It’s just after sunset ahead of one of Hollywood’s biggest events—the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards—and billionaire investor Todd Boehly, the 50-year-old cofounder and CEO of $70 billion (assets) Eldridge Industries, is heading to the venue. Dressed in a black henley and blue jeans, he bypasses the red carpet and breezes past security on his way to the international ballroom of the Beverly Hilton, where the team at Dick Clark Productions awaits.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maneetahuja/2024/04/01/meet-the-billionaire-bond-investor-behind-chelsea-fc-springsteens-songbook-and-the-la-dodgers/?sh=430c6c5851c4
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FunTranscript
00:00 Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Tuesday, April 2nd.
00:05 Today on Forbes, meet the billionaire bond investor behind Chelsea FC, Springsteen's
00:11 songbook and the LA Dodgers.
00:15 It's just after sunset ahead of one of Hollywood's biggest events, the 81st annual Golden Globe
00:20 Awards and billionaire investor Todd Bolle, the 50-year-old co-founder and CEO of the
00:26 $70 billion in assets Eldridge Industries, is heading to the venue.
00:31 Dressed in a black Henley and blue jeans, he bypasses the red carpet and breezes past
00:36 security on his way to the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton, where the team at Dick
00:41 Clark Productions awaits.
00:43 Inside, 20 video cameras and an array of stage lights are strategically stationed to ensure
00:49 they can quickly zoom onto the faces of the night's A-list attendees, whose names are
00:53 plastered on large white cardboard cutouts positioned around the banquet tables.
00:58 Taylor Swift is center-right.
01:00 Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Bradley Cooper are to the left of the main stage,
01:05 while Pedro Pascal and Timothee Chalamet are seated to their right.
01:10 On stage, a non-cardboard Kate Beckinsale is wearing sparkly platform sneakers while
01:15 rehearsing her presenter lines with Don Cheadle.
01:18 Bolle seems oblivious to the bustle as the staffer goes over details of the next night's
01:22 agenda.
01:23 A shrill ring from his phone interrupts, the prominent actor-producer is fuming over his
01:28 assigned table.
01:30 With his graying blonde hair slicked to the side, Bolle pauses and looks up.
01:34 Dismissing the micro-crisis, he says, "I have teams that handle this stuff.
01:39 If anything, this is a good sign that we're on the way back."
01:43 If the billionaire bond investor turned Hollywood mogul is feeling any pressure at the moment,
01:48 it would be understandable.
01:50 In 2021, the Golden Globes were investigated over corruption and a lack of black voting
01:54 members at its owner, the non-profit Hollywood Foreign Press Association, or HFPA.
02:01 Tinseltown boycotted the awards ceremony, Tom Cruise returned his trophies and the show
02:05 spent 2022 off the air.
02:08 In January 2023, it returned to NBC for a one-year probationary run that delivered an
02:14 underwhelming 6.3 million viewers, down from 18.4 million in 2020, according to Nielsen.
02:22 During the imbroglio, Bolle's maneuvering was masterful.
02:26 With the Globes' popularity at a low and Hollywood actors and writers on strike, he went into
02:31 distressed investor mode.
02:32 In 2021, he got himself named interim CEO of the HFPA, then led a restructuring that
02:39 transferred the Globes' intellectual property to a for-profit entity.
02:43 This holding company, Eldridge Industries, already owned a piece of the show's producer,
02:48 Dick Clark Productions, later joined by Penske Media.
02:52 In June 2023, six months before the next awards ceremony, Bolle and Penske acquired the Globes
02:57 outright.
02:59 Under Jay Penske's leadership, they sold media rights to CBS and Paramount+ for six years.
03:05 Nielsen reported that the 2024 Golden Globes, which aired January 7, garnered 9.5 million
03:11 viewers, a 51% increase over last year.
03:15 The incremental growth was good enough for Bolle, whose Eldridge holdings also include
03:19 Oscar-winning film distribution and production company A24, which took home three Globes
03:24 that night for Beef, a Netflix miniseries starring Ali Wong.
03:29 Since forming Eldridge in 2015, Bolle has amassed a trove of more than 100 companies,
03:35 including many in entertainment and sports, worth $10 billion.
03:40 Among them, betting site DraftKings, Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve, Bruce Springsteen's
03:45 Song Catalog, the Beverly Hilton, Fintech unicorn Stash, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
03:52 Through a separate entity, Blueco, Bolle is part of a group that bought Chelsea FC, the
03:57 British soccer club, from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich for $3 billion in 2022.
04:04 Forbes estimates Bolle's net worth to be $6.1 billion, up $1.6 billion since 2022.
04:12 As his empire expands and becomes more studded with stars and celebrity athletes, Bolle always
04:17 keeps Topeka, Kansas at the back of his mind.
04:20 That's home base for Security Benefit Life, the $52 billion annuity specialist that provides
04:26 the cash for Eldridge's growth.
04:29 Like Warren Buffett, Bolle uses the dependable cash thrown off from the insurance operation
04:33 to buy up assets.
04:35 But unlike Buffett, who prefers mundane businesses like truck stops and ketchup, Bolle has applied
04:40 the formula to glitzier sectors.
04:43 Money can't always buy wins, as he's learning after two dismal years as the owner of Chelsea
04:47 FC, but it can buy eyeballs on a screen.
04:51 Which is mostly what matters after you've sold the meteorites, and the ultimate goal
04:55 is generating the kind of income that allows the holders of retirement annuities to sleep
04:59 soundly at night.
05:02 For full coverage, and to read about Bolle's backstory, check out Manita Hooja and Hank
05:06 Tucker's piece on Forbes.com.
05:10 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
05:12 Thanks for tuning in.
05:13 [music]