Blackhill Enterprises: The 1966 Agreement That Gave Pink Floyd and Their Managers Equal Ownership

Andrew King and Peter Jenner met Pink Floyd while the band was still finding its footing at the London Free School’s gigs in early 1966. Jenner, a left-leaning economics lecturer, and King, a former estate agent, didn’t just become managers—they decided to build a company where the band owned as much as they did. That company was Blackhill Enterprises, formed in June 1966 as a six-way equal partnership: Jenner, King, and the four original Floyd members (Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason).

What made Blackhill unusual was the 50/50 split between managers and musicians. Most managers of the era took a straight commission and kept the band in the dark about finances. King and Jenner instead set up a structure where all five (later six) partners shared profits equally after expenses. This meant Floyd had a direct stake in every decision—tour routing, studio time, even which singles to push. The arrangement worked beautifully for two years, funding the first singles and The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

The partnership unraveled after Syd Barrett’s mental health decline forced him out. Blackhill’s structure couldn’t survive a member leaving on bad terms—Syd still owned his share. By early 1968, the remaining Floyd members decided to part ways with King and Jenner, forming their own management company. Blackhill continued for a while with new acts like The Edgar Broughton Band, but the original experiment in artist-manager equality had already proven that a band could hold its