Lebron James and his childhood friend and business partner, Maverick Carter, have raised $100 million dollars to build a media empire.
The media company will serve as “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,” as the NBA icon told Bloomberg Businessweek.
The company, entitled SpringHill, is named for the Akron apartment complex where James and his mother relocated when the basketball star was in the sixth grade.
SpringHill Entertainment will produce The Wall, a game show on NBC as well as the movie Space Jam: A New Legacy, which James stars in. Space Jam is slated to be released next year.
James and Carter’s second business, Uninterrupted LLC, produces The Shop: Uninterrupted—an HBO talk show that James and Carter are both featured in as well as other Black A-list celebrities.
The duo also has Kneading Dough, an online partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co. With that platform, athletes talk about financial literacy.
During an interview that took place back in February, James and Carter said that their media business will help to give people of color creative control that’s long eluded them. According to Carter, the company as a “house of brands.”
“It’s part Disney storytelling power, part Nike coolness, and part Patagonia social impact. In 2020 stories can be told in many different ways—on social media, in films, as well as with sneakers and sweatshirts,” Carter said.
“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.”