AZRAK LAUNCHES VENTURESOME COMPANY

Fueled by his passion for art, fashion, music and entertainment, Azrak is now launching Venturesome as a platform to identify and profitably leverage the commercial opportunities within emerging pop culture trends, working in partnership with artists and creators, private equity investors, and major corporations. With a focus on digital media, licensing, and content acquisition and development opportunities with popular brands, initial partners include Global Brands Group, Centric Brands and MGM Resorts International.

Leadership

Elliott Azrak is a highly accomplished entrepreneur, investor and innovator and a recognized global brands expert. With decades of experience and a proven track record of identifying and acquiring properties with multibillion-dollar licensing potential, Azrak has spearheaded numerous high-profile ventures, opportunistically leveraging his unique insight into how brands and culture intersect. 

Azrak began his career at Remco, a children’s product development, merchandising and licensing manufacturer for the toy industry. At Remco, he had the opportunity to learn from Jim Henson. Henson was an early inspiration on how to do business, build teams, and breathe life into every iteration of a character or brand. In 1993, he co-founded a family business, American Marketing Enterprises (AME), and helped build the firm into the largest character-licensed sleepwear company in the world, partnering with Disney, Marvel, Warner Brothers, Viacom, Universal, Epic Games and others. Following its 2007 acquisition by Li & Fung USA, now Global Brands Group, Azrak was retained as part of the core executive management team as EVP of Global Licensing for fashion and entertainment brands. During his 12-year tenure, he was responsible for growing the division to more than $6 billion in retail sales across the US, Europe and Asia.

Simultaneously, Azrak identified investment and growth opportunities within the hospitality, live theatrical and real estate industries. In 2006, he procured the long-term lease to the iconic CBGB music club and partnered with John Varvatos to transform the space into a high-end retail destination. In 2013, Azrak purchased content creation company Stageworks Media to develop direct-to-license musicals and, in 2014, he acquired online business-to-business distribution platform Playscripts.com, growing revenues by more than 50 percent in four years. Azrak established Broadway Licensing in 2017, quickly securing several prominent Broadway titles for licensing, including A Bronx Tale, Escape to Margaritaville and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. In 2019, after transforming his theater businesses through technology and innovation, Azrak exited the three theater-related companies to focus on Venturesome.

Azrak also holds intellectual property rights to Max’s Kansas City, the iconic artist and music venue, and co-authored Max’s Kansas City: Art, Glamour, Rock and Roll. He is also a founding investor in the Tao Group, the premier restaurant and nightlife group.