Mathew Rosengart, Britney Spears’ lawyer, asked the court for a new temporary conservator to replace James “Jamie” Spears. “My client wants, my client needs, my client deserves an orderly transition,” he said. His choice for the position: John Zabel, a certified public accountant. Hollywood Life reports that Zabel owns his own company, Media Finance Structures, and has over 35 years’ worth of experience in the financial field.
Zabel has, per his company’s website, “senior financial executive experience in both the major studio environment (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Entertainment) and the independent financing and production environment (Peter Guber’s Mandalay Entertainment).” The former Ernst & Young auditor, per LinkedIn, got his undergraduate degree at CSU Long Beach before completing the Executive Management Program at UCLA. Zabel was the former Senior Vice President of Sony Pictures Entertainment before moving to Mandalay Entertainment in a similar role.
It seems as if Rosengart wanted Spears’ estate to be in competent hands, and Zabel certainly has the experience for the job. The fabulous thing about Judge Brenda Penny’s order is that, should Britney find that Zabel is not a good match for her, she only has to put up with him until the end of the year.
