Latest news with #MichaelNathanson
Business Wire
29-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Focus Partners Wealth Expands with First External Acquisition Since Rebrand
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Focus Financial Partners Inc., an interdependent partnership of wealth management, business management, and related financial services firms, today announced that Focus Partners Wealth, LLC will acquire Churchill Management Corporation in a transaction expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions. Upon completion of this transaction, Churchill will be the first external firm that Focus Partners Wealth has acquired since its rebrand in January 2025. Churchill is expected to add approximately $9.4 billion, measured as of March 31, 2025, to Focus Partners Wealth's existing regulatory assets under management. 'M&A remains an avenue for us to add high-quality firms that are committed to evolving for the benefit of their clients,' said Michael Nathanson, CEO of Focus Financial Partners. 'Firms like Churchill, with its commitment to outstanding client service and industry-leading success, are ideal for the integrated model we are building. From our first conversation, it was clear that we shared a vision, making this a natural fit and a special opportunity for both firms.' Founded in 1963, Los Angeles-based Churchill provides investment management and financial planning services to clients nationwide. The firm's employees include a national team of advisors and business development professionals. This transaction will bring together two businesses with a shared client-first philosophy. The Churchill team will gain access to a more expansive suite of client services, while Focus Partners Wealth will gain a national, growth-oriented team that complements Focus Partners Wealth's presence and service offering. The Churchill business will operate as a division of Focus Partners Wealth for a period of time following completion of the acquisition before transitioning to Focus Partners Wealth in the future. 'As we continue to build Focus Partners, there is nothing that thrills me more than joining forces with a great firm that enhances what we do,' said Adam Birenbaum, CEO of Focus Partners Wealth. 'The Churchill team is highly talented and complementary. They combine a very rare mindset of high growth and progress forward with a high standard of care. I cannot wait to welcome them.' This alignment of values and complementary strengths sets the stage for a smooth integration—one that benefits Focus Partners Wealth, the Churchill team, and, most importantly, the clients they serve. Leadership from both organizations shared their enthusiasm for what this transaction makes possible. 'Throughout our more than 60 years of serving clients, our core principle has been to meet and exceed our clients' financial goals using a comprehensive, multi-strategy approach to investing,' said Randy Conner, President of Churchill. 'We are excited to begin providing an even greater depth of services to our valued clients with the resources of Focus Partners Wealth.' Travis Danysh, Chief Corporate Development Officer of Focus Financial Partners, added, 'We view a successful transaction as one that strengthens our business and furthers our capabilities for clients. The addition of Churchill supports our goals to add talented and client-oriented businesses to Focus Partners Wealth.' Berkshire Global Advisors LP served as the exclusive financial advisor to Churchill. RBC Capital Markets served as the exclusive financial advisors to Focus on the transaction. About Focus Financial Partners Inc. Focus is an interdependent partnership of wealth management, business management, and related financial services firms, rooted in a client-first approach and powered by the collective energy and capabilities of its many advisors and professionals. The Focus partnership includes firms operated under the Focus Partners brand that reflect the company's key business lines. Through a blend of innovative solutions, strong capital backing, and deep business expertise, Focus empowers its firms to achieve their business objectives by helping them better serve their clients and advisors. Discover more about how Focus is evolving the wealth and business management landscape by visiting or by following the company on LinkedIn. About Focus Partners Wealth, LLC Focus Partners Wealth is an organization of wealth, asset, and business management resources that brings strength, innovation, and partnership to client relationships. Through a comprehensive range of services, Focus Partners Wealth works with clients at every stage, helping them manage their financial future. Their team of advisors works collectively to deliver personalized wealth planning strategies across local communities, placing clients' values, goals, motivations, and priorities at the heart of what they do. With nearly 100 locations across the country, Focus Partners Wealth serves clients in all 50 states. For more information visit About Churchill Management Group Founded in 1963, Churchill Management serves over 7,000 clients with combined regulatory assets under management of over $9.4 billion as of March 31, 2025. The firm credits its success to a combination of its commitment to communication, dedicated service teams, and a blend of tactical and fully invested strategies tailored around comprehensive financial planning. © 2025 Focus Financial Partners. All rights reserved.
CNBC
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Consumer need isn't there for OpenAI hardware product, says Michael Nathanson
Michael Nathanson, MoffettNathanson founding partner and senior research analyst, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss if physical hardware will be a part of AI, who are the winners in big tech, and much more.
