New UC Investment

LeBron James

Various sources are reporting that UC is investing in an entertainment company associated with basketball star LeBron James and which seems to have a relationship with former regent Paul Wachter. The investment seems to be allocated to the endowment rather than the pension. The UC investment is something under $100 million since the total reported among multiple investors is $100 million:

University of California Endowment Invests in Lebron James Venture

Posted on 06/27/2020, SWFI (Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute)

...Springhill Entertainment is a new media company that raised US$ 100 million from Guggenheim Partners, Regents University of California (UC California Investment Office), Elisabeth Murdoch (second daughter of Australian-born American multi-billionaire media proprietor Rupert Murdoch), and SC.Holdings. SC.Holdings is a private equity company founded by entrepreneur/investor Jason Stein and Eastbridge Group, a family holding company with $1.5 billion in assets under management...

Full story at https://www.swfinstitute.org/news/80340/university-of-california-endowment-invests-in-lebron-james-venture

Also, from Bloomberg:

LeBron James Gets $100 Million Investment to Build Media Empire: The King and his longtime business partner Maverick Carter have formed a new company with an unapologetic agenda.

...On March 11, the same day the NBA suspended its season and a little more than a week before their adopted hometown ordered residents to shelter in place, James and Carter formed the SpringHill Co. after raising $100 million. They describe it as a media company with an unapologetic agenda: a maker and distributor of all kinds of content that will give a voice to creators and consumers who’ve been pandered to, ignored, or underserved...

“This is ultimately a company that’s about point of view, the community you serve, and empowerment,” says L.A. investment banker Paul Wachter, who helped put the project together. “This is a company designed to move the culture.”... (NOTE: Wachter was a regent from 2004 to 2016 and was chair of the Board during that period.)

...Creating content that caters to the opposite of (conventional stories) is what Carter, James, and their backers want to do. UC Regents Chief Investment Officer Jagdeep Singh Bachher says: “This is not a time to slow down. This a time to double down on what they’re doing. There’s a need for leadership in the country, a need for examples that are inspiring for the country, and a need for content to mobilize the country in the right direction.”...

Full article at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-06-25/lebron-james-maverick-carter-s-springhill-to-be-a-media-empire

Carter, Wachter, Bachher