Todd Boehly is the co-founder and CEO of Eldridge Industries, an $80 billion holdings company with stakes in famous sports and entertainment names such as the Golden Globes, A24, Chelsea FC, LA Dodgers, and LA Lakers.
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00:00I love competition. I think competition is really what makes for excitement, and it really pushes the world along.
00:09Todd Bowley has stakes in some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment.
00:13They include the Chelsea Football Club, LA Dodgers, LA Lakers, and the Golden Globes.
00:20The American billionaire co-founded Eldridge Industries in 2015.
00:25Besides sports and entertainment, its diverse portfolio includes insurance, technology, real estate, and asset management.
00:33I'm Sumiko Tan from The Straits Times, and we're meeting at Kerry Hill Architects in Tanjong Parka.
00:40Kerry Hill is designing a development for him in Beverly Hills.
00:44Over lunch from Coriander Leaf, Mr. Bowley reflects on his early years' investment philosophy and philanthropy.
00:54Mr. Bowley, could you share, you know, what Eldridge is doing in Asia?
01:07Right now, Eldridge is establishing a couple offices here.
01:12So we have an office in Singapore.
01:14So we're really exploring the market opportunity and thinking about how we want to be allocating our time and our resources
01:21and putting together our game plan.
01:23What's your game plan?
01:24We're establishing two businesses here.
01:26We have our Eldridge Capital Management business, which will be growing our fund business here.
01:33And we also have our partnership with Nexus, which is exporting live entertainment, intellectual property,
01:41location-based entertainment, ideas from America and Europe into Asia.
01:47We are at Kerry Hill, the architects, and you are building a development in Beverly Hills?
01:54Correct.
01:55One Beverly Hills is our big project in partnership with Amon, and we're in the process of building, you know,
02:021.4 million square feet, two residential towers, 28 stories and 32 stories, and a new Amon hotel, as well as an Amon club.
02:12Your investment in Chelsea, could you explain how you got into, you know, the EPL?
02:16So we first started looking at the EPL in 2014, and then we looked at Chelsea in 2018.
02:24And, you know, was well-positioned because our background in sports, we had the opportunity to invest in it when it became available.
02:32Do you have a personal interest in football?
02:35I love football, and I love all sports, you know, and I love competition.
02:40I think competition is really what makes for excitement, and it really pushes the world along.
02:46Now, if you look at things that become competitive, they always end up being better, right?
02:52Competition always gets the best out of, you know, businesses.
02:55It gets the best out of sport.
02:57It gets the best out of people.
02:58One silly example is, for years, you know, skis were very flat and very straight, and there was no evolution in the ski.
03:06And then all of a sudden, the snowboard came around, and the snowboard really woke up the ski and said, you know, what are you doing?
03:13You know, and all of a sudden, all these new skis started coming out that were so much better for performance, you know, all because the snowboard showed up.
03:22So, to me, competition really pushes evolution and builds, you know, better and better product and better and better experiences.
03:31You have investments in, like, basketball and baseball and football.
03:35How different are the fans?
03:37The fans are demanding.
03:39I think growing the game and growing it internationally and continuing to add to the fan base, and, of course, you're there in service of the fan.
03:47Your job is to deliver for the fan.
03:50You know, we're excited about being the position that we're in with the Dodgers, and, you know, and ultimately, we want all our teams to be, you know, that successful.
03:58The real way that you make this work is you find a superstar, you know, from one of those markets,
04:05and then you can really build the fandom in that marketplace.
04:09How do you choose which sports team to invest in?
04:13We've always been very focused on kind of the team, the history of the team, the location of the team.
04:20You know, and personally, one of the things that we've been drawn to is really big cities.
04:25And big cities, we think, are more able to support competitive teams.
04:32So, what we've always been drawn to is big markets and big cities with big brands.
04:38You also have investments, of course, in Showbiz.
04:41Yeah.
04:41Right?
04:41Which is, like, your proudest acquisition?
04:43One of the things that's been very successful is A24, which is a film and TV production company that, you know, I was there the day it started.
04:53So, Daniel Katz, Mike DeMasso, and I sat down and penciled out kind of what A24 could be.
05:00And then Daniel and his team that he built really led the development of A24.
05:06So, that's been, you know, a great success.
05:09Being there from the very early days, you know, really is satisfying because it's really hard to grow a brand from scratch.
05:17A24 in America, when you talk about it, it stands for something.
05:21It stands for excellence.
05:23It stands for, you know, kind of creativity.
05:25It stands for independence.
05:27It stands for taste.
05:29Right?
05:29So, all these things are hard to figure out how to get a brand to have this type of meaning,
05:34especially a brand that, you know, is really barely 10 years old.
05:38Do you ever get tired because you have so many businesses?
05:42Sure.
05:43There's days where I'm more tired than not.
05:45But, you know, it's really intellectually stimulating to be able to build so many businesses with so many great leaders.
05:52Right.
05:52Is there a common thread in all you do?
05:54I think the simple answer is, you know, we look for what people want and what people need.
05:59And, you know, I think insurance and real estate is obviously what people need and sports and media and entertainment are what people want.
06:08The further extension of that is great management teams.
06:12We have a philosophy of when we see something that's working, we want to feed the stars.
06:16So, when we find one that's really working, then our goal is to really lean in and help it grow.
06:23You know, it's hard to not have energy when you see, you know, great opportunity.
06:27Can we talk a little bit about your philanthropy?
06:30My oldest son is epileptic and he had seizures and he's had brain surgery.
06:35There's been no more seizures.
06:37But epilepsy, therefore, became, you know, a big focal point for me.
06:42We're also very involved in the prostate cancer and all things related to prostate cancer.
06:50And then I'm very involved in the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream.
06:55It was going to be a great testament to, you know, the great elements of America.
07:03You know, I think it's a dream well beyond America.
07:05I'm proud to be a founder of that.
07:07What do you want your legacy to be?
07:10Most importantly, I want to be a great dad to my three kids, you know, because obviously, you know,
07:15they're the extension of me and my wife.
07:19And ultimately, that's really what we'll leave behind on this earth.
07:25And so if I can give them kind of the energy and the ability to, you know, continue to grow and to have great integrity and to continue to develop in, you know, direction that they want, that to me is probably my number one goal.
07:40Thank you very much for having lunch.
07:42Thank you very much.
07:43Could you recommend, like, some places, you know, off the beaten tourist track?
07:48Definitely Miyoko at Madarao, where you have beautiful mountain, beautiful lake.
07:54Thank you very much.