John Textor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Textor
Born
John Charles Textor

(1965-09-30) September 30, 1965 (age 56)
Kirksville, Missouri, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationCEO of Facebank, Inc.
Former Executive Chairman of FuboTV (Facebank Group, Inc.)
Known forCo-owner of Crystal Palace Football Club and Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas
RelativesHamilton Macfarland Barksdale,[1] VP and Director of duPont (great-great grandson); Ethel Barksdale duPont (great-grandson)

John Textor (born September 30, 1965) is an American business executive. He is the major 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 of Crystal Palace Football Club,[2] a professional football club based in Selhurst in the Borough of Croydon, South London, England, which currently competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. Textor also holds a stake in Belgian First Division B side RWD Molenbeek.[3]

Textor is the retired Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of fuboTV, Inc. (originally known as Facebank Group, Inc.), a sports-centric OTT streaming company. Featured by Forbes in 2016 as ‘Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru’,[4] Textor is a globally recognized, pioneer and developer of disruptive technologies, creative content, and digital distribution business models for media, entertainment, and the internet.[5]

Early life[]

Textor was born into the du Pont Family in 1965. Textor claims to have grown up in a middle-class family whilst spending his summers working in factories.[6] Textor competed in freestyle skateboarding competitions around Florida as part of the Sims Skateboards team.[7] According to Craig Snyder's A Secret History of the Ollie,[page needed] Textor was said to have been "one of the few who surpassed [multiple world champion] Rodney Mullen in freestyle competition during" the late 1970s".[citation needed] Textor left competitive skateboarding in the early 1980s to focus on other interests after sustaining a severe head injury in competition. Textor claimed this accident was the reason he turned toward his education and to technology interests at a young age.[8]

Business career[]

Football[]

In August 2021, Textor invested £86million into Crystal Palace Football Club, joining Steve Parish, Josh Harris, and David Blitzer as a co-owner.[9][10][11][12] Textor was also linked to efforts to purchase Brentford FC, Watford FC and Newcastle United.[13][14]

Textor's fuboTV is known to European and South American football fans due to Fubo's Portuguese TV package.[15]

Technology, Media and Entertainment[]

fuboTV (Facebank Group)[]

Main article: FuboTV

According to a 2019 SEC filing Facebank Group previously operated as Pulse Evolution Group and Recall Studios. The organisation’s filing described them as a digital human technology company, focused on the development, collection, protection and preparation of the personal digital likeness assets, of celebrities and consumers, for use in artificial intelligence, entertainment, personal productivity and social networking.[16] when it acquired Fubo TV. Allywatch described the acquisition as a reverse merger that effectively enabled Fubo TV to operate as a public company.[17] Fubo claimed that the merger expanded the organization's presence in the over-the-top television industry[18][19]

Fobo TV's colour logo circa 2017
Fubo TV's Logo circa 2017

In April 2020, Textor completed the acquisition of fuboTV Media.[20] via zoom call.[21] Thusly, Fubo went public.[22] and in under two years, grew to an NYSE-listed market value of more than $6 billion.[23]

In the spring of 2020, Textor resigned from his post as Executive Chairman of fuboTV while remaining a member of the board of directors. At the time of his resignation from fuboTV, and through completion of the company's IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, Textor remained the largest shareholder of fuboTV.[24] [25]

FuboTV grew rapidly in value as a public company, moving from the over-the-counter market, to the New York Stock Exchange, to the Russell 3000 index in only 9 months.[26]

Digital Domain[]

In May 2006, Textor acquired Digital Domain with film director Michael Bay. Textor and Bay, as co-chairman, led the $30 million acquisition and restructuring of Digital Domain from May 2006, to a doubling of revenues and cash flow by 2010, and an NYSE valuation of $450 million in Spring 2012. The company was responsible for the visual effects of more than 80 large scale feature films, including such blockbusters as Transformers, Flags of our Fathers, Tron: Legacy, Real Steel, Pirates of the Caribbean at World's End, and Thor.[27]

Under Textor's leadership, Digital Domain was re-established as a market leader in visual effects, winning multiple Academy Awards, Clio awards, and being recognized as the first visual effects company to deliver a believable digital human actor in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This achievement, known as the ‘Holy Grail of Visual Effects’, earned the company a 2009 Academy Award for Achievement in Visual Effects.[28]

