Who managed R.E.M. until the band parted ways with him in 1996?

The person who managed R.E.M. until the band parted ways with him in 1996 was Jefferson Holt.

Holt became closely associated with R.E.M. during the band’s formative years and managed the group from 1981 to 1996. His tenure covered the transition from Athens club favorites to major-label alternative-rock stars.

R.E.M. parted ways with Holt in 1996. Contemporary accounts linked the split to sexual-harassment allegations involving a member of the band’s Athens office, though the band’s history is often summarized more cautiously as a management change.

After Holt’s departure, R.E.M.’s attorney Bertis Downs assumed managerial duties. This creates the most common quiz confusion: Downs was the successor, not the manager who served through the 1996 split. Holt’s association with the band also spans the era of Murmur, Out of Time, Automatic for the People, Monster, and New Adventures in Hi-Fi.