John Textor

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John Textor
John Textor (cropped).jpg
Textor in 2025
Born
John Charles Textor

(1965-09-30) September 30, 1965 (age 59)
Kirksville, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation(s)CEO of Facebank, Inc.
former chairman of FuboTV
Known forFormer co-owner of Crystal Palace, owner of Eagle Football Group (Botafogo, RWDM Brussels and Lyon)

John Charles Textor (born September 30, 1965) is an American businessman and the founder of Eagle Football Holdings. Through Eagle Football, he is the majority owner of Botafogo (Brazil), Olympique Lyonnais (France), and RWDM Brussels (Belgium). Under his ownership, Botafogo won the 2024 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and the 2024 Copa Libertadores, while RWDM earned promotion to the Belgian Pro League in 2023. He previously held a minority stake in Crystal Palace, which he sold in July 2025 for a reported £190 million. [1]

Contents

Textor is also the former executive chairman of the streaming television service FuboTV. He has been recognized for his contributions to digital media and entertainment, and was referred to by the media as “Hollywood’s Virtual Reality Guru” for his early work in visual effects and immersive technology. [2]

Early life

Textor was born as a member of the extended du Pont family in 1965. Textor claims to have grown up in a middle-class family in the Palm Beach area in Florida whilst spending his summers working for freight delivery companies. [3] Textor claims to have competed in freestyle skateboarding competitions around Florida as part of the Sims Skateboards team. [4] According to Craig Snyder's A Secret History of the Ollie, [ page 464 ] Textor was said to have been "one of the few who surpassed [multiple world champion] Rodney Mullen in freestyle competition during" the late 1970s". [5] Textor left competitive skateboarding in the early 1980s to focus on other interests after sustaining a severe head injury in competition. Textor claimed this accident was the reason he turned toward his education and to technology interests at a young age. [6]

Business career

Action Sports

Sims Snowboards

Having acquired Sims Snowboards in 1996, [7] Textor was the chairman and principal owner. [8] During his tenure, and utilizing the trademarks owned by his partner and snowboard pioneer Tom Sims, he created the World Snowboarding Championship at Whistler, British Columbia. [9]

Internet Businesses

Art Technology Group

Textor's holding company, Wyndcrest Partners, funded the struggling company in 1996. [10] ATG made eCommerce software and related on demand commerce optimization applications; the company was purchased in 2010 by Oracle for approximately $1 billion. [11]

JesterDigital

According to The Palm Beach Post , Textor's Jester Digital created an internet-based 3-D multi-user virtual world, referred to as the "metaverse" in 1999. [12] [13] Jester Digital's new technology was the first digital distribution platform to be endorsed by Metallica and was also supported by joint-ventures with leading digital rights management companies, such as IBM, and strategic relationships with leading music artists and action sports companies. Jester Digital Corporation was among the earliest to create internet-based multi-user virtual reality and game-like environments which paved the way for the convergence of music and the internet, massive multi-player games, and the digital distribution of entertainment content. [14]

Virtual Bank/Lydian Trust Company

Textor was a founding director of Virtual Bank in the year 2000, an Internet banking startup. Virtual Bank was a multi-billion dollar diversified financial services company and included a private wealth business known as Lydian Trust Company. [15] [16]

BabyUniverse

In the early 2000s, Textor took control of BabyUniverse, [17] a struggling online retailer. [18] He took the company public in 2005 selling 2 million shares of common stock, equivalent to approximately $16.5 million. [19] Using proceeds from the IPO, Textor purchased other online retailers and a marketing company to help build the brand. BabyUniverse saw an increase in revenues from $1 million to $40 million, resulting in the October 2007 sale of BabyUniverse into a reverse merger and change of control transaction with eToys.com, a well-known e-commerce company, controlled by D.E. Shaw. Textor resigned as CEO at the time of the merger, with BabyUniverse stock trading at its all-time high of $12.00 per share, having nearly tripled from its low in February of that same year. He later became Chairman of eToys. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

Digital Domain

In May 2006, Textor as one of the principals of Wyncrest Holdings, acquired Digital Domain. Other principals included film director Michael Bay and former NFL player Dan Marino. According to Variety, an inside source claimed that the buyers purchased the company for an estimated $35 million. [25]

Digital Domain won an Academy Award in 2009 for Achievement in Visual Effects for creating a believable digital human actor in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button . This achievement, known as the ‘Holy Grail of "Visual Effects" by The Hollywood Reporter . [26]