In the face of significant negative trends in the visual effects industry, principally the relocation of U.S. jobs to cheaper labor markets, Textor believed it necessary to expand the business into film production, content ownership and new media. In 2009, Digital Domain invested heavily, along with government funded grants, to train a workforce in Florida that was intended to reduce domestic costs, create new domestic jobs and launch the content development business. In 2011, Digital Domain Media Group entered into the film production business with a major investment into the feature film Ender's Game.[29] Textor is credited as Producer and Executive Producer on the film.[30][31]

Textor's team of artists organized the 2012 appearance of Virtual Tupac Shakur[32][33][34][35] at the Coachella Valley Music Festival.[36][37][38][39][40] Following that debut, YouTube videos of the performance amassed 15 million views. in just two days, and more than 60 million in the following months. Google search results for Tupac hologram exceeded 50 million. Tupac Shakur album sales jumped 500% and downloads of his song “Hail Mary” rose 1,500% after the two performances. The performance ultimately earned Textor's studio the Titanium Award at the 59th annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.[41][42][43]

Textor himself is no stranger to controversy as he experienced a high-profile business failure in 2012 when Digital Domain, one of Hollywood's most decorated visual effects specialists, became the subject of a hostile restructuring, led by Textor's once-friendly hedge fund investors. Textor lost control of his company, only to see its U.S. operations restructured through bankruptcy and relaunched through a $3.5 billion IPO in Hong Kong. Textor's personally launched Florida studio was shut down, hundreds of his employees lost their jobs and Textor and his fellow directors, such as John Sculley faced numerous lawsuits related to the shutdown.

He has never denied making mistakes with the business but Textor was cleared of any financial wrongdoing by the courts and the state of Florida's Inspector General,[44][45] and he later received more than £6 million in a settlement [46][47] with the hedge funds that were eventually found to have really caused Digital Domain's collapse.

In the resolution of all disputed matters between the Digital Domain interested parties, including the state of Florida, Textor was awarded $8.5 million in financial damages and also assigned all technology assets of Digital Domain's Florida studio. SEC filings[48] demonstrate that Textor used the award of these technology assets to launch the business that would ultimately become fuboTV.[49][50]

Since then, he has rebuilt his reputation and wealth. In 2013, he launched Facebank, “a technology-driven intellectual property company engaged in the development and promotion of human likeness technologies”, and, in 2020, it bought sports streaming platform fuboTV, merging the two businesses before floating them on the New York Stock Exchange as FuboTV Inc.[51][52]

Pulse Evolution[]

In late 2013, Textor organized a group of former Digital Domain employees, including Academy Award-winning digital artists and human animation specialists, to create Pulse Evolution Corporation, a globally recognized pioneer in the development of hyper-realistic digital humans for live shows, virtual reality, augmented reality, holographic, 3D stereoscopic, web, mobile, interactive and artificial intelligence applications.[53][54] Pulse Evolution first showcased its technology with the holographic performance of Virtual Michael Jackson at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards,[55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] generating more than 100 million YouTube views and 98 billion Internet impressions worldwide. The global interest in Virtual Tupac and Virtual Michael Jackson led to ‘pop culture status’ for Textor and his Pulse partner Frank Patterson,[66] as the two were parodied in the holograms episodes of the globally successful animated sitcom, South Park.

Internet Businesses[]

Art Technology Group[]

Early in his career, Textor was best known for his support of Art Technology Group, a principal pioneer of internet personalization technology. ATG was initially funded by leading private equity investors such as Bain and Softbank, but was dropped and de-funded by mid-1996. Textor's holding company, Wyndcrest Partners, stepped in to fund in 1996, helping the company to support payroll and continue its business plan, guiding the company through one of the most successful IPOs of 1999 and a liquid valuation of more than $10 billion.[67]

Virtual Bank / Lydian Trust Company[]

