American investment firm with $12bn in assets under management, founded in 2014 by Gerry Cardinale, a former Goldman Sachs banker. Despite its modest size, RedBird has become increasingly influential in media and sport, which together account for three-quarters of its investments.
RedBird distinguishes itself from conventional private equity in three ways. First, it draws on a network of wealthy families who treat sports franchises and entertainment brands as assets to generate financial returns rather than as trophies. Second, it spots intellectual property that can be monetised. Third, it assembles bespoke deals suited to its investor base, making relatively small investments upfront and feeding businesses as they grow, operating alongside entrepreneurs and aiming to hold investments for a long time. Since its inception it has returned double investors' money, according to a Harvard Business School case study published in February 2026—about par for the industry.
RedBird imi, a joint venture with Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family, has backed makers of "The Morning Show" and All3Media, Britain's biggest independent media-production company. In 2022 Matt Damon and Ben Affleck teamed up with RedBird to raise $100m to create Artists Equity, a production firm that gives actors a bigger share of streaming profits; it has since signed deals with Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures.
In the summer of 2024 RedBird put up $2bn to help David Ellison's Skydance merge with Paramount. It is part of the consortium backing Paramount's $108bn hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery, alongside the Ellison family, Apollo and Gulf sovereign-wealth funds. RedBird imi launched a doomed £500m ($660m) bid to buy the Telegraph Media Group, which collapsed after regulators balked at foreign ownership.
RedBird acquired AC Milan for $1.2bn in 2022, burnished the Italian football club's branding and expanded its merchandising, helping it turn a profit for the first time in nearly two decades. It also holds stakes in Fenway Sports Group, owner of Liverpool FC and the Boston Red Sox. Sports revenues are growing at over 8% a year, according to Morgan Stanley.
RedBird also has a financial-services arm that rolls up and builds insurance and wealth-management firms, selling out within five years—a "yield play" that provides predictable returns.
Many people feel that they deserve some kind of recognition for all the bad things they haven't done.