Original title: James's media company has been refinanced with a market capitalization of $725 million
SpringHill, owned by famous NBA star LeBron James, sold a sizeable stake to investors including Red Bird, Fenway Sports, Nike Inc and Epic on Oct. 14, local time.
After the financing, the company is valued at $725 million, according to Forbes. In addition, the existing shareholder UC Investments also increased its stake. James and CEO Maverick Carter will continue to have a controlling stake after the deal is completed.
In 2020, James and Carter co-founded the media company SpringHill on the basis of the three brands they once founded, SpringHill Enterainment, The Robot company and Uninterrupted.
The company, which is mainly in the media and entertainment business, is not only responsible for James' own main publicity work, but also tested the waters in the field of film and television.
SpringHill's last film was the sequel to the Space Slam Dunk, the New Legend of Space Slam Dunk 2, which set a record for the first weekend of a North American family carnival film since the outbreak with $31.65 million, and also the highest opening weekend for a Warner Brothers film during the epidemic.
The major investors involved in this financing have good cooperation with James, and this financing will also help SpringHill explore new areas.
James has previously agreed to include his portrait in Fortnite, a game owned by Epic. After the financing is completed, James and SpringHill will bring more unique content to the game Meta Universe, and more James's skin may appear in the game in the future.
As early as March this year, James acquired a stake in Fenway Sports Group and became a partner in the group. After this financing, Fenway will explore more sports brand business with SpringHill.
Both James himself and SpringHill have a close relationship with Nike Inc. James has been the spokesman of Nike Inc since 2003, and Carter has also served in Nike Inc. In the future, the two sides will cooperate more deeply on the stories of athletes.
As James and Carter said when they founded SpringHill: "not just athletes", in addition to player status, James is also an excellent investor.
James' fitness brand, WHOOP, has been valued at $3.6 billion, and he and swimmer Michael Phelps are among the company's 100 initial investors.
In addition, James also invested in Sunburn Pizza, which now has more than 300 stores in the United States and Canada with a market capitalization of $300 billion.
Not long ago, James invested in fitness equipment company Tonal, which was founded in 2015 and is currently valued at $1.6 billion, and NBA star Curry is one of its investors.
These investments and James's endorsements constitute the most important part of James's off-site income.
According to Forbes, James has earned more than $1 billion in his 18-year NBA career, of which $600 million comes from over-the-counter income such as investments and endorsements.
At the same time, Forbes predicts that James will become a real millionaire with a net worth of $1 billion by December 2024, before his 40th birthday.
With upcoming shows and movies featuring Netflix, CBS and HBO Max, and SpringHill expects revenue to exceed $100m over the next four quarters, James appears to be one step closer to his goal of a net worth of $1 billion.