Lebron James And Maverick Carter’s Media Company Raise $100 Million Of Investment At $750M Valuation. Photo: LeBron James speaks at the opening ceremony for the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio. Phil Long/AP
NBA star LeBron James is making GOAT moves not only on the basketball court but on Wall Street as well with the announcement that his media company just secured $100 million in investment, bringing its valuation to $750 million.
James launched his entertainment firm, SpringHill Co., with longtime business partner Maverick Carter in 2020, and they have secured a private equity-led investment to further the company’s growth in film, TV, video games, consumer products, and live events.
SpringHill has made a deal for a group led by New York-based RedBird Capital Partners to acquire a significant minority stake in the company, The Los Angeles Times reported. Boston Red Sox owner Fenway Sports Group, Nike, and Fortnite video game maker Epic Games are among the participants in the deal. James and Carter will stay on as chairman and CEO, respectively, and retain a controlling interest.
Twitter was full of excitement over the deal announcement.
“Bron is setting himself up for a ownership stake in the NBA after retirement,” tweeted Je-Rome @RomeBeKnowing.
Joshe@Jahhshoewuhh praised James’ business acumen, “His business skills are almost equal to his basketball skills”.
Carter told the Los Angeles Times he expects to surpass $100 million in revenue during the next 12 months. That would be a 67 percent increase over the last 12 months, when SpringHill generated about $60 million in sales.
Last year, Carter and James raised $100 million for SpringHill from investors including Sister, the production company of Elisabeth Murdoch (daughter of media billionaire Rupert Murdoch), Stacey Snider, and Jane Featherstone, and Guggenheim Partners.
SpringHill, the company named for the apartment complex where James lived as a teenager in his native Akron, Ohio, has already produced several TV shows, podcasts, and movies, including this year’s “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” starring James, Bloomberg reported.
It also produced HBO’s “The Shop: Uninterrupted,” a talk show featuring James in a barbershop, and the Netflix documentary about tennis star Naomi Osaka.
SpringHill Company partnered with CNN Films in 2020 to produce a documentary entitled “Dreamland: The Rise and Fall of Black Wall Street.” Released earlier this year, it explored the destruction of the prominent Black Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921.
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