Mint
21-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Google still needs to convince investors it has got the hang of AI
No company can match Google's ability to get artificial intelligence in front of the masses. That's not always enough. The internet titan spent two hours at the opening of its annual developers conference on Tuesday showcasing its latest AI developments. These include 3-D video calls, real-time language translation and digital assistants that use AI to prepare users for tests or projects. Google is also bringing an 'AI mode" to its ubiquitous search engine for U.S. users, which can produce deeper answers to queries, well beyond a sea of links. Google powers about 90% of the world's searches now, and its Android operating system runs nearly three-quarters of smartphones in use globally, according to data from Statcounter. That, along with other widely used tools, such as Gmail and the Chrome internet browser, create a massive platform for Google to distribute new features and services. But those add-on services don't always take hold. And Google's breadth still hasn't stopped at least some search users from gravitating toward AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Meanwhile, the federal government is pressing two antitrust cases seeking to break the company up, threatening some of its vital distribution channels. The twin threats of AI displacement and a forced breakup amount to a new existential risk for the company. The stock of Google's parent, Alphabet, fell Tuesday after its I/O conference keynote and is now down 13% this year. It is the only megacap tech company to have lost market value over the past 12 months. News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, has a commercial agreement to supply content on Google platforms. Alphabet is now the cheapest big tech by a significant margin, trading at around 17 times forward earnings, compared with an average of 29 times for its peers. Valuation alone won't win over investors if they remain convinced that government penalties and competition mean Google's best days are behind it. 'Until the regulatory dust settles and Alphabet's future search share, particularly in commercial queries, becomes more certain, Alphabet investors remain in this uneasy state," wrote Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson in a recent report. It helps that Google has been here before. The stock was previously at this valuation level in early 2023, after the public launch of ChatGPT and the partnership between OpenAI and Microsoft created the impression that Google was now playing catch-up in AI. Google responded by aggressively launching its own AI features while keeping its core business humming. The company's annual advertising revenue has risen 20% to about $270 billion since ChatGPT's launch, a sign that it remains strong in searches with commercial intent. Google's corporate cloud business—another distribution point for AI services—has grown by 45% during that time. And Google might not actually be running that far behind its new generative-AI competitors. A survey by Morgan Stanley of Americans 16 and up found that 40% of respondents reported in March that they used Google's Gemini at least once a month, which was only 1 percentage point lower than the number saying they used ChatGPT that much. The same survey, though, found that ChatGPT had a strong edge with the younger crowd, as 68% of 16- to 24-year-olds reported using the chatbot, compared with 46% for Gemini. That is valuable mindshare that Google still needs to win over. The company that has long maintained search dominance knows all too well how internet habits can be hard to break. Write to Dan Gallagher at
Business Insider
06-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
TV's big week is coming, and everyone wants a piece of YouTube
Streaming and network giants like Amazon, Disney, NBCUniversal, and Paramount will gather in New York next week to parade their best programming in front of ad buyers, in hopes of securing big commitments. One thing everyone's sure to be whispering about: YouTube's growing dominance in the living room. The platform's success on bigger screens has been well documented. Now, the economic uncertainty rattling markets is making YouTube increasingly attractive to advertisers. MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson recently predicted that YouTube would be the biggest media company in the world by revenue this year, surpassing Disney. At the TV upfronts next week, streaming giants and traditional networks will try to prove they can deliver the same value and flexibility as YouTube — and remind advertisers about areas like sports where they are still dominant. "YouTube has been the beneficiary of tremendous growth in streaming and also in ad spend, and it has done that without a formula that's dependent on premium content," said Christopher Vollmer, a partner at the talent agency UTA and managing director of its media consultancy MediaLink. "It's giving the buying entities — the agencies and the brands — a lot of what they look for: Scaled media consumption, on a big screen, looks like TV, and all the bells and whistles in terms of the performance metrics of digital," Vollmer added. TV players are taking a page from YouTube As the impact of tariffs and declining consumer confidence threatens advertisers' spending plans, a key theme of this year's upfronts will be flexibility, ad buyers said. Digital players like YouTube are well-positioned in this sort of environment because online ads tend to be easier to switch on and off as required. TV networks, for whom the upfronts were created to lock in ironclad spending commitments, will begrudgingly have to accept the current reality. "Clients want to feel like they are putting money into the marketplace, but if they need to pivot in any way, that they have the ability to do so without penalties," said Jessie Schwartzfarb, an EVP at the media agency Dentsu Media US. In their pitches, TV players are acting a little more like YouTube, industry insiders said. Their presentations are likely to hammer home how they're matching the tech giant's adtech and data chops. Given the macro environment and the decline of linear TV viewing, there's no escaping that the upfronts will probably be a buyer's market this year. The so-called scatter