Gerald Joseph Cardinale (born May 8, 1967) is an American multimillionaire

businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

, private equity investor and philanthropist. Cardinale is the founder, managing partner and chief investment officer of

RedBird Capital Partners RedBird Capital Partners is an American investment management firm founded in 2014 in New York by Gerry Cardinale. The company has assets under management of over $10 billion as of 2022. Investments RedBird is active in several tertiary se ...

LLC.

Early life and education

Cardinale was born in

Villanova, Pennsylvania Villanova is census-designated place in Pennsylvania, United States. A suburb of Philadelphia, the community straddles the border of Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County and Radnor Township in Delaware County. It is located at the cen ...

, and studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

. He was a rower at Harvard and on the Oxford men's reserve crew, Isis, in the 1990 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. After graduating from Oxford, he received a fellowship to work in Tokyo for the

Japan Institute of International Affairs The Japan Institute of International Affairs (abbreviated as JIIA, Japanese: 日本国際問題研究所 ''nihon kokusai mondai kenkyūjo'') is a foreign policy and security think-tank in Japan. It was established in December 1959. It was modelled o ...

, an affiliate of the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Career

Cardinale began his professional career at

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

in 1992 and transferred to the firm's Merchant Banking Division in 1994, where he helped build the firm's investment business in Hong Kong, China and Singapore. He returned to New York in 1997 and was elected partner in 2004. He was responsible for investments across a range of industries and investment types. He worked with entrepreneurs and family business owners to build several multi-billion-dollar companies. Cardinale worked with

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

owner

George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...

to create the Yankees Entertainment & Sports ("YES") Network in 2001. Cardinale led the deal process between the Yankees, Goldman Sachs and other investors, culminating in the sale of the network to

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

in 2012 for a total value of $3.4 billion. Cardinale also created a partnership with the New York Yankees and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

owner

Jerry Jones Jerral Wayne Jones Sr. (born October 13, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman who is the owner, president, and General manager (American football), general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He bought t ...

to create Legends Hospitality in 2008.

RedBird Capital Partners

Following Cardinale's retirement from Goldman Sachs in 2012, he launched

, a private investment firm that focuses on dealmaking and business growth in sports, media, entertainment and financial services. Notable investments include the Italian professional football club

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

that competes in Serie A, where Cardinale is the owner and on the board of directors. The company is an investor in Skydance Entertainment, which has a pending investment in the Hollywood studio

Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...

. The company also has stakes in Fenway Sports Group and the United Football League. In 2015, Cardinale worked with team owners in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

to create On Location Experiences, which offered premium live experiences across the NFL and other sports. On Location Experiences was sold to Ari Emanuel's Endeavor in 2020 for $660 million. Cardinale has not indicated an interest in buying into an NFL franchise; he stated in 2025 that franchises were overpriced, that the closely held nature of NFL teams caused finances to be too obscure to properly assess teams' financial health, and that the minority stake that RedBird could afford at that time provided too little shareholder influence for him to operate a franchise the way he would want. Cardinale is also active in content production in the film and television industry, and is a co-founder along with

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...

and

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...

of Artists Equity, which released 2023's ''Air''.

Personal life and philanthropy

Cardinale and his family live in Palm Beach, Florida. He is on the boards of the Mount Sinai Health System and the US Rowing Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardinale, Gerry 1967 births Living people 21st-century American businesspeople American soccer chairmen and investors American Rhodes Scholars Harvard Crimson rowers Alumni of the University of Oxford Goldman Sachs people People from Villanova, Pennsylvania