Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Thad Hartmann was the sports editor of the Daily Princetonian and a summer intern at Sports Illustrated for Kids, but he was even more interested in the deals that make sports happen.
After working at the Gazelle Group, a sports marketing firm that organized college basketball tournaments and represented coaches, Hartmann went to law school with an eye toward working in the sports industry on transactions. He saw so many commissioners and other high-level executives taking that path to the top.
After graduating from law school, Hartmann went on to work at Skadden, where he’s risen the ranks to partner and helped expand its sports practice from a specialty on litigation to including more M&A work.
“That’s been really rewarding, getting to build that and be at Skadden, where I’ve got a great platform, but I also find a little bit of a green field to build for myself,” he said.
In recent years, Hartmann has found himself playing a key role in some of the industry’s biggest deals. He was part of the team advising Lionel Messi in his unprecedented agreement to join Inter Miami CF, a complicated compensation package that included club equity and revenue-sharing with Adidas and Apple.
Previously, Hartmann represented the XFL in its merger with the USFL; the NBA on its binding partnership with Sportradar; Bruce Sherman on his acquisition of the Miami Marlins; Fox in its sale of assets to Disney; and other work with the NHL, PGA Tour and more. Crucially, he also has been involved in multibillion-dollar deals involving prescription drug, real estate services and property insurance companies.
“When you’re doing a corporate transaction, there are building blocks and the more experience you’ve got, you pull from different transactions,” Hartmann said. “It’s just a lot of creativity in thinking about all the different eventualities.” — Joe Lemire
Thad Hartmann
Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Age: 39
Born: Rantoul, Ill.
Education: Princeton University, A.B., history; University of Pennsylvania, J.D.
Family: Spouse, Lisa; children, George (11), Daniel (7)
Advice to my 20-year-old self: Marry your girlfriend. It works out great!
What my friends/family think I do all day: My sons think I am always reading, writing and talking on conference calls. They are pretty close!
Cause supported: I am a member of the board of directors of Hopeland, which pioneers solutions and builds partnerships to prevent family separation, reunify children who are separated from their families and mobilize a movement of families to support children who are growing up outside of family care.
Social media platform I use/follow the most today: LinkedIn.
Person in sports business I’d most like to meet: David Stern.
Most pressing issue facing my generation is … : Income inequality and stagnating purchasing power for huge swaths of the population.
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