Winston Gerschtanowitz feared an outburst of anger from John de Mol when he told him to resign from Talpa in 2016. “I actually had already set up my things downstairs.”
After twelve years of loyal service, Winston Gerschtanowitz decided in 2016 to quit as commercial director of Talpa Media, the TV company that John de Mol had sold to the British ITV just a year before. The presenter caused quite a bit of surprise, but he himself completely denied that there was an argument at the root.
Uber level
Winston now looks back on it as the ‘most difficult moment’ of his business life. “I think that was once at a quarter to twelve in the evening after a meeting I had with John de Mol and I told John that I was going to start my own business,” he says in the podcast Go-getters. “I actually really enjoyed working with John.”
“All the things we did, the growth of Talpa, the sale to ITV and the new energy that that brought. I have always found it fantastic until the last minute to play the über level of the Champions League in the media landscape with the man who has of course more than earned his spurs.”
Not easy
Winston has been thinking a lot about that departure. “On the one hand I was like: this is the very best place you can have and the other side, who I am, said: ‘Win, you shouldn’t spend a few years of your life somewhere just for an earn-out sit, but you just have to listen to your heart and you have to pack your boxes and run.’”
The sale of Talpa Media to ITV was not only lucrative for John, but also for Winston as a board member, but he would have had to stay on board longer. However, he chose to leave. “That is not an easy decision. Not only emotionally, but it was also a financial decision.”
Fantastic
How did John react? “Yes, he actually thought it was fantastic, because I think because of the sales during the Endemol days, John was vigilant that people left the company too quickly after it had been sold. We had an earn-out structure where you really had to stay for a long time to fully enjoy it, so to speak.”
“I don’t think he really had the idea that someone would do this, but he also knew that I really chose for myself and he actually liked that, because that is what he also likes: really going for what you believe in. That is what he is also successful at. He also immediately said: ‘If anyone has to do it, it’s you.’”
Tantrum
It was a relief for Winston, as he was expecting a tantrum. “It actually turned out to be a very nice conversation, but I must be honest: it was an exciting conversation, because I had actually set up my things downstairs.”
“I thought: this could also turn out completely differently, like: ‘I want you to leave my building now and never come here again.’ And it didn’t go that way at all.”