VirtualBank also attracted several other high-profile investors, such as Worldcom Chairman Bernie Ebbers, pro football player Dan Marino, and early Microsoft senior manager Carl Stork. These relationships led VirtualBank to launch several affinity branded internet banks for major corporations, such as MicrosoftVirtualBank, EMCVirtualBank, WorldcomVirtualBank, and TextronVirtualBank. In 2004, Lydian Trust was named Private Wealth Manager of the Year by Institutional Investor magazine.[68]

JesterDigital[]

Prior to the popularization of various forms of digital distribution, Textor created an internet-based 3-D multi-user virtual world. The new technology was the first digital distribution platform to be endorsed by Metallica and was also supported by joint-ventures with leading digital rights management companies, such as IBM, and strategic relationships with leading music artists and action sports companies. Jester Digital Corporation was among the earliest to create internet-based multi-user virtual reality and game-like environments which paved the way for the convergence of music and the internet, massive multi-player games, and the digital distribution of entertainment content.[69][70]

BabyUniverse[]

In the early 2000s, Textor took control of BabyUniverse.com,[71] an insolvent e-tailor of baby-related products. BabyUniverse then saw an increase in revenues from $1 million to $40 million, resulting in the October 2007 sale of BabyUniverse into a reverse merger and change of control transaction with eToys.com, a well-known e-commerce company, controlled by D.E. Shaw. Textor resigned as CEO at the time of the merger, with BabyUniverse stock trading at its all-time high of $12.00 per share, having nearly tripled from its low in February of that same year.[72] He later became Chairman of eToys.

Actions Sports[]

Sims Snowboards[]

Textor served as Chairman of the Board and the principal owner of Sims Snowboards, the world's 2nd leading snowboard brand, having acquired Sims in 1996.[73]

References[]

