Donald Trump gives Miss USA Olivia Culpo a kiss after she was crowned Miss Universe 2012.Photo: EPA
Donald Trump announced in a tweet on Friday that he had purchased the 51 percent of the Miss Universe Organization he didn’t already own.
Terms were not disclosed.
The move intrigued observers of the pageantry business, not because Trump bought full control of the company that owns the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe pageants, but because of the “stay tuned!” message at the end of the tweet.
Trump, sources said, is deep into talks about flipping the organization to global talent agency WME/IMG.
The Post’s Page Six, citing sources, reported last month that the two parties were in talks about the Hollywood agency buying the pageants.
The Miss Universe Organization would be a good fit for WME/IMG, sources said, because participants in the pageants could later tap into WME/IMG’s commercial, modeling, movies and television divisions.
The pageants themselves could use an overhaul — from sexist to sexed up, à la Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, one source said.
And what better team to oversee the makeover than IMG Fashion, which calls itself a “producer, marketer and partner to the international fashion community.”
A WME/IMG spokesman on Friday declined comment.
The Post first reported that Trump was shopping his stake in July — a month after NBC and Univision reneged on commitments to air Miss USA in retaliation for Trump’s controversial comments about Mexican immigrants.
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