Marc Lasry is the CEO of Avenue Capital Group. We cover the highs and lows of building a big investment firm, why sports is full of exciting opportunities, and why success requires a combination of book smarts and street smarts.
Principles & Lessons:
1) Confidence is often shaped by early support and expectations. Marc traces his self-belief back to his parents: “I had a mom who always told me you could do anything,” which he says prevented self-doubt from interfering. He came from modest means, emphasizing education as their only path forward: “We didn’t really have any money. So the only way you’re going to go to school was by scholarship.” This early encouragement and clarity of purpose left Marc comfortable pursuing challenging goals, including launching his own fund.
2) Building trust is central to attracting and keeping investor capital. Reflecting on how he built Avenue Capital, Marc stresses the need for open dialogue and honesty: “It’s about you constantly telling people...what you think is good, what you think is bad, admitting mistakes.” He notes that all big investing firms have smart people, so the real edge comes from trust. He believes that by forthrightly explaining good and bad news, “they give you more capital because they believe in what you’re doing.”
3) Distressed investing has evolved into a more litigious, faster cycle. Marc remembers that “back then, bankruptcies would take five or six years,” giving creditors and debtors time to negotiate. But reforms and bigger capital pools changed the timeline: “Now you’ve still got a lot of fighting...but the timing element has all gotten condensed.” He also observes that huge fund sizes have reduced the practical advantage of being “small and nimble,” making scale critical for complex restructurings and legal battles.
4) The economics of sports franchises differ from conventional valuation logic. Marc found it jarring to pay “100 times” EBITDA for the Milwaukee Bucks, but the next media deal tripled TV revenues and “the value of the team doubled.” He distinguishes it sharply from a typical business: “You go into it assuming you’re going to make money, and then you find out that if you want to win, you’ve got to spend it all.” Still, winning drives franchise appreciation, and teams’ supply-demand dynamics often bring “5 to 10 times” returns over a decade.
5) Niche sports can become major media opportunities. Marc invests in bull riding, sailing, and other unexpected leagues after seeing strong viewer data. Bull riding’s transition from $0 media deals to matching NBA audience numbers, or “2 million Americans who watched” an elite sailing event, highlight that “people love watching the best in the world compete.” His method is straightforward: “We see how many watch it on TV, and we know the next media deal is going to be multiples of what the first one was.”
6) Team and culture matter more than raw talent—both in sports and investing. Marc believes strongly in forging a cohesive organization: “Do you hire talent or do you hire people who are team players?” He suggests that a star performer who generates conflict may hurt the whole. Similarly in the NBA, “someone’s got to be the Number 1 option... You can’t have four people who want to be the Number 1 option.” At Avenue, Marc expects people to share information and not fixate on the last dollar.
7) Great dealmaking aims for a fair outcome rather than extracting the last penny. In describing his approach, Marc says, “You want to win, but you don’t want to hurt the other person.” He’s seen too many cases of “ripping somebody’s lungs out,” which might yield a one-off windfall but damages one’s reputation. Over the long run, he sees more opportunity from a reputation for fairness: “It’s shocking how many deals come to you” when you’re known to respect others.
8) Maintaining optimism and curiosity can sustain success and personal happiness. Marc rejects the notion that major financial success should bring added misery. “I always think... I won the lottery,” he says, advising that one shouldn’t overanalyze others’ motives or “forget how hard you worked.” He also credits his mother for urging him to devour encyclopedias as a child, remarking, “You learn a ton of useless information... but it’s all positive,” framing his life as a chance to keep meeting new people and “always be learning.”
Transcript