But seriously. Show me the money... Endeavor (aka William Morris Endeavor) has “represented the world’s greatest talent since 1898” (picture thousands of Jerry Maguires). Now the talent agency that entertained itself with $3.6B in revenues last year has filed to IPO.
Fun SnackFact: CEO Ari Emanuel is the brother of former Chicago mayor Rahm — And the inspiration for Ari Gold from HBO's show "Entourage".
Content is king... and Endeavor wants to Game of Thrones the whole thing. Ari made it clear in the IPO paperwork: “Wherever you are in the world and whatever way you define content, Endeavor is likely playing a role.” Here's how Endeavor's jumped beyond just repping A-listers:
- It acquired Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for $4B in 2016.
- Also bought Professional Bull Riding, Miss Universe, the Frieze Art Fair, and a marketing agency. Plus, it's got a WWE streaming partnership.
- Endeavor boasts that its talent now infiltrates 300 TV shows, 60% of musical festival headliners, and 7 of the 10 highest-paid models on Earth.
This looks like a media company to us... If you think it's strange for a "professional services" company to IPO, you're right. Uncommon. But as Americans now spend half their day interacting with media, Endeavor's snuck itself into the scene — From cord-cutting to streaming, it's become the enabler of content critical to media.