LeBron James, Maverick Carter raise $100 million for the SpringHill Company, their new media empire

AKRON — LeBron James and Maverick Carter announced the formation of the SpringHill Company, their new media conglomerate designed to empower diverse creators and audiences whose voices have been marginalized. The NBA superstar and his longtime business partner, both graduates of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, launched the company after raising $100 million, Bloomberg reported. The list of investors includes Guggenheim Partners and News Corp. heir Elisabeth Murdoch. James is chairman of SpringHill, while Carter serves as CEO. Board members include tennis star Serena Williams, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner. "I've always wanted to use the platform of basketball to empower those around me. Now I'm incredibly excited about the opportunity to build a company that empowers creators, consumers, and everything it touches. The SpringHill Company defines empowerment. You see it in the team we've built, the stories we tell, and the community our work will serve," James said in a release. SpringHill consolidates James and Carter's other media ventures -- SpringHill Entertainment, which has produced shows for NBC, Netflix, ESPN and Quibi; Uninterrupted, an athlete-centric brand that produces content and merchandise; and the Robot Co., a marketing agency -- under one umbrella. "Together with our new partners and incredible team, we are building a consumer and entertainment business that's committed to diversity, that's unafraid to stand up for what we believe in and that's resonating with our community," Carter said in the release. "We've always been about empowering people who feel like us and come from the communities that we come from and want to believe in our mission," he added in an interview with Bloomberg. The SpringHill Company will allow the Akron natives to expand on the kind of work they put into projects like the Netflix limited series "Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker," HBO's "The Shop, and the docuseries "More Than an Athlete" on ESPN and "I Promise" on Quibi. SpringHill will also continue to pursue collaborations on apparel and sneakers with brands such as Nike, and on social causes like the "Love is Uninterrupted" campaign with Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird. Upcoming projects include the feature film "Space Jam: A New Legacy" and a documentary about the Tulsa race massacre. The company also recently signed a deal to create scripted programming for Disney's ABC Studios. "Part Disney storytelling power, part Nike coolness, and part Patagonia social impact," is how Carter described SpringHill's mission to Bloomberg. That sounds like daunting challenge, but James said he's up for it. "I'm OK having that pressure of my community and other Black communities across America that look up to me and look to me for inspiration or for guidance," he told Bloomberg. "It's just my responsibility, and I completely understand that. And so every day I leave my home, or I wake up out of my bed, I understand that it's not just about me. I'm representing so many people." ——— ©2020 Advance Ohio Media, Cleveland Visit Advance Ohio Media, Cleveland at www.cleveland.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.