In 2011, Digital Domain Media Group entered into the film production business with a major investment into the feature film Ender's Game. [27] Textor is credited as Producer and Executive Producer on the film. [28] [29]

Textor's team of around 20 artists organized the 2012 appearance of Virtual Tupac Shakur at the Coachella Valley Music Festival. [30] [31] [32] The performance earned Textor's studio the Titanium Award at the 59th annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. [33] [34]

Digital Domain went bankrupt in 2012 and a short time later, Textor was sued by the state of Florida for $80M. [35]

The Supreme Court of New York and the Inspector General of the State of Florida cleared Textor of any financial wrongdoing, [36] [37] and The Athletic reported that he had received a settlement from the hedge fund that caused the collapse. [38] [39] The settlement awarded Textor $8.5 million in financial damages and assigned all technology assets of Digital Domain's Florida studio. [40] [41]

SEC filings demonstrate that Textor used the award of these technology assets to launch the business that would ultimately become fuboTV. [42] Textor went on to launch Facebank in 2013. [40] [41] "a technology-driven intellectual property company engaged in the development and promotion of human likeness technologies" and, in 2020, he bought sports streaming platform fuboTV, merging the two businesses before floating them on the New York Stock Exchange as FuboTV Inc. [38] [43]

Pulse Evolution

In late 2013, Textor organized a group of former Digital Domain employees to create Pulse Evolution Corporation. [44] Pulse Evolution Corporation is a globally recognized pioneer in the development of hyper-realistic digital humans for live shows, virtual reality, augmented reality, holographic, 3D stereoscopic, web, mobile, interactive and artificial intelligence applications. [45] Pulse Evolution showcased its technology with a holographic performance of Virtual Michael Jackson at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards [46] [47]

Technology, Media and Entertainment

fuboTV (Facebank Group)

According to a 2019 SEC filing, Facebank Group previously operated as Pulse Evolution Group and Recall Studios. The organization's filing described them as a digital human technology company, focused on the development, collection, protection and preparation of the personal digital likeness assets, of celebrities and consumers, for use in artificial intelligence, entertainment, personal productivity and social networking. [48] When it acquired Fubo TV. Allywatch described the acquisition as a reverse merger that effectively enabled Fubo TV to operate as a public company. [49] Fubo claimed that the merger expanded the organization's presence in the over-the-top television industry [50] [51]

Fubo TV's Logo c. 2017 Fubo-tv.png
Fubo TV's Logo c. 2017

In April 2020, Textor completed the acquisition of fuboTV Media. [52] via zoom call. [53] Thusly, Fubo went public. [54] and in under two years, grew to an NYSE-listed market value of more than $6 billion. [55]

In the spring of 2020, Textor resigned from his post as Executive Chairman of fuboTV. At the time of his resignation from fuboTV, and through completion of the company's IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, Textor remained the largest shareholder of fuboTV. [56] [57]

FuboTV grew rapidly in value as a public company, moving from the over-the-counter market, to the New York Stock Exchange, to the Russell 3000 index in only nine months. [58]

Football

Crystal Palace F.C.

In August 2021, Textor acquired a roughly 40 percent stake in Crystal Palace F.C., later increasing his ownership to approximately 45 percent by mid-2024. [59] [60] He invested in upgrading the club’s youth academy and was part of the ownership group when Palace won their inaugural FA Cup in the 2024–25 season. [61] In July 2025, Textor sold his stake to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson in a deal reportedly worth £190 million. [62]

RWDM Brussels

Textor acquired Belgian club RWD Molenbeek in December 2021. Under his ownership, the team earned promotion to Belgium’s top division by winning the Challenger Pro League in 2023. In mid-2025, he initiated a rebranding of the club to Daring Brussels, referencing its historical roots. However, strong backlash from supporters led to a compromise, resulting in the name **RWDM Brussels**, which preserved the club's existing identity while incorporating the Brussels designation. [63]

Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas

In early 2022, Textor acquired Botafogo, which was grappling with debt and poor infrastructure. His data-driven strategy led to a dramatic revival: Botafogo won consecutive Taça Rio (2023 and 2024), the 2024 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, and its first-ever Copa Libertadores. As Libertadores champions, Botafogo qualified for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, where they famously beat Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 and advanced to the knockout rounds. The club was also among five finalists nominated for the 2025 Ballon d'Or Men’s Club of the Year. [64] [65] [66]

Olympique Lyonnais (OL Groupe)

