Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
Ari Emanuel - The Anti-AI Bet - [Invest Like the Best, EP.448]
19 Nov 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The best operators have a relentless focus on leverage, finding ways to multiply their impact rather than just working harder. But here's what I see happening in finance teams everywhere. Brilliant people getting buried in expense management busywork. If you think about it, you become a finance leader because you love strategic work.
modeling scenarios, optimizing capital allocation, finding the insights that actually move the business forward. But instead, you're chasing receipts and categorizing transactions. It's the opposite of leverage. This is exactly why I'm so bullish on what the team at Ramp has built.
Kareem and Eric understood that every minute spent on manual expense management is a minute stolen from high leverage work. So they automated all of it. Automatic categorization, receipt matching, spending controls that actually work. Check out ramp.com slash invest and see what happens when you eliminate the busy work. Cards issued by Sutton Bank, member FDIC.
Chapter 2: How does Ari Emanuel view the impact of AI on content and distribution?
Terms and conditions apply. To me, Ridgeline isn't just a software provider, it's a true partner in innovation. They're redefining what's possible in asset management technology, helping firms scale faster, operate smarter, and stay ahead of the curve. I want to share a real-world example of how they're making a difference. Let me introduce you to Brian.
Brian, please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your role.
Chapter 3: What is Ari Emanuel's perspective on the future of live experiences versus AI?
My name is Brian Strang. I'm the Technical Operations Lead, and I work at Congress Asset Management.
How would you describe your experience working with Ridgeline?
Chapter 4: How does Ari Emanuel define a great live experience?
Ridgeline is a technology partner, not a software vendor, and the people really care. I get sales calls all the time and I ignore them. Ridgeline sold me very quickly. We went from 7 billion to 23 billion and the goal is 50 billion.
Chapter 5: What does Ari Emanuel consider essential for building a successful live event business?
Ridgeline was the clear front runner to help us scale. In your view, what most distinguishes Ridgeline?
Chapter 6: What lessons has Ari learned from his experiences with Dana White?
They reimagined how this industry should work. It was obvious that they were operating on another level.
It's worth reaching out to Ridgeline to see what the unlock can be for your firm. Visit RidgelineApps.com to schedule a demo. As an investor, gaining an edge means having the right tools, and one platform leading the way is AlphaSense.
Trusted by 75% of the world's top hedge funds, AlphaSense is the market intelligence platform that gives institutional investors access to over 500 million premium sources. from company filings and broker research to news, trade journals, and more.
Chapter 7: What principles guide Ari Emanuel's success in dealmaking?
And with its recent acquisition of Tegas, it also includes the world's largest library of expert interview transcripts, over 200,000 calls covering more than 24,000 public and private companies. All in one platform so investment teams can move faster, go deeper, and make high conviction decisions with confidence.
Now, AlphaSense is transforming the research process with the launch of its deep research tool, part of the next generation of its AI-powered platform. Unlike other deep research tools, AlphaSense's version is purpose-built for investment research.
It runs multi-step iterative analysis using AlphaSense's proprietary content, including those 200,000 expert transcripts, and in minutes, surfaces insights that would take multiple interviews and days of digging to uncover. It's like adding 10 analysts to your team, helping you accelerate analysis, deepen understanding and make sharper decisions. See it in action at alpha-sense.com slash invest.
Hello and welcome, everyone. I'm Patrick O'Shaughnessy, and this is Invest Like the Best. This show is an open-ended exploration of markets, ideas, stories, and strategies that will help you better invest both your time and your money.
If you enjoy these conversations and want to go deeper, check out Colossus Review, our quarterly publication with in-depth profiles of the people shaping business and investing. You can find Colossus Review along with all of our podcasts at joincolossus.com.
To learn more, visit psum.vc.
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Chapter 8: How does Ari Emanuel's personal background influence his business approach?
My guest today is Ari Emanuel. Ari runs one of the most influential portfolios in global sports, entertainment, and media. He oversees TKO, which includes the UFC and WWE, serves as the executive chairman of WME Group, and recently founded Mari, a new company focused on global events and live experiences. At the center of this conversation is Ari's anti-AI bet.
As AI makes digital content cheaper and everyday work more automated, he believes that value will increasingly concentrate in live and physical experiences. He explains how he's building his portfolio around that belief, what defines a great live experience, and how he thinks about AI's impact on content and IP.
Ari is best known as a dealmaker, and he shares the principles behind his success, relentless follow-up, over-communication, velocity, and an obsession with making things happen. and how those things become the operating system he uses today. If you're listening to this, I recommend watching the video of this interview.
Ari's energy is constant and visceral and gives a different dimension to this episode. Please enjoy my conversation with Ari Emanuel. We're going to UFC tomorrow night. I've never seen it and I've never been to an event, but it has captured everyone's imagination. It's this amazing business. He bought it in 2016. Can you just explain the magic of this business?
When I started, I represented the WWE and I represented the UFC. When I signed the UFC, it was on Spike. We had a whole division inside the company looking at ratings. And all of a sudden they came and they showed me, here's this thing on Spike and here's the numbers. And then I realized, wow, this thing's ratings are starting to move. So I figured out, oh, it's Dana White and the Fatitas.
And I represented the WWE and they're close enough. So I called them.
Called Dana.
Yeah. And eventually I got a meeting and I completely screwed up the meeting. I was talking about the WWE. It was just bad. It was one of my worst signing meetings. And I just kept at it because I knew based on their ratings and what they were getting as a license fee, a domestic license fee, it wasn't enough money.
And I knew if I got my hands on it, I could do some stuff with it just as a representative. So eventually after doing a couple of things, he signed with me, the organization signed with me. They were making $15 million a year from Spike. And I think the first deal I made at Spike, I increased it to 75, something like that. And we made a video game deal, which they'd never had.
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