Wayne S. Kabak is CEO and owner of WSK Management, LLC, a literary and talent management firm. As a manager of television and radio personalities, authors, broadcast journalists and other notable public figures, his clients include celebrated newswoman Jane Pauley; former Secretaries of Defense Robert Gates and Ash Carter; Dr. Condoleezza Rice; composer, musician and educator Wynton Marsalis; Lou Dobbs; Director of the National Economic Council (and former CNBC broadcaster) Larry Kudlow; acclaimed biographer Kitty Kelley; Fox Business Channel’s Charlie Gasparino; NPR’s Scott Simon; noted investor and world traveler Jim Rogers; and renown businessman Sam Zell.
He has also negotiated significant deals for Maria Bartiromo, advertising entrepreneur Donny Deutsch, Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer and former Senator Byron Dorgan.
Before starting his own business in 2009, he was Co-Chief Operating Officer, NY, of the William Morris Agency. He joined William Morris in 1997 following 17 years as a senior executive, General Counsel and agent at International Creative Management, Inc. After graduating from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Columbia University School of Law (where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar), he spent three years working as an associate in the entertainment department at the New York-based law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Mr. Kabak is also a graduate of Tufts University, where he majored in English and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude.
He is on the Boards of Ensemble Studio Theatre (a non-profit theatre committed to the discovery of new voices) and Disability Pride NYC (a non-profit group that fosters increased awareness of people with disabilities). He was previously a member of the Advisory Board of the Communications and Media Studies Program at Tufts University. Prior Board memberships have included New York Theatre Workshop (the non-profit theatre which developed and presented the original production of the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning musical RENT); Film Forum (New York City’s well-regarded non-profit showcase for independent, foreign and repertory cinema); and Elevator Repair Service (the non-profit theatre ensemble that created the worldwide success “Gatz”).
His professional journalism experience has included contributions to numerous periodicals (including the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s FILM COMMENT, ROLLING STONE, THE VILLAGE VOICE and THE BOSTON PHOENIX).