Mark Patricof
Founder
Patricof Co
Mark Patricof is an accomplished media executive and seasoned investment banker with extensive leadership and operational experience in the finance, entertainment, technology, and sports industries.
In 2018 Mark founded Patricof Co (P/Co), a highly differentiated direct investing platform leveraging the unique talents of world-class professional athletes to drive enhanced performance. The firm was founded to capitalize on the opportunity to address a significant unmet need in the market by providing high caliber advice and services to support elite professional athletes as they increasingly become involved in private market investments. Through the deep relationships formed through its advisory business, P/Co was able to create a highly differentiated and proprietary direct investment strategy. The strategic value-add of P/Co’s athlete clients grants the firm access to off-market deals led by top-performing private equity funds and allows the firm to uniquely support the growth of its portfolio companies. The firm’s initial focus has been on late-stage growth and buyout transactions in consumer-facing businesses with strong brands.
Previously, Mark served as Managing Director and Co-Head of the TMT (Technology, Media, Telecom) practice at Houlihan Lokey, a publicly traded global investment bank to whom he sold his previous firm, MESA Global. While at Houlihan Lokey, notable transactions include advising on the highly publicized sale of Gawker Media to Univision at a bankruptcy auction for a staggering $135 million and the sale of the iconic concert venue Webster Hall to AEG Presents and Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment.
Mark co-founded MESA Global, a boutique investment bank focused on providing M&A advisory, private placement and structured finance services to high-growth companies across the media and entertainment landscape. Core areas of focus included film, television, music, sports, live entertainment, and digital media, including key verticals such as games, interactive, advertising, and e-commerce. MESA advised on over 80 transactions including some of the most notable deals in the sector: Colony Capital’s acquisition of Miramax, the sale of Songza to Google, the sale of Indiagames to Disney, structured finance transactions for Relativity and IMAX, and equity financings for Blue Man Group and FanDuel. Additionally, MESA advised multiple global corporations, including Discovery Channel, Time Inc., and Viacom.
In 2012, Mark launched MESA Ventures, an early-stage venture fund focused on e-commerce, advertising technology and digital content. The fund, which invested in Seed and Series A rounds alongside established and top-tier early-stage VC firms, combined a unique data-driven ranking system with a co-investment strategy, thus creating the first “indexing” approach to seed stage investing.
Mark was a co-founder of <kpe>, an incubator/digital studio that financed, designed, and built businesses for media and entertainment industry clients such as the BBC, CBS, Disney, Hearst and Viacom. Mark served as President and CEO of the company until it was sold to Omnicom.
Mark began his career with a six-year stint at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles, where he started in the agency’s famed mail room.
EDUCATION
Patricof graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. He then attended the University of Southern California’s Master of Film Studies program.
Boards and Advisory Roles
Mark is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Bully Pulpit International and Hornblower Cruises, as well as an Operating Executive at Crestview Partners and member of the Executive Board of Broad Sky Partners.
Mark has held advisory roles at Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment and Verve Wireless and is a former consultant to Airbnb. He has served on a number of boards throughout his career, including Abbeville Press, Bluefly.com, NEP Broadcasting, New York Cruise Lines, New York Economic Development Corporation, Piano Media, Rockwell Group and Union Square Partnership.