LeBron James may have championship aspirations for his Los Angeles Lakers this NBA season, but the 36-year-old superstar has already landed a bigger win.
The SpringHill Company, James’ media and entertainment company, announced today that it is selling a significant minority stake to a group of investors that includes RedBird Capital Partners, Fenway Sports Group, Nike and Epic Games at a valuation of about $725 million. UC Investments, an existing shareholder, will increase its stake as well. James, who serves as chairman of SpringHill, and Maverick Carter, his business partner and CEO of the company, will retain a controlling interest following the deal.
“We started this company with the tagline ‘More Than an Athlete,’ which still defines everything we do to this very day,” Carter said in a statement.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar is one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, having landed a spot on the annual Forbes ranking every year since 2004. James has collected pretax earnings of more than $1 billion across his career, according to Forbes estimates. Still, the deal leaves James short of achieving billionaire status. Prior to the SpringHill sale, Forbes estimated James’ net worth to be roughly $850 million, valuing his stake—which is believed not to exceed 50%—at roughly $300 million. Previous reports predicted the SpringHill sale would value the company between $650 million and $750 million. James is on track to become only the second billionaire to emerge from pro basketball, chasing Michael Jordan’s post-playing-career achievement.
James and Carter, who are childhood friends, cofounded SpringHill last year, consolidating their three prior brands: production company SpringHill Entertainment, marketing agency The Robot Company and athlete-driven media platform Uninterrupted. Named for the Akron, Ohio, apartment complex where James grew up, the company has been the subject of sale rumors since July. In addition to producing the new Space Jam movie, SpringHill has churned out documentaries, such as HBO’s What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali, and unscripted series like the NBC competition show The Wall and HBO talk show The Shop. The Robot Company’s clients include Sprite, JP Morgan and Beats By Dre. According to people familiar with the agreement, SpringHill is on track to post more than $100 million in revenue over the next 12 months.
All of the investors in the deal already have existing ties to James. Nike has endorsed him since he turned pro in 2003 and signed him to a lifetime contract at the end of 2015. The brand pays him an estimated $32 million annually. This year, James also agreed to lend his likeness to Epic Games’ Fortnite video game for an undisclosed amount.
James and Gerry Cardinale, a former Goldman Sachs partner who founded RedBird Capital in 2014 and manages more than $5 billion in assets, are both investors in Fenway Sports Group. In March, RedBird bought a 10% stake in FSG, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, the New England Revolution and New England Sports Network, among other assets. James picked up 2% of Liverpool in 2011 and exchanged his stake to grab a reported 1% investment in FSG earlier this year.
