Lord of the Rings Investor Launches Family Office With Goldman Sachs Recruit

The founder of New Line Cinema has decided to take charge of his own wealth, joining the increasing number of entertainment tycoons who are managing their own finances.

Shaye recently established Lemoko Investments, a family office to manage his business operations. The name of the Los Angeles-based firm was inspired by a 1937 French movie. Erin Riley, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive, is the Chief Investment Officer of the company, which was registered in September. Lemoko Investments has an "unconstrained" and "long-term" approach to capital allocation.

Riley had been with Goldman Sachs for over ten years before joining Lemoko. As part of her work at the bank, she studied tech stocks and eventually moved to a team that provided services to family offices and wealthy individuals with complex trading requirements, as highlighted in a Goldman Sachs podcast from 2020 that featured her.

No comment was provided by a spokesperson for Shaye, who is 83 years old, when asked for a response.

In a 2007 interview with Charlie Rose, Shaye commented on the fantasy movies, saying that the first film was expected to be successful enough to lead to the other two. He added that any film commitment is a risk. Sadly, Lynne, who was 77 at the time, passed away in 2019.

In the past two decades, family offices have become increasingly popular, especially among finance and tech moguls. However, the entertainment industry is also taking part in this trend, with Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce Knowles, and Will Smith all having established their own investment companies.

Lloyd Greif, president and chief executive officer at Los Angeles-based investment bank Greif & Co., has noted that large payments to well-known entertainers have made them more conscious of the great financial benefits that can come from owning a business. A notable example of this is Diageo Plc's purchase of a tequila business co-founded by George Clooney for up to $1 billion in 2017.

Greif commented that the music and film industry is becoming increasingly advanced. He noted that people are finding ways to make money work for them, rather than the other way around.

In 2008, Shaye left New Line Cinema and created his own film studio, Unique Features. He has also directed his own movies and invested his money into real estate, art, and venture capital. With the assistance of Goldman Sachs, he obtained a portion of Brat TV in the previous year, a digital studio that specializes in making scripted series for Gen Z viewers.

Rob Fishman, co-founder of Brat TV, shared in an interview with Variety's "Strictly Business" podcast that the people at Goldman Sachs, whom they had become familiar with, had mentioned to them that Bob was interested in exploring new media opportunities. This led to a meeting at Bob's house in Los Angeles.