This unlikely duo may help Disney tie up some of the remaining loose ends of the Disney-Fox merger: by MadelinePBerg
Carolyn Rafaelian and Ice Cube are teaming up to bid on 21 regional sports networks, a vestige of the Disney-Fox deal.O’Shea Jackson Sr. is better known as Ice Cube, the goateed hip-hop artist who shot to fame more than 30 years ago as a founding member of rap group N.W.A. But when he and Carolyn Rafaelian met at her airy, nautical-themed Venice Beach home last year, Rafaelian, the billionaire founder of Alex and Ani jewelry, thought up a different nickname for him.
Rafaelian, Macquarie and Centerbridge will each commit $1 billion, while Big3 will put in between $350 million and $500 million. The group will issue debt for the rest. Big3 reportedly faces competition from Rafaelian’s fellow billionaire John Malone, whose Liberty Media will reportedly partner with the Minnesota Twins’ owner John Pohlad and private equity billionaire Tom Gores in a bid. Major League Baseball is also in the process of bidding.
It all started in 2018, when Rafaelian was approached by her business partner and lawyer Mark Geragos; he knew entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz, one of the cofounders of Big3 and a lawyer who Geragos had worked with on numerous civil rights cases, including Colin Kaepernick’s suit against the NFL. Geragos, already a backer of Big3, thought it could be a good investment opportunity for Rafaelian.
“We were sitting right in the front row, and they just kept bringing us food: There was steak and sandwiches. I don’t even know where they got it. They just kept bringing it! We eventually started giving it away to the people around us,” she recalls laughing, adding that their friendship and partnership has only grown since then.
“I was paying attention only because I was watching the AT&T legislation,” says Geragos, Rafaelian’s business partner and fellow Big3 investor. “They said they wanted a divestment of the regional sports networks, and that sparked the discussion.” When describing what she and Ice Cube want to do, there are a lot of buzzwords and ideas floating around. In addition to airing local NBA, NHL and MLB games, as well as Big3 matches, they plan to create content that “puts more synergy in the world” and attracts a diverse and young audience with talk shows, series focusing on the intersection of sports, culture and politics, and a premium take on a shopping network.
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