Wes Edens: Fortress Investment Group’s Resident Sports Fanatic
As a businessman, Wes Edens has been hugely successful; he started his career with stints in Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney, as well as California Savings and the Lehman Brothers. His positions in the investment world grew more and more important as his career advanced and he eventually made it to the position of a Partner and Managing Director of Blackrock Financial Management in 1993. However, Wes Edens had his entrepreneurial side and in 1998 co-founded Fortress Investment Group LLC. He also serves as the companies co-CEO.
More about of Wes Edens at Bloomberg.
Through his leadership he was able to net the company $41.4 billion in managed assets; a steep increase from the $400 million that the company held in its first year. The company has been diverse in the types of companies they go after, ranging from media and entertainment to health care, real estate, and transportation.Once the company had firmly reached the top of its game, Wes Edens sold off Fortress Investment group for a reported $3.3 billion in cash to SoftBank Group LLC. However, Mr. Edens and the rest of Fortress’ management team stuck with the company after the sale and had continued to operate it as an independent business under SoftBank’s umbrella.
However, not all of Mr. Edens’ business investments have been what you’d typically expect from a leading investor. Throughout his entire career, he’s been well known as a major sports fan; this led him to become the co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2014. Once he was co-owner of the NBA team, he led the effort to develop a new arena for the team and was a significant part of getting the plans developed and approved, as well as finally turning it into a new, state-of-the-art arena fit for a leading NBA team.
However, it wasn’t just the stadium that Wes Edens had plans for; the $524 million Fiserv Forum is just one part of a significant plan to develop close to 30 acres of almost empty land and turn it into an entertainment complex based around the Bucks. Mr. Edens is also a co-owner of Aston Villa Football Club, based in Birmingham, England.
Learn more: https://www.dailyforexreport.com/wes-edens-leader-philanthropist/