John Textor
Mr. Textor is the majority shareholder of Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, based in Rio de Janeiro, which competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the highest level of Brazil's football leagues. Textor is also a co-owner and the largest individual shareholder of Crystal Palace Football Club. Crystal Palace is a professional football club based in South London, England, which competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. Textor also holds a majority stake in Belgian First Division B side RWD Molenbeek and most recently, he became the the majority shareholder of Olympique Lyonnais which plays in France's highest football division, Ligue 1.
In addition to professional football club ownership, Textor is a globally recognized, pioneer and developer of disruptive technologies, creative content, and digital distribution business models for media, entertainment and the internet. Mr. Textor is the retired Executive Chairman (and formerly the largest shareholder) of fuboTV, Inc. (NYSE:”FUBO”), an American streaming television service that focuses primarily on channels that distribute live sports, including NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and international soccer, plus news, network television series and movies. Mr. Textor previously served as Executive Chairman, CEO and Head of Studio of Facebank Group, Inc., a developer of digital human likeness for celebrities and consumers, which acquired fuboTV, Inc.
Featured as “Hollywood’s Virtual Reality Guru”, by Forbes in 2016, Mr. Textor stands among the earliest advocates of the convergence of entertainment media and technology. Known through his ownership and leadership of Hollywood visual effects studio Digital Domain, Mr. Textor's team of artists was responsible for the 2012 appearance of Virtual Tupac Shakur at the Coachella Valley Music Festival. In late 2013, Textor organized a group of former Digital Domain employees to create Pulse Evolution Corporation, which first showcased its technology with the holographic performance of Virtual Michael Jackson at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.
Mr. Textor was the largest shareholder and Co-Chairman of the predecessor to Digital Domain (HKSE: 547). He led its acquisition and restructuring from May 2006, through a NYSE valuation of $450 million in Spring 2012.
In 2013, he founded Pulse Evolution Corporation (PLFX), an innovator and leading developer of hyper-realistic digital humans for holographic live performances, virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence. The same year, Mr. Textor created Evolution | AI Corporation, which focused on the adaptation and development of human animation technology to enable diverse artificial intelligence platforms to interact with consumers in the relatable form of a human face.
In May of 2000, Mr. Textor became a co-founder and the largest shareholder of Virtual Bank, a Florida-based Internet banking startup that ultimately became a multi-billion dollar diversified financial services company.
In 1999, at a time when Napster was treated as a ‘defendant’ more than a pioneer of digital distribution, Textor’s startup, Jester Digital Corporation, created an internet-based 3-D multi-user virtual world (also known as a metaverse) for music, film and social networking. Jester was the first digital distribution platform to be endorsed by Metallica.
Tracing his roots as a programmer back to the early 1980’s, Mr. Textor’s professional track record in technology began with his departure from an investment banking post at Shearson Lehman Hutton in the early 90’s. Mr. Textor became the principal founder of Wyndcrest Holdings, LLC, a private holding company focused on technology-related opportunities in entertainment, telecommunications and the Internet.
Within Wyndcrest, Mr. Textor also served as the Chairman and CEO of BabyUniverse, Inc., a leading e-tailer of baby-related products. He also served as Chairman of the Board and principal owner of Sims Snowboards, the world’s 2nd leading snowboard brand. He served the same role for a leading Canadian snowboard apparel brand, Westbeach. Contributing to his legacy within the winter sports industry, he partnered with Westbeach founder (and Lululemon Athletica founder) Chip Wilson, to create the first recognized and globally televised World Snowboarding Championship.
Mr. Textor is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.