The Diary Of A CEO host Steven Bartlett has joined forces with Authentic Brands Group to invest up to $400m to back other creators in growing their businesses.
The Dragons’ Den star – through his holding company, Steven.com – has teamed up with billionaire Jamie Salter, founder of Authentic Brands Group, on their joint venture OBSN (Obsession).
OBSN will combine Bartlett’s expertise in building a creator business – audience growth, data, content and commercialising digital media – with Authentic’s background in retail, product, licensing, IP and global distribution.
Bartlett said: “Several years ago I bought a $100 microphone from the Apple Store, plugged it into my laptop and started talking.
Steven Bartlett and Jamie Salter have launched joint venture OBSN
“I recorded the first episode of The Diary Of A CEO that day, alone in my bedroom in Manchester.
“I could never have imagined how much that decision would change my life.
“That podcast became a media company, and has now expanded beyond me.
“We now serve more than 500 creators across our platform and technology.
“We employ almost 200 people at Steven.com and we’re building the definitive company in the creator economy – the one the highest-potential creators choose as their partner as they scale.
“And today, all these years later, I stood on stage in New York with Jamie Salter, the founder of Authentic Brands Group – a company that operates in more than 150 countries and does about $40bn a year in retail sales – to announce we were going into business together.
“Our new joint venture OBSN (Obsession) brings together everything we know about building a creator business; audience growth, data, content and commercialising digital media with what Authentic knows about retail, product, licensing, IP and global distribution, so a creator has the optimal partner to help them scale their global business.”
Bartlett said the deal has taken nearly a year to finalise.
Writing on Instagram, Salter said: “The best brands are built with vision, conviction and obsession.
“I joined Steven Bartlett earlier today to talk about the opportunities ahead in the creator economy and what it takes to turn influence into lasting intellectual property.
“That’s exactly why we launched OBSN; to give ambitious creators the platform to build businesses that extend far beyond content.
‘Thank you to Maggie Sellers Reum for keeping two highly driven and obsessed business builders on message as we embark on our ground breaking partnership.”