Wassim Joseph Slaiby (; born November 16, 1979), also known as Sal (stylized as SAL), is a Canadian record executive, talent manager, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He co-founded the record label XO with Canadian singer

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

in 2011, for whom he has also was manager. Furthermore, Slaiby is the founder and CEO of Universal Arabic Music, which he launched in 2021 in partnership with

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

, a division of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. Slaiby first co-founded CP Music Group in 2002, and later joined the Maverick management consortium in 2016. That same year, he founded the entertainment agency SALXCO, through which he has managed artists including

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCl ...

Bebe Rexha Bleta "Bebe" Rexha ( , ; born August 30, 1989) is an American singer and songwriter. She signed with Warner Records in 2013, and was credited with co-writing releases of other artists—such as Eminem's Grammy Award-winning single " The Monster" ...

, and

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

, and producers and songwriters including Jason "DaHeala" Quenneville, DannyBoyStyles, and

Metro Boomin Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), known professionally as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer and music executive. Widely acclaimed for his dark and cinematic production style, he is regarded as one of the most influential p ...

. In January 2024, Bloomberg reported that SALXCO did not list Sean “Diddy” Combs as a client on its website.

Early life

Wassim Joseph Slaiby was born in Ghazir,

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

on November 16, 1979. His father passed away when he was ten years old. He escaped the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

conflict and immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

without family when he was fifteen years old. He initially lived in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

before moving to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

in his late teens.

Career

2002–2011: CP Music Group

Slaiby began his music industry career after meeting and seeing a young fellow immigrant rapper Belly freestyle rapping on an Ottawa street in 2002. Slaiby started managing Belly, with whom he co-founded Capital Prophets Records, which would go on to be known as the CP Music Group. Slaiby also hired Amir "Cash" Esmailian, who was a close friend of Belly, as the head of street promotion for the label. Rapper Belly and singer

Massari Sari Abboud (; born December 10, 1980), better known by his stage name Massari ( ), is a Lebanese-Canadian singer and songwriter. He began his career in the early 2000s and went on to release two contemporary R&B, R&B albums, ''Massari (album), Ma ...

were the first artists signed to the new record label by Slaiby. Massari's 2005 self-titled album was certified Gold in Canada and garnered a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

nomination. Belly's 2007 album, '' The Revolution'', won the

Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year The Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year was introduced in 1991, and awarded for the best rap album in Canada. It was formerly known as Best Rap Recording from 1993 to 2002. Before 1999, because of the relatively limited commercial visibility o ...

. Within six years, CP Music Group had become the dominant independent hip-hop and R&B label in Canada.

2011–present: XO Records, SALXCO and Universal Arabic Music

In 2011, Slaiby met and began co-managing the singer

with Esmailian, and co-founded XO Records with the artist and his creative director La Mar Taylor. Through the label, the Weeknd released his first three mixtapes; '' House of Balloons'', ''

Thursday Thursday is the day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week. Name Th ...

'', and ''

Echoes of Silence ''Echoes of Silence'' is the third mixtape by the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd, released on December 21, 2011, by XO. Like his debut mixtape '' House of Balloons'' and his second mixtape ''Thursday'', the Weeknd collaborated with musi ...

'', which were produced in-house by

Illangelo Carlo Montagnese (born July 29, 1987), known professionally as Illangelo, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter and mixing engineer who came to attention as long-time collaborator of The Weeknd. Having executive produced his 2011 mixtapes c ...

. In 2012, XO Records was assumed by

as a subsidiary label following the Weeknd signing with

. In 2013, Slaiby added DaHeala, DannyBoyStyles, Harry Fraud and Belly as in-house producers and songwriters. Slaiby became the label's CEO in 2015. In 2011, Slaiby founded his own artist and talent management company SALXCO, and later sold the CP Music Group to

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational Entertainment industry, entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of Live Nation (events promoter), Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It ...

. In May 2016, he partnered with Guy Oseary's Maverick consortium. Through SALXCO, Slaiby manages the artists signed to XO Records, including singer

Black Atlass Alexander Fleming (born March 19, 1994), professionally known as Black Atlass, is a Canadian singer, songwriter and model. His song, Paris, debuted in a Louis Vuitton campaign, and was also featured in a Saint Laurent fragrance ad. He was previou ...

and rapper Nav, and other artists and producers such as

, London On Da Track, Ali Gatie, Harry Fraud,

and

Swedish House Mafia Swedish House Mafia (SHM) are a Swedish house music, house Supergroup (music), supergroup consisting of Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. The group officially formed in late 2008, were placed at number ten on the ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 D ...

