White: We turned down 5 billion dollar offer in favor of WME-IMG
Dana White: “Let me be honest with you, when we were doing this deal there were two groups that came in for more money than Ari [Emanual].”
UFC president Dana White appeared recently on The Exchange with Megan Olivi, and discussed the sale of the company from Zuffa to Ari Emanual’s WME-IMG last. The selling price which will break $4 billion was the largest in sports history. But White says he and partners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta turned down a larger one.
I was never in this for the money ever, said White, as transcribed byDamon Martin for FOX Sports. When we bought this thing, we bought it for $2 million and then we were upside down and everything else. For me it’s always taking it to the next level.
Let me be honest with you, when we were doing this deal there were two groups that came in for more money than Ari [Emanual]. There was one for $5 billion.
There’s people who I believe add value. One of the million things I respect about the Fertitta’s, they weren’t just going to let this thing go for the money. They were going to make sure it went to somebody who could actually take it and bring it to the next level.
If you look at what Lorenzo, Frank and I accomplished when we had no production experience, no connections to Hollywood, L.A., television isn’t what we did, we’ve never been in the pay-per-view business before. You look at what we did. Now we’re with a guy who is the king of Hollywood.
Doing deals like this is what he does. It’s just going to be so much bigger for the sport, obviously for the brand and for the fighters.
Ari is one of these guys, he’s got huge balls, he’s very smart, and he has laid out a really great plan for the sport. The vision that Ari has for it right now, I am on board and I love it.
Me and Ari could not be in a better place. I could not be a bigger believer in what we’re going to do over the next five years and what these guys bring to the table.”
I’m in. I love this. I’m not going anywhere.