The entertainment industry can be intolerant of mistakes and unforgiving, as Ryan Kavanaugh discovered when he had to close Relativity Media. People he considered his peers all but wrote him off in 2016, assuming he would not work in the industry again. They could not have been more wrong.
Not only did Kavanaugh assume majority ownership of the social media video-sharing app Triller three years later, but he has increased the company’s value many times over. Triller is so successful now that it is giving TikTok, the Chinese video-sharing app previously thought to be untouchable, a serious run for its money.
Kavanaugh Invested $28 Million to Jumpstart Triller
Ryan Kavanaugh understood when he became the majority shareholder of Triller that he needed to make some major improvements quickly. First, he needed to convince social media influencers, musicians, brand representatives, celebrities, and users to give Triller a chance. He got major help in this regard when President Donald Trump unintentionally influenced millions of people to check out Triller after he threatened to shut down TikTok in July 2020. Trump stated distrust of the Chinese company and user privacy concerns as his motivation for wanting to ban TikTok from the United States.
Although TikTok never shut down, the idea that it might happen spurred people to search for an alternative. The indirect mention by a sitting president was the best advertising Kavanaugh could have hoped for Triller. He was able to draw big names to the platform without hesitation after that. Triller had raised $14 million at this point by featuring artists such as Snoop Dog, Lil’ Wayne, the Weeknd, and Kendrick Lamar. The six months after Donald Trump lashed out at TikTok saw Triller raise an additional $100 million, and its valuation was $1.25 billion by January 2021.
Kavanaugh Signs More Top Names and Debuts Live Boxing Matches
Once he had more capital to work with, Kavanaugh continued to court some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. Here are just some of them:
- Josh Richards
- Cardi B
- Jennifer Lopez
- Charli D’Amelio
- Marshmello
- Eminem
- Fat Joe
- DJ Khaled
- 2 Chainz
- Perez Hilton
Wooing these performers to the Triller platform only brought it greater credibility, which in turn led to its phenomenal growth in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Ryan Kavanaugh expects even better things for 2022.
Kavanaugh also shook up the sports offerings at Triller by creating the Triller Fight Club. The club features live boxing matches by the likes of Mike Tyson, Roy Jones, Jr., Jake Paul, and Ben Askren. Each broadcast also features up to six other boxing matches, along with celebrity appearances and live entertainment. Triller Fight Club’s first broadcast in November 2020 was so successful that it was the most downloaded pay per view program of the entire year. Viewers paid $49.99 to access the fight.
With Triller Fight Club now a major division of Triller, Kavanaugh plans to broadcast boxing matches in the same format at the Tyson-Jones, Jr. fight up to six times a year. He looks forward to coming up with additional innovations to spur Triller closer to taking the #1 position away from TikTok.
