Top 10 Bankers to Media and Entertainment

 

LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL

 

I was very proud to be named one of the top10 Bankers to Media and Entertainment by the LA Business Journal. I knew I had made an important impact to Southern California, where I was born and lived my entire life in my three short years as a banker.

 

I had joined a global bank with no presence to speak of in Media and Entertainment. I think they were in 8th place when I started and 1st when I left in the all-important “Lead Tables.”

 

One person from another of the leading private equity firms who specializes in media said we went from I know you but who are you with to the best group in media and entertainment.

 

I joined banking after the 2008 crisis because I knew I could help. I have never lost money for a company I worked for nor for investors. While I was happy running my own advisory firm and investment firm, I knew that lending levels had gotten out of control leading up to the crash so much so I couldn’t make sense of any of the investment opportunities that I sat on the sidelines.

 

After the crash I knew I could help. So in 2009 I went into banking, passed several difficult tests to get my license and help straighten out the industry on the lending side and advisory side.

 

Obviously all the credit goes to the management of the entertainment and media companies – I was after all just a banker – but I was able to get the bank I worked for to understand the sky was not falling and we could and should lend to media and entertainment companies.

 

Sadly I didn’t win all battles to finance every company I wanted to – those companies are also thriving as other banks stepped in to pick up those opportunities.

 

I left banking with Media and Entertainment industry from a financial perspective in the best shape ever and I think it was in in the worst shape ever when I joined banking after the 2008 crisis.

 

I did get approximately, $30 BILLION in fresh capital into LA base media and entertainment companies. That money represented the most important thing to Los Angeles, JOBS. Jobs and the companies that employ people pay taxes. Taxes pay for governmental employees.

 

Media and entertainment is bailing on Los Angeles due to high taxes on fewer and fewer tax payers and an one of the worst business climates of any city. What happens when the capital to fuel media and entertainment companies dries up because experts who understand the business of show-business are gone? I don’t know exactly but it is not good for Los Angeles. Media and Entertainment is important especially in Los Angeles County. Entertainment is still the one thing the USA does better than anyone else in the world and is the USA’s second largest export.