  1. ^ Ernest, Dale; Meloy, Charles (1962). "Hamilton MacFarland Barksdale and the DuPont Contributions to Systematic Management". The Business History Review. 36 (2): 127–152. doi:10.2307/3111452. JSTOR 3111452. S2CID 145225258. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  2. ^ Jack Rosser (2021-08-11). "Crystal Palace: American businessman John Textor buys stake in club". www.standard.co.uk. The Evening Standard. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  3. ^ "Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor in talks to buy Belgian side RWD Molenbeek". The Athletic. 23 December 2021.
  4. ^ Melanie Lee (2016-03-31). "Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru Looks East". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru
  5. ^ Oisin Lunny (2020-04-27). "Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru Looks East". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Facebank CEO John Textor has been at the leading edge of digital likenesses since the early days of VRML.
  6. ^ Abramson, Andrew (2010-09-19). "Ups, downs just business as usual for studio boss poised to change West Palm Beach". www.palmbeachpost.com. Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  7. ^ Joslin, Hunter (2018-01-01). "Indo Board History - The Indo Board Story". Retrieved 2021-01-30. The Sims team, consisting of Mike Folmer, Scott "Red" McCranels, Chris West, Chuck Lagana and John Textor dominated the Florida skateboard competition scene.
  8. ^ Cohen, Ted (2016-05-05). "John Textor: Master of Surreality, Keynote Interview by Ted Cohen". YouTube. Retrieved 2021-01-31. Had I not landed on my head that day, I am sure I would not be sitting here, in front of all of you
  9. ^ Jonathan Northcroft (2021-08-11). "Crystal Palace and Patrick Vieira receive transfer boost as US 'hologram pioneer' John Textor invests £87m". www.thetimes.co.uk. The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2021-08-14.
  10. ^ Jack Rosser (2021-08-11). "Crystal Palace: American businessman John Textor buys stake in club". www.standard.co.uk. Evening Standard. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  11. ^ Alex Howell (2021-08-11). "Crystal Palace: Crystal Palace investment: John Textor appointed as new director". www.bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  12. ^ "Crystal Palace: American businessman John Textor buys stake in Premier League club". www.skysports.com. Sky Sports. 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2022-01-2021. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  13. ^ Kieran Maguire (2021-07-16). "Maguire: Ashley 'convinced' by Premier League's 'green light to PiF' as rival Newcastle takeover bid rejected". www.footballinsider247.com. Football Insider. Retrieved 2021-08-11. American digital media tycoon has been looking to buy an English club for over a year and held a concrete interest in Newcastle.
  14. ^ "Overseas investor placed deposit on Newcastle takeover only for Mike Ashley to 'change his mind'". www.chroniclelive.co.uk. Chronicle Live. 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2021-08-11. An American investor placed a deposit down for a potential takeover of Newcastle United - only for Mike Ashley to 'change his mind'.
  15. ^ "Quem é John Textor, o milionário interessado no Benfica". www.msn.com. MSN News. 2021-07-14. Retrieved 2021-08-11. This interest has materialized in businesses such as fuboTV, a sports-focused television streaming service of which he was CEO [executive chairman] and is now majority shareholder.
  16. ^ "Pulse Evolution Group becomes Facebank Group as Europe Acquisition Drives Digital Human Industry Growth Plan" (Press release). Intrado Global Newswire. 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  17. ^ Reza Chowdhury. "fuboTV Acquired by FaceBank Group". alleywatch.com. Alley Watch. Retrieved 2021-08-12. fuboTV will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of FaceBank Group
  18. ^ Krystal Hu (2020-03-23). "FuboTV to merge with FaceBank; sources say values FuboTV at $700 million". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 2021-08-12. Streaming provider FuboTV said on Monday that it had agreed to merge with virtual entertainment firm FaceBank Group Inc
  19. ^ "Facebank Group SEC Form 10-Q Sep 30_2019". SEC.gov. Securities Exchange Commission. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2021-02-08. FaceBank Group, Inc. is a digital human technology company, focused on the development, collection, protection and preparation of the personal digital likeness assets, of celebrities and consumers, for use in artificial intelligence, entertainment, personal productivity and social networking.
  20. ^ David Bloom (2020-03-23). "Skinny Bundle FuboTV Beefs Up Amid COVID-19 Storm In Merger With Facebank Group". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-12. Sports-oriented streaming-video service FuboTV announced it will merge with technology developer Facebank Group
  21. ^ Dinesh Nair, Liana Baker, David Hellier (2020-03-24). "Dealmakers Getting Creative After Virus Upends M&A Market". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved 2021-08-12. FaceBank and FuboTV executives wrapped up their final rounds of negotiations last week on Zoom{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ Rick Munarriz (2020-12-28). "This Was the Top-Performing IPO in 2020". fool.com.com. The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2021-08-12. You more than tripled your investment if you were able to get in on the IPOs for Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR), Lemonade (NYSE:LMND), and fuboTV (NYSE:FUBO).
