Gerry Cardinale
{{Short description|American businessman}}
{{Distinguish|Gerald Cardinale}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gerry Cardinale
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1967|05|08}}
| birth_place = Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States
| education = {{plainlist|
}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Businessman|Investor|Philanthropist}}
| website = {{URL |https://redbirdcap.com/ }}
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Gerald Joseph Cardinale (born May 8, 1967) is an American multimillionaire businessman, private equity investor and philanthropist. Cardinale is the founder, managing partner and chief investment officer of RedBird Capital Partners LLC.
Early life and education
Cardinale was born in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and studied at Harvard University and at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.{{Cite web |title=Rhodes Scholars in Athletics |url=https://gocrimson.com/sports/2020/5/5/information-history-rhodes.aspx |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Harvard University |language=en}} He was a rower at Harvard and on the Oxford men's reserve crew, Isis, in the 1990 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.{{Cite web |title=USRowing Foundation Adds Gerry Cardinale as Trustee |url=https://usrowing.org/news/usrowing-foundation-adds-gerry-cardinale-as-trustee |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=USRowing |language=en}}
After graduating from Oxford, he received a fellowship to work in Tokyo for the Japan Institute of International Affairs, an affiliate of the Japanese Foreign Ministry.{{Cite journal |last=Cardinale |first=Gerald J. |date=1992 |title=Through the Japanese Looking Glass |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2644946 |journal=Asian Survey |volume=32 |issue=7 |pages=635–648 |doi=10.2307/2644946 |jstor=2644946 |issn=0004-4687|url-access=subscription }}
Career
Cardinale began his professional career at Goldman Sachs in 1992 and transferred to the firm's Merchant Banking Division in 1994, where he helped build the firm's investment business in Hong Kong, China and Singapore. He returned to New York in 1997 and was elected partner in 2004. He was responsible for investments across a range of industries and investment types. He worked with entrepreneurs and family business owners to build several multi-billion-dollar companies.{{Cite web |last=Craig |first=Susanne |date=2012-06-15 |title=More Goldman Partners Head for the Exit |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/15/more-goldman-partners-head-for-the-exit/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=DealBook |language=en}}
Cardinale worked with New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to create the Yankees Entertainment & Sports ("YES") Network in 2001. Cardinale led the deal process between the Yankees, Goldman Sachs and other investors, culminating in the sale of the network to News Corporation in 2012 for a total value of $3.4 billion.{{Cite web |first=Dakin |last=Campbell |first2=Hayley |last2=Cuccinello |title=How Gerry Cardinale became the go-to dealmaker for the Yankees, AC Milan, and Ben Affleck |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/gerry-cardinale-redbird-capital-partners-ac-milan-yankees-2022-12 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2012-11-21 |title=News Corp. Completes Deal For Stake In YES Network, Reportedly Will Pay Yankees $500M |url=https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2012/11/21/Media/YES-Net.aspx |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=www.sportsbusinessjournal.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Ozanian |first=Mike |title=YES Network Sale To News Corp Saves Murdoch And Steinbrenner A Fortune In Fees |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2012/11/21/yes-network-sale-to-news-corp-saves-murdoch-and-steinbrenner-a-fortune-in-fees/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
Cardinale also created a partnership with the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to create Legends Hospitality in 2008.{{Cite web |title=The Deal Episode 6: Gerry Cardinale - Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2024-04-02/the-deal-episode-6-gerry-cardinale-podcast |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.bloomberg.com |language=EN}}{{Cite web |last=Lariviere |first=David |title=NFL Tabs George Pyne, Gerry Cardinale To Grow Premium Events, Hospitality Business |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidlariviere/2015/04/07/nfl-tabs-george-pyne-gerry-cardinale-to-grow-premium-events-hospitality-business/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
= RedBird Capital Partners =
Following Cardinale's retirement from Goldman Sachs in 2012, he launched RedBird Capital Partners, a private investment firm that focuses on dealmaking and business growth in sports, media, entertainment and financial services.{{Cite web |first=Dakin |last=Campbell |first2=Hayley |last2=Cuccinello |title=The private-equity firm behind Italian soccer champs AC Milan is quietly building a financial services powerhouse |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/redbird-capital-gerry-cardinale-growing-financial-services-portfolio-2023-1 |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}
Notable investments include the Italian professional football club AC Milan that competes in Serie A, where Cardinale is the owner and on the board of directors. The company is an investor in Skydance Entertainment, which has a pending investment in the Hollywood studio Paramount Global.{{Cite web |first=Claire |last=Zillman |first2=Paolo |last2=Confino |title=Meet Gerry Cardinale, the investor behind Skydance Media's bid for Paramount |url=https://fortune.com/2024/06/10/gerry-cardinale-redbird-capital-skydance-paramount/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Fortune |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Rizzo |first=Lillian |date=2024-07-08 |title=Paramount agrees to merge with Skydance, ending monthslong negotiations and Redstone era |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/08/paramount-skydance-merger.html |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=CNBC |language=en}} The company also has stakes in Fenway Sports Group and the United Football League.{{Cite web |last=Weprin |first=Alex |date=2023-12-31 |title=Combined XFL and USFL to be Called UFL, Will Air Games on Fox and ESPN Platforms Starting in 2024 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/new-football-league-ufl-created-xfl-usfl-merger-2024-launch-1235777227/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}
In 2015, Cardinale worked with team owners in the National Football League to create On Location Experiences, which offered premium live experiences across the NFL and other sports. On Location Experiences was sold to Ari Emanuel's Endeavor in 2020 for $660 million.{{Cite web |last=Sun |first=Rebecca |date=2020-01-02 |title=Endeavor Acquires On Location Experiences in $660M Deal |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/endeavor-acquires-location-experiences-660-million-deal-1265717/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}} Cardinale has not indicated an interest in buying into an NFL franchise; he stated in 2025 that franchises were overpriced, that the closely held nature of NFL teams caused finances to be too obscure to properly assess teams' financial health, and that the minority stake that RedBird could afford at that time provided too little shareholder influence for him to operate a franchise the way he would want.{{Cite web |last=Sherman |first=Alex |date=2025-05-29 |title=CNBC Sport: Pro sports team valuations are in a 'bubble,' says RedBird’s Gerry Cardinale |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/29/cnbc-sport-redbird-capital-gerry-cardinale-team-valuations.html |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=CNBC |language=en}}
Cardinale is also active in content production in the film and television industry, and is a co-founder along with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon of Artists Equity, which released 2023's Air.{{Cite web |last=Crupi |first=Anthony |date=2023-03-24 |title=With 'Air,' Gerry Cardinale Is Ready for His Close-Up |url=https://www.sportico.com/business/media/2023/gerry-cardinale-is-ready-for-his-close-up-1234717160/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Sportico.com |language=en-US}}
Personal life and philanthropy
Cardinale and his family live in Palm Beach, Florida.{{Cite news |last=Fontanella-Khan |first=James |date=2024-02-19 |title='The one thing I've always had is deal flow': RedBird's Gerry Cardinale |url=https://www.ft.com/content/de12bbb3-2625-4934-9eaf-be437ed448c8 |access-date=2024-11-07 |work=Financial Times}}
He is on the boards of the Mount Sinai Health System and the US Rowing Foundation.