Earlier this year, Ari Emanuel, the legendary agent who is the CEO of Endeavor, led the company’s small investment in Twitter just a few months after it was acquired by his friend and mega-billionaire Elon Musk, PvNew /confirm/ied.
The size of Endeavor’s investment stake in Twitter could not be learned, but a source familiar with the transaction said it was not material to Endeavor. (It’s worth noting that Endeavor has not disclosed the Twitter stake in any SEC filings.) Endeavor made the investment in Twitter in mid-January, as first reported by Axios. Musk has been seeking outside funding for the cash-strapped social network to help pay off the debt he incurred in swinging the $44 billion deal.
Prior to Musk’s takeover of Twitter, Emanuel reportedly got involved in the dispute between Twitter’s board and Musk over the latter’s attempt to scrap the deal. Emanuel had reached out to Twitter board member Egon Durban to suggest the social network work with Musk to “find a solution” to their legal fight ahead of a trial that had been scheduled to begin in October. Musk and Twitter’s board eventually came to an agreement to close the transaction.
Emanuel has ties to both Durban and Musk. Durban, co-CEO of tech investment firm Silver Lake, currently sits on Endeavor’s board. Musk had been on Endeavor’s board of directors before resigning in March 2022.
Over the last several years, Endeavor has made several investments in companies in (and adjacent to) its business. According to a source familiar with Endeavor’s thinking, Twitter is in the same vein as being strategically relevant to the conglomerate’s core businesses of representation, media and sports.
Since Musk took over Twitter, he has dramatically slashed the company’s workforce to reduce costs. The company had about 7,500 employees when Musk took over, and it is now estimated to have fewer than 2,000. Musk also has tried to drive up subscription revenue through Twitter Blue, which will become the only way individuals will be verified on the service going forward.
