Bio

Sam Holdsworth is a Managing Director of Sword Rowe and has an over thirty-year career as an entrepreneur and operating executive, private equity investor, investment banker, and turn-around specialist in the media and entertainment sector. Sam serves as a financial and strategic adviser for a number of Sword Rowe clients. Most recently, he represented TV producer and distributor Content Media Corp. in a successful sale, and provides ongoing advisory work for Little Critter, a children's TV animation project, among others. From 1999-2006, Sam was a founding partner at the JP Morgan Entertainment Partners private equity fund, as well as the Chairman and CEO of Ryko Corp, a diversified music company in the portfolio that he turned around and successfully sold to Warner Music Group in 2006. From 1991-1999, Sam led an investment banking practice that specialized in M&A, turn-around situations, and fundraising within the media, entertainment, and lodging sectors. Clients included Sub Pop Records, Matador Records, October Films, Atom Films, Standard Hotel, and others. In 1976, Sam began his entrepreneurial career in publishing, founding Musician Magazine, which he later sold in 1981 to Billboard Publications. He and a partner subsequently acquired Billboard Publications in a leveraged buyout, renaming it BPI Communications. Sam served as President of the Entertainment Group at BPI and facilitated the hands-on acquisitions and turn-arounds of numerous publications including The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Backstage, Broadcast Data Systems, and others. Additionally, Sam founded and served as Executive Producer of the Billboard Music Awards Show on the Fox Network.