Two of World’s Richest Heirs Join Forces in Hollywood Deal
Two of the World’s Richest Heirs Join Forces With Hollywood Deal
(Bloomberg) -- Hollywood’s latest power couple hail from opposite sides of the world.
Samsung scion Miky Lee is one of the backers of a $275 million investment in Skydance Media, the company founded by Larry Ellison’s son David, 37, in 2010, according to a statement.
The deal brings together the $62 billion Ellison fortune and a descendant of South Korea’s Samsung clan, the Asian nation’s richest.
Lee, 61, the granddaughter of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull, is the vice chairwoman of CJ Group, whose entertainment and merchandising subsidiary CJ ENM has invested in Skydance. CJ Group is a separate conglomerate from Samsung Group. It opened her homeland’s first multiplex, invested in the DreamWorks studio and funded “Parasite,” the South Korean comic thriller that won four Oscars Sunday, including best picture.
With Lee’s avid support for the film industry, CJ has financed and distributed three other films made by “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho, including “Snowpiercer.”
David Ellison’s Skydance is best known for franchises like the “Mission: Impossible” films and the upcoming “Top Gun” sequel. It courted controversy last year after it hired Pixar pioneer John Lasseter to lead its animation business, scooping up the former Walt Disney Co. executive who was dismissed for workplace misconduct.
Read more: Shock ‘Parasite’ Oscar Showcases Korea’s Growing Soft Power
The tie-up underscores the entertainment world’s enduring appeal to the world’s richest people. In 2004, former Ebay Inc. executive Jeff Skoll started Participant Media, which makes movies targeting social issues. David Ellison’s sister Megan is also a film producer, whose credits include “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Phantom Thread.”
The Skydance deal, led by investment firm RedBird Capital Partners, values the company at $2.3 billion, according to Tuesday’s statement. Other investors include Tencent Holdings Ltd. and the Ellison family.
Lee’s involvement is an even bigger coup after “Parasite” took home the top award at the Oscars. Her acceptance speech suggests she won’t be diluting the sometimes challenging output of her media empire.
“I really want to thank our Korean film audience,” she said at the ceremony in Los Angeles. “That made us really never be able to be complacent and keep pushing the directors, the creators, keep pushing the envelope.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Tom Metcalf in London at tmetcalf7@bloomberg.net;Yoojung Lee in Seoul at ylee504@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Steven Crabill, Peter Eichenbaum
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