In December 2022, Textor gained a controlling stake in Olympique Lyonnais through OL Groupe. The club faced provisional relegation by French financial regulators (DNCG) in late 2024 but retained its Ligue 1 status following a successful appeal in July 2025. Textor argued the DNCG misunderstood his multi-club financial model, which diversified assets and liabilities through Eagle Football Holdings—a structure not reflected in their evaluation. [67] [68]

Eagle Football Holdings Limited

Formed in September 2022, Eagle Football Holdings is the holding company through which Textor consolidated his football assets—Crystal Palace, RWDM Brussels, Botafogo, and Olympique Lyonnais—and established a multi-club infrastructure for shared scouting, player development, and analytics. [69]

References

  1. ↑ Reuters. "John Textor sells Crystal Palace stake for £190m." 25 July 2025. https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/john-textor-sells-crystal-palace-stake-190m-2025-07-25/
  2. ↑ The New York Times. "A Virtual Reality Guru’s Hollywood Ambitions." 14 August 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/business/media/john-textor-virtual-reality.html
  3. ↑ "19 Sep 2010, Page A001 - The Palm Beach Post at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  4. ↑ Joslin, Hunter (January 1, 2018). "Indo Board History - The Indo Board Story" . Retrieved January 30, 2021. The Sims team, consisting of Mike Folmer, Scott "Red" McCranels, Chris West, Chuck Lagana and John Textor dominated the Florida skateboard competition scene.
  5. ↑ "Textor foi skatista 'top' e integrou time lendário do esporte nos anos 70". www.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  6. ↑ Cohen, Ted (May 5, 2016). "John Textor: Master of Surreality, Keynote Interview by Ted Cohen". YouTube . Retrieved January 31, 2021. Had I not landed on my head that day, I am sure I would not be sitting here, in front of all of you
  7. ↑ Abramson, Andrew (September 19, 2010). "Ups, downs just business as usual for studio boss poised to change West Palm Beach". www.palmbeachpost.com. Palm Beach Post. Retrieved January 31, 2021.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. ↑ "SIMS OWNER SETS RECORD STRAIGHT". snowboarder.com. Snow Boarder. March 1, 2002. Retrieved August 11, 2021. Sims Owner John Textor discussed the current situation with Sims Snowboards
  9. ↑ "Whistler to host World Snowboarding Championship once again". Pique Newsmagazine. February 2, 2001. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  10. ↑ "16 Jun 2013, Page A013 - The Palm Beach Post at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Oracle Buys ATG". www.oracle.com.
  12. ↑ Mike Vogel (November 1, 2009). "Animated Decision for Digital Studio". floridatrend.com. Florida Trend. Retrieved August 11, 2021. website developer Jester Digital, online retailer Babyuniverse and Virtual Bank.
  13. ↑ "18 Jan 2001, Page 35 - The Palm Beach Post at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  14. ↑ "SERIOUS OPPORTUNITY". Sun Sentinel. November 10, 2000.
  15. ↑ "John Textor, Chairman, Multicast Media Networks". www.topionetworks.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Bank by Microsoft". Institutional Investor. May 31, 2003. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  17. ↑ "John Textor Chairman at Multicast Media Networks". topionetworks.com. Topio Network. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021. Since 2002, he has served as chairman and CEO of BabyUniverse, Inc.
  18. ↑ Brian Bandell (September 8, 2005). "With IPO, online retailer outgrows training pants". bizjournals.com. South Florida Business Journal. Retrieved August 11, 2021. Wyndcrest Partners, a Hobe Sound-based venture capital firm headed by John Textor, who doubles as chairman and CEO of Baby Universe.
  19. ↑ "Stock Offerings Scheduled for This Week". The New York Times. August 1, 2005. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  20. ↑ "UPDATE 1-BabyUniverse enters into all-stock merger". Reuters. March 14, 2007 – via www.reuters.com.
  21. ↑ "BabyUniverse Merging with eToys Direct". Multichannel Merchant. April 1, 2007.
  22. ↑ "BabyUniverse acquires PoshTots". January 19, 2006.
  23. ↑ "BabyUniverse Acquires ePregnancy Assets". Writers Write.
  24. ↑ "PoshTots bought by BabyUniverse". callcenterinfo.tmcnet.com.
  25. ↑ Ben Fritz (May 15, 2006). "Digital Domain docks with Bay". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved August 11, 2021. The purchaser of record is Wyndcrest Holdings, whose principals are Bay, Marino, former Microsoft exec Carl Stork, former Sims Snowboards chair John C. Textor and Jonathan Teaford, formerly of GE Capital Services.