  23. ^ Jon Lafayette (2020-04-02). "FuboTV Emerges After Combining with FaceBank". nexttv.com.com. Broadcasting+Cable. Retrieved 2021-08-12. FuboTV and FaceBank Group said they completed their merger agreement and that the combined company will be called fuboTV.
  24. ^ "Facebank Group SEC Form 8-K Mar_23_2020". SEC.gov. Securities Exchange Commission. 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2021-02-08. The effect of the Stock Exchange Ratio and the voting provisions of the Series AA Preferred Stock is to initially establish a two-thirds majority ownership of FaceBank on a common equivalent basis for the fuboTV shareholders while preserving a majority voting interest for the FaceBank shareholders.
  25. ^ "Beneficial Ownership of Securities". SEC.gov. Securities Exchange Commission. 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2021-02-08. John Textor 12.01 percent
  26. ^ "fuboTV Set to Join Russell 3000® Index". businesswire.com. Businesswire. 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2021-02-08. fuboTV Inc. (NYSE: FUBO), the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform, is set to join the broad-market Russell 3000® Index at the conclusion of the 2021.
  27. ^ Ben Fritz (2006-05-15). "Digital Domain docks with Bay". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The purchaser of record is Wyndcrest Holdings, whose principals are Bay, Marino, former Microsoft exec Carl Stork, former Sims Snowboards chair John C. Textor and Jonathan Teaford, formerly of GE Capital Services.
  28. ^ Carolyn Giardina (2009-02-22). "'Benjamin Button' is VFX's Holy Grail". hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The win also delivered lead VFX facility Digital Domain its first VFX Academy Award
  29. ^ Richard Vierrier (2013-10-23). "For 'Ender's Game,' effects house Digital Domain took a bigger role". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The movie also is a test for the film’s co-producer, Digital Domain
  30. ^ "First Look at Ender's Game starring Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield!". imdb.com. IMDB. 2012-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-11. John Textor Produce.
  31. ^ Michael Cieply (2013-01-14). "A Movie Mogul Rising". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-08-11. In putting together “Ender’s Game,” for instance, OddLot joined Digital Domain in providing about 75 percent of the budget
  32. ^ Gil Kaufman (2017-03-19). "Tupac, Michael Jackson, Gorillaz & More: A History of the Musical Hologram". billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 2021-08-13. the Tupac Shakur hologram that blew fans' minds at Coachella in 2012
  33. ^ Dave McNary (2016-02-05). "Hologram Specialist Pulse Receives $10 Million Investment From Chinese Companies". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Pulse Evolution’s executive chairman John Textor gained notice for the computer-generated animation of Tupac Shakur
  34. ^ Rowell, David (2021-07-10). "The Spectacular, Strange Rise of Music Holograms". The Washington Post Magazine. washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
  35. ^ Sean Michaels (2014-05-15). "Will Michael Jackson's hologram dance at the Billboard music awards?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Billboard producers have hired John Textor, who created the hologram of Tupac Shakur for Coachella festival in 2012
  36. ^ Oisin Lunny (2020-04-27). "Minecraft, Fortnite And Avatars; How Lockdown Is Changing The Future Of Live Music". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-13. "Holograms" in the music business arrived to a mix of fanfare and fascination when hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur joined Snoop Dogg on stage at the 2012 Coachella Music Festival.
  37. ^ Keisha Lamothe (2012-05-10). "Behind the Tupac hologram: Inside Digital Domain". money.cnn.com. CNN Money. Retrieved 2021-08-11. You've probably heard that rapper Tupac Shakur's hologram was a hit at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, but you may not know that the company that created the virtual image has been around for more than 20 years
  38. ^ Julie Miller (2012-06-06). "Elvis Presley to Be Digitally Revived Using Tupac Shakur "Holographic" Technology Technology". vanityfair.com. Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2021-08-11. After engineering Tupac Shakur’s surprising, hologram-like performance at this year’s Coachella Music Festival, Digital Domain Media has announced a partnership to revive Elvis Presley
  39. ^ Ethan Smith (2012-08-29). "Digital Domain CEO Says There's No Hologram Reagan in the Works". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2021-08-11. "I would enjoy seeing holograms in political discourse," said John Textor, CEO of Digital Domain Media Group, a visual effects house that has created digital characters for numerous Hollywood movies.
  40. ^ Megan Garber (2012-08-31). "Ronald Reagan and the Case of the Missing Hologram". theatlantic.com. The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The Wall Street Journal spoke to John Textor, the CEO of Digital Domain Media -- the firm that created the seminal hologram, the optical Tupac that appeared at this year's Coachella music festival.