. On April 6, 2021, Universal Music Group and Republic Records announced the launch of the new record label Universal Arabic Music, with Slaiby as its founder and CEO.

Other ventures

In December 2017, Slaiby joined the Lebanon-based music streaming service, Anghami, as the head of international partnerships. In 2018, he joined the board of HXOUSE, an incubator founded by La Mar Taylor, Belly and the Weeknd consisting of a 30,000-square-foot space facility located near Toronto's waterfront that provides studio rooms and offers equipment needed for recording, designing, and producing at a low cost for young artists. In the same year, he helped bring

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

to the Cedars International Festival in Lebanon. In 2019, Slaiby became an investor of the music-focused social video platform Triller. In April 2019, he was invited as a guest speaker to the Brilliant Minds, an annual conference created by

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

founder

Daniel Ek Daniel Georg Ek (; born 21 February 1983) is a Swedish businessman and technologist. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of music streaming service Spotify. As of May 2025, his net worth was estimated at $9.2 billion by ''For ...

, where he was among a panel of speakers that included former US President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, businessman Even Spiegel, and scientist

Hartmut Neven Hartmut Neven (born 1964) is a German American scientist working in quantum computing, computer vision, robotics and computational neuroscience. He is best known for his work in face and object recognition and his contributions to quantum machin ...

Philanthropy

In 2017, Slaiby and French Montana helped build the Suubi Hospital in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

in conjunction with Global Citizen and Mama Hope. In February 2018, he joined the advisory board of the international organization Global Citizen. In November 2018, he canceled his annual birthday party as a result of the deadly wildfires in California and urged his followers in an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post to donate to the

Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides firefighting services and technical rescue services, hazardous materials services, and emergency medical services to the residents of the city of Los Angeles, California, United ...

and the California Community Foundation's Wildfire Relief Fund. In response to the

2020 Beirut explosion On 4 August 2020, a major explosion occurred in Beirut, Lebanon, triggered by the ignition of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. The chemical, confiscated in 2014 from the cargo ship and stored at the Port of Beirut without adequate safety me ...

, Slaiby, alongside his wife Rima Fakih, started a campaign called ''#GlobalAidForLebanon'', in collaboration with Global Citizen and the United Nations World Food Programme. The fundraiser has raised over 2 million dollars to provide assistance to those affected.

Personal life

On May 15, 2016, Slaiby married Lebanese-American model, philanthropist and Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih in a ceremony at The Patriarchal Edifice in Bkerké, Lebanon. The wedding was attended by numerous celebrities, including The Weeknd, French Montana, Haifa Wehbe, and

Wael Kfoury Michel Émile Kfoury (; born 14 September 1974), known by his stage name Wael Kfoury (), is a Lebanese singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. Career Wael studied solfège at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. Commercial deals Kfoury signed ...

and was presided over by

Maronite Patriarch This is a list of the Maronite patriarchs of Antioch and all the East, the primate of the Maronite Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Starting with Paul Peter Massad in 1854, after becoming patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Patriarcha ...

Bechara Boutros al-Rahi Bechara Boutros Al-Ra'i (or Raï; ; ; ) (born 25 February 1940) is the 77th Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Maronite Church, a position he has held since 15 March 2011, succeeding Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. Rahi was mad ...

. The couple have four children together; Rima, Joseph, Amira, and Jacob. They reside in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Slaiby is a Maronite Christian and, in 2017, was invited to visit the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

who blessed his newborn daughter.

Honors and recognition

* 2015 – 40 under 40's Top Young Power Players * 2017 – ''Billboard'' Power 100 (no.52) * 2018 – ''Billboard'' Power 100 (no.53) *2020 – ''Variety'''s Manager of the Year *2021 – ''Billboard'' International Power Player

References

External links

SALXCO official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaiby, Wassim Sal 1979 births Living people Lebanese emigrants to Canada Canadian Maronites XO (record label) Canadian music industry executives Canadian music managers Canadian businesspeople Canadian philanthropists