Bono, the lead singer for the rock band U2, is to join Elevation Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital fund, as a managing director to invest in media and entertainment companies.
According to reports in today’s Wall Street Journal, the 44-year-old Irish rock star’s participation in the venture fund will elevate its profile. The fund is likely to raise $1 billion for acquisitions and investments in the media and entertainment arena.
The venture fund has been set up by top technology investor Roger McNamee and John Riccitiello, the former president of videogame maker Electronic Arts Inc John Riccitiello. The fund also has Fred Anderson who recently retired as the finance chief of Apple Computer.
Despite U2’s many hit records including the 2001 Grammy-winner “Elevation”, the venture fund says that the firm’s name and the link with Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, is coincidental. Nonetheless, the move by Bono represents something of a turnaround for the lead singer of a band that has so often espoused support for the anti-globalisation in its songs and when interviewed.
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The fund declined to elaborate Bono’s responsibilities in the company or its own plans.