  41. ^ Eddie Staley (2012-04-18). "Digital Domain Media Group CEO John Textor Will Be a Guest on CNBC's Fast Money on Wednesday, April 18". benzinga.com. Benzinga. Retrieved 2021-08-11. John Textor, chairman and CEO of Digital Domain Media Group NYSEDDMG, will be a guest on “The Next Big Thing” segment of CNBC's Fast Money today, Wednesday, April 18.
  42. ^ Richard Verrier (2012-06-25). "'Virtual 2Pac' image wins award for Digital Domain". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-08-11. the company had received a Titanium Award at the 59th annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for its virtual performance of the late rap star Tupac Shakur.
  43. ^ Kaitlyn Tiffany (2018-10-23). "No industry is weirder than the dead celebrity hologram industry". vox.com. Vox. Retrieved 2021-08-11. This hologram, created by special effects company Digital Domain
  44. ^ "Supreme Court of New York Terminates Lawsuit against John Textor". prweb.com. Cision PR Web. 2021-08-21. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The Supreme Court of the State of New York ordered a convincing summary judgment in favor of John Textor, terminating a lawsuit against the former CEO of Digital Domain Media Group. The Court found no evidence of fraud or misrepresentation and confirmed that DDMG accurately disclosed its financial situation to investors. The Court further ordered the plaintiffs to reimburse Mr. Textor for his fees and court costs.
  45. ^ Review of the Economic Incentive Award to Digital Domain Media Group (PDF) (Report). Executive Office of the Governor. p. 2. 2013-11. Retrieved 2021-08-11. we found no apparent violations of law, rule, or regulation in the award of $20 million economic development funds to Digital Domain in 2009.
  46. ^ Matt Slater (2021-07-21). "Crystal Palace takeover". theathletic.com. The Athletic. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Textor was cleared of any financial wrongdoing by the courts, and he later received more than £6 million in a settlement with the hedge funds that were eventually found to have really caused Digital Domain’s collapse.
  47. ^ Kaitlyn Tiffany (2018-10-23). "No industry is weirder than the dead celebrity hologram industry". vox.com. Vox. Retrieved 2021-08-12. I did prevail in the lawsuit and was awarded the largest settlement out of the lawsuit.
  48. ^ "PulseEvolution Group, Inc". sec.gov. SEC. 2017-12-31. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Pulse Evolution Group, Inc. was incorporated under the laws of the State of Florida in February 2009 under the name York Entertainment, Inc. The Company changed its name to Brick Top Productions, Inc. in October 2010, and to Carolco Pictures, Inc. in January 2015. Effective November 29, 2017, the Company’s corporate name was changed to Recall Studios, Inc. On February 28, 2019, the Company’s corporate name was changed to Pulse Evolution Group, Inc.
  49. ^ Nicole Rodriguez (2016-05-24). "Port St. Lucie, state each gets $3 million in Digital Domain settlement; Textor to get $8.5 million". tcpalm.com. TC Palm. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The city, the state and former Digital Domain CEO John Textor all will get multimillion-dollar payouts from a settlement in the two-year-old lawsuit against the defunct Digital Domain Media Group.
  50. ^ Bruno Moore (2016-06-03). "Courts make decision on Digital Domain accusations". yourvoiceweekly.com. Your Voice Weekly. Retrieved 2021-08-11. the court concluded that the investors showed no clear sign that fraud was perpetrated
  51. ^ Matt Slater (2021-07-10). "Crystal Palace takeover: Benfica arrests cast doubt over Textor's partnership plans". theathletic.com. The Athletic. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Since then, he has rebuilt his reputation and wealth.
  52. ^ Jim Robertson. "Mike Ashley knock back on John Textor bid to buy Newcastle United revealed". themag.co.uk. The Mag. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Textor was sued by investors but cleared by the courts and indeed received £6m compensation from hedge funds who were found to have been behind the company’s collapse.
  53. ^ "Pulse Evolution Group Reports 2018 Audited Results". globenewswire.com. Intrado. 2019-06-10. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Pulse Evolution Group, Inc. (OTCQB: DGLF) is a developer of hyper-realistic digital humans – computer generated assets that can be distributed across the full spectrum of traditional media and emerging display technologies, including live entertainment, virtual reality, augmented reality, mobile, interactive and artificial intelligence applications.
  54. ^ Kim Lachance Shandrow (2014-07-02). "Smoke and Mirrors: Why We Aren't Seeing More Digital Zombies Like Michael Jackson". nbcnews.com. NBC News. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Pulse Evolution Corporation, a Port St. Lucie, Fla.-based digital human animation and production startup launched last October
  55. ^ Oisin Lunny (2020-04-27). "Minecraft, Fortnite And Avatars; How Lockdown Is Changing The Future Of Live Music". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-13. Five years after his death, Michael Jackson appeared at the 2014 Billboard awards as a moonwalking "hologram."
