The Plan to CAA-ify Talent Managers

Jon Winkelried
TPG’s strategy, according to its deck, calls for “repeating the agency consolidation story” with managers. Photo: Bess Adler/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Matthew Belloni
September 17, 2024

Have you seen this talent management company investment deck floating around town? It’s from TPG, the private equity firm that initially put money into CAA back in 2010, then acquired a majority stake a couple years later, and sold the agency last year to luxury goods billionaire François-Henri Pinault’s family office in a deal that valued it at a whopping $7 billion. TPG made out pretty well on its faith in Bryan Lourd & Co., telling shareholders last November that it pocketed $2.4 billion from the 13-year relationship. CAA was “a cornerstone transaction,” TPG C.E.O. Jon Winkelried boasted. “We have built a unique ecosystem in the space, and we believe there will be many opportunities to leverage our capabilities going forward.”