsen Twins at College, It's 4 Penthouses, $7.3 Million". The New York Times.
  14. ^ "Passing the Hors D'oeuvres Tray of Celeb Dish". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. January 31, 2005. p. 16.
  15. ^ "Thorne Exits Olsens' Dualstar". Billboard. February 1, 2005.
  16. ^ Susman, Gary (January 28, 2005). "Olsens take control of their empire". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  17. ^ Larocca, Amy (August 16, 2007). "Attack of the Fashion Gremlins". New York Magazine.
  18. ^ D'Innocenzio, Anne (July 11, 2006). "More Teen Celebrities Into Marketing Own Labels of Clothing, Furniture". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. p. 21.
  19. ^ Abelson, Max (June 19, 2007). "Old Olsens Wiz Adds Two Condos to His Manhattan Portfolio—'Realty … It's Been Very Lucrative'". The Observer. Archived from the original on March 18, 2025.
  20. ^ Frankel, Daniel (October 4, 2007). "Robert Thorne & Greg Redlitz: Dualstar duo thinks outside the store". Variety.
  21. ^ UC Hastings College of the Law Commencement Exercises Class of 1980, San Francisco, California: UC Hastings College of the Law, May 17, 1980, p. 6, retrieved March 18, 2025
  22. ^ Wheat, Rob (October 14, 1993). "Is 2-Year-Old The Next Agassi?". The Signal. Santa Clarita, California. p. 31.
  23. ^ Gould, Jennifer (April 5, 2017). "The man who made the Olsen twins rich selling his full house". New York Post. Archived from the original on March 18, 2025.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.