What is Michael Lange’s net worth?
Michael Lang was an American concert promoter, producer, and art director who has a net worth of $10 million. Michael Lange is best known for being one of the founders of the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in 1969. Michael and his associates expected 50,000 people to attend Woodstock. They ended up selling 186,000 tickets and eventually 400,000 people attended. Tickets sold for $8 a day. Lang was also involved in the production of the ill-fated Woodstock 94 and Woodstock 99.
previous life
Michael Scott Lang was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 11, 1944. His father installed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and his mother was a bookkeeper. Michael attended New York University and the University of Tampa. In 1966, while still living in Florida, he opened a flagship store. Through this store he became fascinated by the music business.
Miami Pop Festival
In 1968, Michael and some partners produced the successful Miami Pop Festival, which featured Steppenwolf, Frank Zappa, John Lee Hooker, and Jimi Hendrix, among others.
Woodstock
With Miami Pop success on his mind and a few dollars in his pocket, Michael moved to Woodstock, New York, which at the time was known as Bob Dylan’s part-time residence. While living in Woodstock, Michael met record executive Artie Kornfeld. With two other partners, John B. Roberts and Joel Rosenman, they founded Woodstock Ventures. John Roberts was the heir to the Polident/Poli-Grip fortune and had recently inherited a large sum of money. Roberts and Rosenman placed an ad in the New York Times describing themselves as “young men with unlimited capital” looking for investment ideas. Michael Lange and Artie Kornfield’s response was one of 5,000 responses Rosenman and Roberts received from the ad.
The group’s initial idea was to set up a recording studio in Woodstock. According to legend, the goal of the music festival was to generate enough profit to pay for the recording studio.
As it turned out, the actual town of Woodstock proved not an ideal location for a music festival that could attract tens of thousands of attendees. The partners eventually chose a farm in nearby Bethel, New York on land owned by a dairy farmer named Max Yasgur.
Woodstock events were held between August 15 and August 18 1969. Dozens of artists performed, notably Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, Crosby, Steele, Nash & Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell… And more.
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Woodstock earnings
As mentioned earlier, the partners were hoping 50,000 people would buy tickets. In the end, 180,000 tickets were sold, but 400,000 people appeared. The concert generated about $1.8 million in portal receipts
Woodstock is said to have cost between $2.4 million and $3.1 million to produce. That’s the same as about $20-25 million in today’s dollars. After the party, John Roberts found himself owed $1 million. To get out of debt, he sold the film and soundtrack rights to Warner Bros. But even with these sales, Roberts remained in debt to Woodstock until at least 1980.
After Woodstock
Michael and Artie Kornfeld left the Woodstock Ventures partnership immediately after the festival ended. Years later, he rejoined as a minority partner. Woodstock Ventures continues to own the intellectual property rights to the festival to this day. One of the partnership’s most important assets is its iconic image of the dove on the guitar. That image has been licensed countless times over the decades.
In the years following Woodstock, Michael formed a record company called Just Sunshine and became a music director. He soon found himself managing Joe Cocker who became world famous thanks to his performance in Woodstock.
In 2009, Michael co-authored the New York Times bestselling book The Road to Woodstock.
Michael Lang Organization
Michael was the founder of the Michael Lang Organization (MLO), which produced films, live events, and directed artists. MLO has produced dozens of notable events over the years including the Lincoln Center 50th Anniversary event, while also producing concerts for an endless array of famous artists.
In 1996, Michael was a co-producer of Wes Anderson’s debut film “Bottle Rocket”.
Woodstock 94 and 99
Michael Lange produced both Woodstock 94 and 99. Woodstock 94 was widely considered a huge success except in bad weather. The rain caused the event to be completely submerged in mud. But other than that, concertgoers and performers had a positive experience.
When the Woodstock 99 was designed, Michael and his fellow producers chose a closed military base in the city of Rome, New York. They hoped that the concrete base and runway facilities would allow them to avoid many of the problems experienced at Woodstock 94. Unfortunately, Woodstock 99 turned out to be somewhat of a disaster. The hot weather mixed with the concrete created a hot weekend. Festival attendees later claimed that there was an acute shortage of facilities, clean drinking water, affordable food, and security. On the last day of the event, the unruly mobs – exhausted and on the third day drinking and using drugs in boiling temperatures, were unruly. The crowd burned the facility to the ground. The state police were called to settle the riots. In the aftermath, the party attendees complained of widespread sexual assault while at the party.
personal life
In 1972, Michael married Ann Lang, who was one of the backup vocalists for Joe Cocker. They separated in 1982. Then he married a woman named Tamara Bajic. He had four children.
Michael Lang died on January 8, 2022 at the age of 77 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Real estate
At the time of his death, Michael Lang lived on a 17-acre estate in the town of Mount Trimper, New York, just 20 minutes from Woodstock, New York and about an hour and a half from Bethel, where the original festival was held. The property, known as Happy Brooks, includes a 5,000-square-foot main house, several guesthouses, cottages, a greenhouse, koi pond, pond, orchard, treehouse, and more. Michael listed the property for sale in June 2020 or $2.45 million, but eventually removed the listing.
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