  56. ^ Spencer Lowell (2018-08-05). "Inside the bitter war to bring Tupac and Michael Jackson back to life". wired.co.uk.com. Wired. Retrieved 2021-08-13. The performance, at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, was the latest in a stream of holograms featuring deceased artists.
  57. ^ Melanie Lee (2016-03-31). "Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru Looks East". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Over John Textor’s long career in Hollywood, he and his team have digitally resurrected Michael Jackson for the Billboard Music Awards
  58. ^ Jimi Famurewa (2018-08-05). "Inside the bitter war to bring Tupac and Michael Jackson back to life". wired.co.uk. Wired. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Michael Jackson, five years after his death, makes his way down the steps on to the Las Vegas stage and proceeds to sing and dance his way through a previously unreleased song called “Slave to the Rhythm”.
  59. ^ Alice Woodhouse (2016-04-05). "Tupac, Jacko - who's next? Pulse Evolution says many holograms of stage stars coming soon as era of 'digital humans' beckons". scmp.com. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2021-08-11. the company behind Michael Jackson’s appearance as a hologram at the Billboard Music Awards in 2014 expands its reach beyond celebrities who have passed away.
  60. ^ Lulu Yilun Chen (2016-05-16). "China's Virtual Reality Market Will Be Worth $8.5 Billion and Everyone Wants a Piece". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Florida-based Pulse Evolution Corp., which created holograms of Michael Jackson and rapper Tupac Shakur for concerts.
  61. ^ Hannah Karp (2016-03-17). "Virtual Pop Stars Set to Take the Stage". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Mr. Fuller is now developing virtual music stars after a deal that made him one of the largest shareholders of digital production firm Pulse Evolution Corp. Previously, the company made waves with its holographic or lifelike images of dead singers such as Tupac Shakur and Michael Jackson.
  62. ^ Dave McNary (2016-02-16). "Hologram Specialist Pulse Receives $10 Million Investment From Chinese Companies". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Textor launched Pulse in 2014 with the production of a “virtual” Michael Jackson at the Billboard Music Awards.
  63. ^ David Rowell (2019-10-30). "The Spectacular, Strange Rise of Music Holograms". washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post Magazine. Retrieved 2021-08-11. After Tupac, Textor kept busy with his next project: a Michael Jackson hologram that performed a previously unreleased track at the Billboard Music Awards in 2014.
  64. ^ Sean Michaels (2014-05-15). "Will Michael Jackson's hologram dance at the Billboard music awards?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-08-11. John Textor, who created a Tupac Shakur hologram for Coachella, is said to be digitally resurrecting the late pop star
  65. ^ Mark Binelli (2020-01-07). "Old Musicians Never Die. They Just Become Holograms". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-08-11. John Textor, quickly started a new company, Pulse Evolution, which produced the Jackson hologram
  66. ^ Marco della Cava (2014-05-22). "Meet the conjurers of Michael Jackson's ghost". usatoday.com. USA Today. Retrieved 2021-08-13. "It's not a hologram," says Pulse Executive Chairman John Textor, sitting in the room where the Jackson effect was crafted with Patterson and visual effects supervisor Stephen Rosenbaum, who worked on Avatar.
  67. ^ "Oracle Buys ATG". oracle.com. Oracle. 2010-11-02. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Oracle announced today that it has agreed to acquire Art Technology Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARTG), a leading provider of eCommerce software and related on demand commerce optimization applications, through a cash merger for $6.00 per share, or approximately $1.0 billion.
  68. ^ "John Textor" (Press release). Atlanta, GA: Topio Networks. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
  69. ^ Mike Vogel (2009-11-01). "Animated Decision for Digital Studio". floridatrend.com. Florida Trend. Retrieved 2021-08-11. website developer Jester Digital, online retailer Babyuniverse and Virtual Bank.
  70. ^ Christine Winter (2000-11-10). "SERIOUS OPPORTUNITY". sun-sentinel.com. Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2021-08-11. John Textor, 35, chief executive officer and founder of West Palm Beach-based JesterDigital
  71. ^ "John Textor Chairman at Multicast Media Networks". topionetworks.com. Topio Network. Retrieved 2021-08-13. Since 2002, he has served as chairman and CEO of BabyUniverse, Inc.
  72. ^ Brian Bandell (2005-09-08). "With IPO, online retailer outgrows training pants". bizjournals.com. South Florida Business Journal. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Wyndcrest Partners, a Hobe Sound-based venture capital firm headed by John Textor, who doubles as chairman and CEO of Baby Universe.
  73. ^ "SIMS OWNER SETS RECORD STRAIGHT". snowboarder.com. Snow Boarder. 2002-03-01. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Sims Owner John Textor discussed the current situation with Sims Snowboards

Further reading[]

  • Snyder, Craig. A Secret History of the Ollie, 2005. ISBN 9781930287006
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