redbird: Former CNN chief Jeff Zucker has a new job at RedBird IMI. What is it?

RedBird Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and International Media Investments, a funder with connections to the government of the United Arab Emirates, are betting that Zucker’s record in the media industry will help him zero in on promising investments in digital media, sports, entertainment and news.

In addition to Zucker, the key players in the new venture, known as RedBird IMI, are Gerry Cardinale, the CEO and co-founder of RedBird, and Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, a UAE government minister who has spearheaded many of IMI’s investment conversations in the United States. Cardinale is the chief investment officer of RedBird IMI, and Al Jaber is chair.

RedBird is committing $250 million to the venture, and IMI has agreed to commit the remaining $750 million. The men gathered to discuss business last fall in a suite overlooking a Formula One racetrack in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Since Zucker started his venture last year, dozens of suitors have made the pilgrimage to his offices on Madison Avenue near Central Park in New York’s Manhattan borough, including former CNN employees, agents and corporate development executives. In those meetings, he has held forth on the future of entertainment, sports and news, weighing in on various investment opportunities.

Zucker has described RedBird IMI as “Candle Media but half the price,” referring to a company run by two former Disney executives, Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Candle Media has spent billions in cash and stock to buy and combine properties including Moonbug Entertainment, maker of the hit animated show “CoComelon,” and Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s production company.

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It remains to be seen whether Zucker’s acumen as a TV producer and corporate operator will translate to success in private equity, where profits hinge on finding great assets and shrewd deal-making. But he is aided in those efforts by Cardinale, a Goldman Sachs veteran with decades of investment experience. Zucker has already begun to scout deals. The venture has held discussions to invest in digital media startups including Puck and Semafor and has also met with the founders of Punchbowl News, a Capitol Hill-focused media startup that was launched in 2021.

In the months since Zucker started RedBird IMI, he has begun staffing up. One of his deputies at CNN, Rani Raad, the company’s former executive vice president and chief commercial officer at its international arm, has joined the venture.

Zucker has also told confidants that, with RedBird IMI, he is interested in building a company that owns digital publications targeted at specific audiences, similar to Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue and The New Yorker.

RedBird Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and International Media Investments, a funder with connections to the government of the United Arab Emirates, are betting that Zucker’s record in the media industry will help him zero in on promising investments in digital media, sports, entertainment and news.

In addition to Zucker, the key players in the new venture, known as RedBird IMI, are Gerry Cardinale, the CEO and co-founder of RedBird, and Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, a UAE government minister who has spearheaded many of IMI’s investment conversations in the United States. Cardinale is the chief investment officer of RedBird IMI, and Al Jaber is chair.

RedBird is committing $250 million to the venture, and IMI has agreed to commit the remaining $750 million. The men gathered to discuss business last fall in a suite overlooking a Formula One racetrack in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Since Zucker started his venture last year, dozens of suitors have made the pilgrimage to his offices on Madison Avenue near Central Park in New York’s Manhattan borough, including former CNN employees, agents and corporate development executives. In those meetings, he has held forth on the future of entertainment, sports and news, weighing in on various investment opportunities.

Zucker has described RedBird IMI as “Candle Media but half the price,” referring to a company run by two former Disney executives, Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Candle Media has spent billions in cash and stock to buy and combine properties including Moonbug Entertainment, maker of the hit animated show “CoComelon,” and Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s production company.

Discover the stories of your interest

It remains to be seen whether Zucker’s acumen as a TV producer and corporate operator will translate to success in private equity, where profits hinge on finding great assets and shrewd deal-making. But he is aided in those efforts by Cardinale, a Goldman Sachs veteran with decades of investment experience. Zucker has already begun to scout deals. The venture has held discussions to invest in digital media startups including Puck and Semafor and has also met with the founders of Punchbowl News, a Capitol Hill-focused media startup that was launched in 2021.

In the months since Zucker started RedBird IMI, he has begun staffing up. One of his deputies at CNN, Rani Raad, the company’s former executive vice president and chief commercial officer at its international arm, has joined the venture.

Zucker has also told confidants that, with RedBird IMI, he is interested in building a company that owns digital publications targeted at specific audiences, similar to Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue and The New Yorker.