A24 has received an influx of cash from Josh Kushner‘s Thrive Capital that now values the indie studio at $3.5 billion (enterprise value), a source with knowledge of the investment told IndieWire. The studio’s new valuation is 40 percent higher than it was for the last round of funding: 2022’s $225 million investment at a $2.5 billion valuation.
That doesn’t mean Kushner threw $1 billion into the pot — far from it. Existing investors from the previous round have also upped their financial support for this new round, A24 said on Wednesday. Additionally, the A24 brand has just organically grown its valuation with its successes in recent years, including “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022), “Talk to Me” (2022), and this year’s “Civil War.”
But still, it must have been substantial. The Financial Times reported Kushner’s investment was $100 million, which we understand to be in the ballpark.
It is not just Kushner’s money coming to A24. It’s also, well, him. Kushner, the founder of the New York-based Thrive Capital, will join A24’s Board of Directors. Thrive has invested in Instagram, Spotify, Stripe, and more.
“At Thrive we aim to invest in category defining businesses across every industry,” Thrive Capital said via a statement. “In A24, we see a company bringing extraordinary talent and creativity together with business model and technology innovation to reinvent entertainment for the modern age. We are honored to partner with them.”
“We’re thrilled to be working with Thrive Capital whose unique expertise will be invaluable in our growth,” A24 said. “With Thrive, alongside our existing partners, we look forward to growing our support of groundbreaking storytellers and helping their voices reach audiences around the world.”
A24, founded in 2012, has made more than 150 films and 50 TV series, many of which are critical darlings. The studio has won 16 Oscars, 14 Golden Globes, and 18 Emmys. Highlights include films “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Moonlight,” and “Uncut Gems,” and TV series “Euphoria,” “Beef,” “Ramy,” and “The Sympathizer.”
Upcoming A24 releases include “The Smashing Machine” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt, “High and Low” directed by Spike Lee starring Denzel Washington, “We Live in Time” starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, “Heretic” starring Hugh Grant, “Babygirl” starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, “Eddington” starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, “Sunny” at Apple TV+ starring Rashida Jones, and “Overcompensating” at Amazon starring Benito Skinner and Charli XCX.
A24 explored a sale in 2021 with a price tag around $3 billion. There were no takers.
Kushner is the 39-year-old son of real-estate developer Charles Kushner. He is the brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and is married to model Karlie Kloss.
