Future owner of Botafogo made his fortune with cinema and virtual reality

By committing to an investment of BRL 400 million to take control of Botafogo, American businessman John Textor, 56, should become the first foreigner to buy a team in Brazil based on the SAF club-company model ( Anonymous Society of Football).

The Rio de Janeiro club will be the second among the main players in the country to have its SAF shares acquired, in a negotiation released less than a week after Ronaldo Fenômeno announced the purchase of 90% of SAF do Cruzeiro.

The percentage of shares in Botafogo has not yet been released. According to a statement from the association, there are still legal and legal steps to go before formalizing the partnership with Eagle Holding, a fund led by Textor.

While Ronaldo built his career as an entrepreneur based on his own football success, John Textor made a career in the film, technology and media industries. He was defined by Forbes magazine in 2016 as “the guru of virtual reality in Hollywood”.

The nickname comes from the work he developed at the head of Digital Domain, a visual effects company founded by director James Cameron and which he associated with in 2006. At the time, the company was already established, mainly due to the success of “Titanic”, directed by Cameron in 1997, but was going through a financial crisis.

Textor says that under his command the company was responsible for eight Oscar statuettes in technical categories, such as visual effects. The portfolio includes hits like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)” and “Zodiac (2007)”, as well as blockbuster franchises: “Transformers”, “Star Trek”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”, “X-Men “, “Spider Man”, “Avengers”, “Fast & Furious” and “Terminator”, among others.

Digital Domain filed for bankruptcy in 2012, and Textor, the second-largest shareholder, resigned as chief executive.

The world of technology and computing entered American’s life in the early 1980s, when he had to abandon his professional skateboarding career after suffering a head injury.

In the 90s, he founded several companies that worked in the development of websites, programming of security systems and creation of environments in 3D and virtual reality, in the early days of the internet.

In 2013, he would take his biggest step into this field by creating Pulse Evolution Corporation, which produces ultra-realistic holograms. The company would become world famous in 2014 for creating a holographic presentation of Michael Jackson for the Billboard award, as a tribute to the artist five years after his death in 2009.

Also for Digital Domain, he produced a hologram of high profile rapper Tupac, who died in 1996, for the Coachella festival in 2012.

Another of his companies is Facebank, through which in 2020 he bought the sports streaming platform fuboTV. The platform’s growth was due to the acquisition of rights to a number of American leagues, such as NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS for several countries.

Last year, he left the post of executive director of the company to take a new step in the world of sport and invest part of his fortune in buying clubs.

In July 2021, it tried to buy 25% of Benfica, in Portugal, acquiring the shares that belonged to businessman José António dos Santos. The deal, however, was not completed.

Shortly thereafter, he got his first football asset in England, when he paid 87.5 million pounds (BRL 664.76 million) for 18% of Crystal Palace, according to information in the British press. According to The Athletic website, his percentage of the club is 40%.

On social networks, Textor demonstrates closely following the day-to-day of the London team, including the youth teams and women’s football. In one of his most recent posts, he values ​​a victory for the Crystal Palace women’s team.

Botafogo is the second club to enter the American’s portfolio, but it is not yet known how he will perform on a daily basis. The businessman also has plans to increase his football business. He is also negotiating the purchase of RWD Molenbeek, from Belgium’s second division, as well as maintaining a small school in Florida (USA).