- Basketball star and entrepreneur LeBron James and his business partner Maverick Carter announced that they have launched a new media company called SpringHill Co.
Basketball star and entrepreneur LeBron James and his business partner Maverick Carter announced that they have launched a new media company called SpringHill Co. The company was officially formed in March and SpringHill has raised $100 million in funding out the gate.
The investors include Guggenheim Partners LLC, UC Investments, News Corp. heir Elisabeth Murdoch’s Sister, and SC.Holdings, an investment fund run by Jason Stein. Along with James, Carter, Murdoch, and Guggenheim’s Scott Minerd, the board members also include Serena Williams, Apollo Global Management co-founder Marc Rowan, Live Nation Entertainment Inc. CEO Michael Rapino, Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner, and investment banker Paul Wachter.
In 2014, Carter and Wachter had negotiated James’s deal with Nike. And Wachter also helped James and Carter partner with Cannondale bikes and Beats Electronics. The partnership earned James over $100 million alone after Apple acquired Beats for $3 billion according to Bloomberg’s sources.
SpringHill features the consolidation of James’ marketing agency Robot Co. with entertainment companies SpringHill Entertainment and Uninterrupted LLC, according to Bloomberg. SpringHill Entertainment is known for running TV shows like “The Wall” and the upcoming sequel to “Space Jam.”
And SpringHill already has signed TV production deals with Walt Disney Co. and Netflix for a basketball starring Adam Sandler. And Uninterrupted LLC is known for producing The Shop: Uninterrupted (an HBO talk show that features James and Carter interviewing other celebrities) and Kneading Dough (an online partnership with JPMorgan Chase to promote financial tips). During the pandemic, SpringHill Entertainment partnered with Laurene Powell Jobs’s XQ Institute for producing a virtual ceremony that James hosted called Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020. And it featured addresses by former President Obama and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
SpringHill is named after the Akron apartment complex where James and his mom moved when he was in the sixth grade. And James is serving as chairman and Carter is the CEO.
Welcome to The SpringHill Company pic.twitter.com/kBuynDss0v
— thespringhillco (@TheSpringHillCo) June 26, 2020
Our leadership team is a reflection of our entire organization. I want to thank everyone at The Springhill Company for believing in our vision! We closed this deal in March and I knew our work was going to keep getting more and more necessary. Let’s continue greatness. 🚀👑 pic.twitter.com/O3jQR47bjf
— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 25, 2020
