According to this article, the contract with Thorne was to end in 2012 so this is 7 years early! :

The Olsens signed a 10-year contract of partnership at age 16 (2002) with Thorne, who became chief executive of Dualstar. Both have "substantial" ownership of the company, although Thorne declined to elaborate on percentages.

That's pretty shocking but the Olsens have gone through some shocking things recently so I guess I shouldn't be shocked. My guess is Mary-Kate and Ashley were feeling that Thorne was holding them back or was out of touch with current trends and was giving them bad advice - especially with respect to their movie careers (hint: New York Minute). So they must of felt they needed to take more control so they could go in directions that Thorne didn't agree with. This could be a very good thing or bad depending on how well the girls are at managing the company. My guess is they will do much better without Thorne who seemed much better at selling to kids and absolutely dismal at expanding their audience to adults (hint: New York Minute). I expect some amazing and probably even more shocking things to come from the new Mary-Kate and Ashley empire juggernaut soon.

Reuters.ca

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Teen moguls Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have taken full control of their billion-dollar media empire a few years ahead of schedule by buying out the attorney who helped turn them into global icons, the parties said on Thursday.

Robert Thorne said the 18-year-old twins approached him to buy his "very substantial minority stake" in their privately held vehicle Dualstar LLC, where he had risen to CEO during a lucrative 15-year relationship.

"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."

Thorne, 50, declined to reveal the size of his stake or how much he was paid. He will serve as a consultant to the Olsens for several months before turning his attention to consulting and management in fashion and entertainment.

Dualstar, which employs about 40 people in Los Angeles, with additional staffers in New York and London, targets young girls with home videos, CDs, books, apparel, fragrances and Barbie dolls all bearing the twins' wholesome image. Fortune magazine last year estimated they were worth $137 million each.

After finding fame as toddlers on the TV series "Full House," the Olsens have rarely misstepped, with the exception of last year's box office bomb "New York Minute" and Mary-Kate's admission of an eating disorder. They are both students at New York University.

In a statement, Ashley Olsen said: "I am truly excited to continue the Dualstar legacy we built with Robert and work hand-in-hand with Mary-Kate to push the company to even higher heights."

Mary-Kate added: "We are very thankful that we are able to enjoy our college experience, run a business, and live our lives."

While their comments seemed detached, Thorne said the twins are "very focused and businesslike and almost minimal in such statements they make. Especially with a lot of the baloney that's been published about them for so long, they're just a little reticent to be emotional or open."

6 Comments

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• 150million lol, thats crazy no one needs to be that rich honestly. You miss out on real kid life but oh well. Life goes on as they say anyways take care bye.

  Anonymous — September 2, 2005 @ 11:12 am

• MARYKATE AND ASHLEY OLSEN HAVE TAKEN FULL CONTROL OF DUALSTAR MARYKATE AND ASHLEY OLSEN HAVE TAKEN CONTROL OF DUALSTAR IT WILL GET BIGGER AND BETTER MARYKATE AND ASHLEY OLSEN I HOPE YOUR COMPANY GETS BIGGER AND BIGGER.

  MIKE — August 14, 2005 @ 10:59 pm

• Hallo Mary-kate and Ashley Olsen:!:
  I´m love yours movies (getting there + new yotk minute)
  mail: christina@aage.dk please mail me
  form christina:razz:

  christina — June 17, 2005 @ 10:07 pm

• MARYKATE AND ASHLEY OLSEN HAVE TAKEN FULL CONTROL OF THIER COMPANY DUALSTAR MARYKATE AND ASHLEY OLSEN ARE VERY SMART GIRLS THEY WILL CONTINUE DOING BETTER EVEN GREAT HOPE YOUR COMPANY DUALSTAR GETS BIGGER AND BIGGER AND YOU GIRLS GET RICHER AND RICHER.

  MIKE — May 27, 2005 @ 8:43 pm

• Reprinted with permission from a.r.nash:

  “And about R. Thorne, he said in an interview when they were about 17, that they couldn’t “fire” him for something like a year. Which leads me to assume that the 10 year contract he had was from their 8th birthday to their 18th birthday. They couldn’t sign him to a 10 year contract when they were 16 because they were minors, and their dad/mom wouldn’t encourage or compell them to sign such a long term contract at that age. Now, with their entertainment careers either over or in suspension, Dualstar doesn’t need his expensive management anymore because the others in their lives can handle it without him at this point.”

  Michael Shipley — January 29, 2005 @ 2:24 pm

• I LIKE TO KNOW THEY HAVE TAKEN FULL CONTROL OF THEIR COMPANY “DUALSTAR”.SURELY THEY WILL CONTINUE DOING WELL(OR BETTER),BECAUSE THEY ARE VERY GOOD GIRLS.

  J — January 28, 2005 @ 7:20 pm

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