market — TV ad inventory that's not purchased during the upfronts, and which typically sells at rates around 30% to 40% more — is already soft, said Ed Papazian, founder of MediaDynamics, a media research and consulting company. "The fly in the ointment right now is the erratic behavior of the government — the tariffs — which is making it difficult to predict the economic picture for the full year next season," Papazian said. MrBeast vs sports YouTube, which will host its own Brandcast sales event during the upfronts, will return to the stage with its biggest star: MrBeast. It's also promoting opportunities for advertisers to own the conversation around cultural events like the Masters and the Met Gala and work more closely with creators. Despite its rise, YouTube isn't a must-buy for all TV advertisers. Some are still befuddled by its breadth and see it as downmarket. "The tension is really still — I don't know if my ad will show up on something amateur," an exec at a major ad agency said. Another area of weakness for YouTube is sports. Sure, YouTube has the NFL's Sunday Ticket. But the TV companies will certainly remind buyers that there's no better place to reach large, captive audiences than with tentpole live sports like the Super Bowl and the Olympics. "I got one word for you today: sports," said Michael Kassan, a longtime ad industry player, riffing on the famous advice a young Dustin Hoffman's character got in "The Graduate." "That's what's selling. And I got two words for you: women's sports." NBCUniversal plans to emphasize in its pitch that it'll own nearly 40% of big event viewership in the US, with 129 nights of live sports in primetime from 2025 to 2026. Upfront attendees can expect to see personalities representing the NBA, Super Bowl LX, and the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics take the stage. Paramount will also lean on its extensive sports offering, with appearances by its on-air talent. Disney is going for an intimate show that emphasizes the famous IP that only the Mouse House has, like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, said Bill Skrief, who runs DeadLizard with Todd Reinhart, a creative agency whose clients include Disney. Papazian said TV networks may also look to bundle their broadcast, cable, and streaming holdings as one package to advertisers in order to regain some leverage. Everyone's touting their creator relationships The line between digital and TV in the ad market is increasingly blurring. In years past, TV companies focused their upfront events simply on the programming and the celebrities, but they are now devoting more stage time to the under-the-hood tech. On the flipside, YouTube, streamers, and tech platforms are attempting to prove they've moved beyond "video" to premium TV. Legacy TV companies have also sought to deepen their relationships with creators. Last week, for example, NBCUniversal announced four scripted series on its streaming service Peacock featuring "self-made social media stars." Ed East, CEO of the influencer marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy, said TV networks are increasingly exploring partnerships where advertisers co-produce creator-led content. "These are sophisticated, commercially-driven operations, and TV networks are responding," East said. Who will come out on top this year? Katie Klein, chief investment officer of the media agency Omnicom Media Group North America, said the winner of the upfronts will be whoever best combines digital and TV strengths. "I don't think there's a clear winner yet, but I do think that this year's upfront will certainly help us to determine who's coming out ahead," Klein said.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
YouTube's 20th Anniversary Marks Rise Toward Media Revenue Leadership
YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL, Financials), is expected to surpass Disney in 2025 to become the top media company by revenue, according to analysts at MoffettNathanson. The video platform, launched two decades ago, has evolved into a critical revenue engine for Alphabet and a cornerstone of the digital creator economy. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with RKUNY. Analysts value YouTube as a standalone business between $475 billion and $550 billion, highlighting its scale, user engagement, and monetization strength. The site is currently the second-most visited globally behind Google, based on Similarweb data. Over 20 billion videos have been uploaded to the platform since its launch. YouTube now contributes alongside Google Cloud to more than 30% of Alphabet's overall revenue, analysts said. The platform's revenue streams include advertising and subscription-based services such as YouTube Premium, YouTube Music, and YouTube TV. MoffettNathanson estimates YouTube Premium and Music collectively had 107 million paying users as of 2024, with projections reaching 145 million by 2027. YouTube TV is forecast to reach 11.5 million subscribers in that period. Despite growth, YouTube faces challenges. The growing popularity of short-form video platforms such as TikTok prompted Alphabet to prioritize YouTube Shorts, though analysts said monetization remains limited. It's probably helping them drive engagement, but I don't think it's an added benefit to revenues, MoffettNathanson's Michael Nathanson said in a CNBC interview. The company remains under antitrust scrutiny. A U.S. federal judge recently ruled that Google maintains illegal monopolies in the online ad market, raising the possibility that regulators could target YouTube for divestiture. Gartner analyst Andrew Frank told CNBC that Google could face pressure to relax control over parts of its media assets as a result. YouTube has paid $70 billion to creators between 2021 and 2024, CEO Neal Mohan said. This creator payout model, alongside user-generated content, allows Alphabet to avoid the production costs associated with traditional media competitors. The platform was founded in 2005 by Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley, and was sold to Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Its first video, Me at the Zoo, marked the beginning of a new era in user-driven digital content. YouTube has since become central to media distribution and the broader tech ecosystem. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
