Aryeh Bourkoff

LionTree is a global independent investment and merchant bank. Built to adapt to today’s dynamic market conditions, LionTree selectively invests alongside its clients in creative transactions on which it advises. This includes a strategic partnership with Searchlight Capital Partners to provide capital solutions to growing companies in the media, technology and telecommunications sector.

In December 2020, MGM Holdings enlisted Morgan Stanley and LionTree to advise on its prospective sale. This culminated in the recent announcement that Amazon had acquired MGM Studios for a whopping $8.45 billion. Just weeks prior, AT&T announced that it was spinning off WarnerMedia to form a new company with Discovery Inc. in a $43 billion deal. LionTree LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisors on the creative merger. In a matter of months, LionTree helped facilitate two of the most significant industry-shaking transactions of the last decade.

Bourkoff has expressed some disdain for the idea of the “celebrity CEO” and said that he believes companies should focus on what matters to their customers and their shareholders. “Knowing what Jeff Bezos, as smart as he is, does when he wakes up in the morning and thinking that is gospel is not a healthy dynamic,” he told MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle in a recent interview. “Going back to understanding the company fundamentals, today and into the future, and the motivations of the individuals that are guiding shareholder value, is the most important thing.”

LionTree combines an entrepreneurial approach with deep sector expertise to identify and execute the best solutions across geographies, transaction types and client initiatives. As the entertainment media industry continues to embrace mergers, acquisitions, and consolidations, outside financial firms dedicated to developing these mega-deals have taken on new importance.