Authentic Brands Group

Origins and early work

The company was founded in 2010 by Jamie Salter, a Canadian entrepreneur known for founding, acquiring and building brand companies. Before launching Authentic, Salter co-founded Ride Inc., a snowboard company that became publicly traded on Nasdaq in 1994.[5] He later was CEO of Hilco Consumer Capital, a business focused on acquiring and restructuring consumer brands.[6]

After leaving Hilco Capital in 2010, Jamie co-founded Authentic Brands Group.The majority of the equity was sold to Leonard Green & Partners, who invested $250 million in the new venture.[7] Two of Authentic's first major purchases were the clothing brands Silver Star and Tapout.[7] In January 2011, Authentic Brands Group acquired rights to the likeness of Marilyn Monroe.[7][8][9]

2010s

In October 2013, Authentic announced the purchase of Juicy Couture from Fifth & Pacific for US$195 million.[10] The following month, Authentic acquired the estate of Muhammad Ali, and CORE Media Group's 85% stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises (which includes the estate of Elvis Presley, likeness rights, and music publishing assets).[11][12][13][14]

In December 2015, basketball player Shaquille O'Neal signed with Authentic to manage his likeness and marketing rights.[15] In September 2016, Julius Erving also sold his name and licensing rights to Authentic,[16] and Aéropostale was purchased out of bankruptcy by a consortium that included Authentic and other investors.[17][18]

In March 2017, Authentic became the controlling partner of Greg Norman's consumer products business.[19]

In March 2018, Authentic announced that they would acquire Nautica from VF Corporation.[20] On June 10, 2018, Authentic announced that it was the winning bidder for the intellectual property of Nine West Holdings.[21] The acquisition was completed on July 3, 2018.[22] On October 10, 2018, Authentic announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase a majority stake in the intellectual property of the Camuto Group's proprietary brands in partnership with DSW Inc.[23]

In May 2019, Authentic announced its acquisition of sports magazine Sports Illustrated from Meredith Corporation for US$110 million.[24] The company stated it planned to leverage its trademarks and other non-core assets in new ventures. Meredith will continue to publish the Sports Illustrated magazine and digital properties under license for at least two years.[25] On June 18, 2019, it was announced that rights to publish the Sports Illustrated editorial operations would be licensed to The Maven under a 10-year deal, with Ross Levinsohn as CEO.[26] In August 2019, BlackRock became the largest shareholder in Authentic Brands.[27]

In April 2019, the Kering group sold the Volcom brand to Authentic Brands Group.[28][29]

2020s

In May 2020, Authentic and David Glasser's 101 Studios formed a joint venture, Sports Illustrated Studios, for feature film and television projects. The joint venture would have a slate of several TV series and films per year. The first announced project was the Covers two-hour docuseries based on the magazine's cover stories.[30]

In August 2020, it was announced that Brooks Brothers was sold to Authentic and Simon Property Group, the biggest mall operator in the US. The new owners committed to continuing to operate at least 125 Brooks Brothers retail locations worldwide (down from 424 global locations before the COVID-19 pandemic).[31]

In June 2021, it was announced that Authentic would acquire the Izod, Van Heusen, Arrow, and Geoffrey Beene brands from PVH.[32]

In July 2021, Authentic filed for an estimated US$1.5 billion initial public offering.[33][34] In November 2021, Authentic withdrew its IPO, selling private stake in the company to CVC Capital, HPS Investment Partners, and other current stakeholders at a company value of $12.7 billion.[35]

In August 2021, it was announced that Authentic would be acquiring the sports clothing brand Reebok from Adidas for at least US$2.5 billion in a deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.[36] Private equity companies CVC Capital Partners and HPS Investment Partners invested $3.5 billion in Authentic in a deal that closed in November 2021.[37] Authentic announced they would delay the IPO until 2023 or 2024.[38]

In May 2022, Authentic entered a strategic partnership with David Beckham to co-own and manage the David Beckham brand. Through the acquisition, Authentic also became the largest shareholder in Studio 99, a creative and production studio co-founded by Beckham in 2019.[39]

In April 2023, Authentic made a binding offer to acquire Boardriders, Inc. for US$1.25 billion. Boardriders includes the Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, DC Shoes, Element, Von Zipper and Honolua brands, as well as the retailer Surf Dive 'n Ski.[40]

In January 2024, Authentic Brands Group, which had bought Sports Illustrated for $110 million from Meredith in 2019, terminated the agreement it holds with The Arena Group to publish, leading to all Sports Illustrated staffers being laid off.[41] In March 2024, Authentic Brands Group relicensed Sports Illustrated to Minute Media; the company planned to rehire some of the affected employees.[42]

In January 2024, Wolverine World Wide announced the sale of Sperry to Authentic Brands Group who in turn is licensing the brand to the Aldo Group for North American operations.[43] In June 2024, Hanesbrands announced plans to sell the Champion brand to Authentic Brands for $1.2 billion.[44]

In May 2025, Levi Strauss agreed to sell Dockers to Authentic Brands Group for $311 million.

In June 2025, Authentic launched its live events division, Authentic Live, to produce in-person events as part of its broader media and marketing operations. In 2025, 65,000 consumers attended its events[45]

In January 2026, Authentic announced a strategic partnership with comedian and entrepreneur Kevin Hart to co-own and manage the Kevin Hart Brand.[46] Later that month, Authentic completed the acquisition of a majority stake in fashion brand Guess, valuing the company at approximately $1.4 billion. The transaction made Guess Authentic's second-largest brand after Reebok and increased Authentic's total annual retail sales across its portfolio to about $38 billion globally.[47]