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Jonathan Nash Joins The Show
(Amazon takes over James Bond franchise, X on the verge of a comeback and DAZN gets massive Saudi investment)
Eric Traub
February 23, 2025
What's On Tap
This Week’s Episode (Jonathan Nash)
Watch The Episode Here! Leave a comment under the video!
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Episode Highlights
This kind of feels similar to when George Lucas handed Star Wars over to Disney
Expect big things because these announcements are usually coupled with news of who the new Bond might be
Saudi Arabia definitely wants a seat at the table. They are investing in sports and trying to diversify their economy to make it more appealing as a destination
The Host Weighs In
Grateful to have Jonathan on the show this week.
Didn’t even know it was his first ever pod!
Now The News
Bond, James Bond, is now under Amazon's creative control.
Surprised? You're not alone.
For Jonathan, who spent four years at 20th Century Studios working on the James Bond franchise, the deal is shocking.
While Amazon already had a stake in the legendary franchise since its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM in 2021, the Broccoli family, and their production company, EON Productions, have maintained full creative control over the franchise for the last 63 years.
While working on the franchise, Jonathan Nash experienced first hand the Broccoli’s family creative control of the franchise. Anything from proposed key art, to a full fledged marketing campaign, was often quickly scrapped by EON Productions. The Broccoli family called the shots, plain and simple.
So what’s next? Expect announcements regarding who the new Bond will be!
Furthermore, X could be on the verge of an incredible comeback. It was reported this week that X is looking to raise funding at the same $44 billion valuation that Musk purchased the platform for back in 2024. Before Trump’s 2024 election victory, this would have been unthinkable. Musk very publicly stripped X down to its foundation and major advertisers had fled the platform.
Who knew being unofficially appointed the head of government spending, aka DOGE, for the world’s most powerful nation, could change the fortunes of your business ventures? Fortune reported yesterday that since the 2024 election, Musk’s companies have added $613 billion in market value.
With advertisers returning to X, as well as, X signing a partnership with Visa to add a payment feature to the X platform, it’s easy to see why investors may feel comfortable investing money at the $44 billion valuation.
Finally, in huge news out of the sports streaming space, Saudi Arabia’s Surj Sports Investment Fund acquired a minority stake in the streamer, DAZN. As Jonathan highlighted, this move fits into the broader plan Saudi Arabia has embarked on.
With an economy so dependent on oil and gas, Saudi Arabia is quickly looking to diversify their economy. Sports and entertainment investments not only help diversify their economy, but also help divert attention from human rights violations of the Saudi government.
That’s all I have for this week. We’re back with Jeffrey Gilbert next week.
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