AC Milan owner, Gerrry Cardinale, who is the founder of RedBird Capital Partners, has spoken to Financial Times and said these words:
"Our job as private equity investors is to grow the value of our businesses, not to influence content or editorial direction."
He continued:
"We don’t select players for the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool, the New York Yankees or AC Milan; those decisions are left to the management of these assets who have the expertise and record in these areas. We don’t tell David Ellison what movies to make or not make at Skydance; we don’t tell Ben Affleck or Matt Damon what movies to make or not make at Artists Equity; and we don’t tell [basketball player] LeBron James and [business partner] Maverick Carter what projects to take on or not take on at The SpringHill Company."
Gerry Cardinale added:
"One of the benefits of spending 20 years at Goldman Sachs is that culture plays a critical role in everything we do as a firm. I have no tolerance for political behaviour or lack of collegiality. At RedBird, we have a culture of collegiality, collaboration, and over-communication. Nobody is off on their own, but I give people an entrepreneurial experience with room to run. I expect everybody to take initiative and have a mentality of building their own business, so that ultimately the sum of the parts will be greater than the whole."