  26. ↑ Carolyn Giardina (February 22, 2009). "'Benjamin Button' is VFX's Holy Grail". hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 11, 2021. The win also delivered lead VFX facility Digital Domain its first VFX Academy Award
  27. ↑ Richard Vierrier (October 23, 2013). "For 'Ender's Game,' effects house Digital Domain took a bigger role". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 11, 2021. The movie also is a test for the film's co-producer, Digital Domain
  28. ↑ "First Look at Ender's Game starring Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield!". imdb.com. IMDB. December 13, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2021. John Textor Produce.
  29. ↑ Michael Cieply (January 14, 2013). "A Movie Mogul Rising". The New York Times . Retrieved August 11, 2021. In putting together "Ender's Game," for instance, OddLot joined Digital Domain in providing about 75 percent of the budget
  30. ↑ Dave McNary (February 5, 2016). "Hologram Specialist Pulse Receives $10 Million Investment From Chinese Companies". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved August 11, 2021. Pulse Evolution's executive chairman John Textor gained notice for the computer-generated animation of Tupac Shakur
  31. ↑ Rowell, David (July 10, 2021). "The Spectacular, Strange Rise of Music Holograms". The Washington Post Magazine. washingtonpost.com. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  32. ↑ Sean Michaels (May 15, 2014). "Will Michael Jackson's hologram dance at the Billboard music awards?". The Guardian . Retrieved August 11, 2021. Billboard producers have hired John Textor, who created the hologram of Tupac Shakur for Coachella festival in 2012
  33. ↑ Richard Verrier (June 25, 2012). "'Virtual 2Pac' image wins award for Digital Domain". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 11, 2021. the company had received a Titanium Award at the 59th annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for its virtual performance of the late rap star Tupac Shakur.
  34. ↑ Kaitlyn Tiffany (October 23, 2018). "No industry is weirder than the dead celebrity hologram industry". vox.com. Vox. Retrieved August 11, 2021. This hologram, created by special effects company Digital Domain
  35. ↑ Kaitlyn Tiffany (October 23, 2018). "No industry is weirder than the dead celebrity hologram industry". vox.com. Vox. Retrieved August 12, 2021. I did prevail in the lawsuit and was awarded the largest settlement out of the lawsuit.
  36. ↑ "Supreme Court of New York Terminates Lawsuit against John Textor". PRWeb . Cision PR Web. August 21, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021. The Supreme Court of the State of New York ordered a convincing summary judgment in favor of John Textor, terminating a lawsuit against the former CEO of Digital Domain Media Group. The Court found no evidence of fraud or misrepresentation and confirmed that DDMG accurately disclosed its financial situation to investors. The Court further ordered the plaintiffs to reimburse Mr. Textor for his fees and court costs.
  37. ↑ Review of the Economic Incentive Award to Digital Domain Media Group (PDF) (Report). Executive Office of the Governor. p. 2. 2013-11. Retrieved August 11, 2021. we found no apparent violations of law, rule, or regulation in the award of $20 million economic development funds to Digital Domain in 2009.
  38. 1 2 Matt Slater (July 10, 2021). "Crystal Palace takeover: Benfica arrests cast doubt over Textor's partnership plans". theathletic.com. The Athletic. Retrieved August 11, 2021. Since then, he has rebuilt his reputation and wealth.
  39. ↑ Tiffany, Kaitlyn (October 23, 2018). "Amy Winehouse is going on tour: The dead celebrity hologram industry, explained". Vox. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  40. 1 2 Nicole Rodriguez (May 24, 2016). "Port St. Lucie, state each gets $3 million in Digital Domain settlement; Textor to get $8.5 million". tcpalm.com. TC Palm. Retrieved August 11, 2021. The city, the state and former Digital Domain CEO John Textor all will get multimillion-dollar payouts from a settlement in the two-year-old lawsuit against the defunct Digital Domain Media Group.
  41. 1 2 Bruno Moore (June 3, 2016). "Courts make decision on Digital Domain accusations". yourvoiceweekly.com. Your Voice Weekly. Retrieved August 11, 2021. the court concluded that the investors showed no clear sign that fraud was perpetrated
  42. ↑ "Pulse Evolution Group, Inc". www.sec.gov. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  43. ↑ Jim Robertson. "Mike Ashley knock back on John Textor bid to buy Newcastle United revealed". themag.co.uk. The Mag. Retrieved August 11, 2021. Textor was sued by investors but cleared by the courts and indeed received £6m compensation from hedge funds who were found to have been behind the company's collapse.
  44. ↑ Kim Lachance Shandrow (July 2, 2014). "Smoke and Mirrors: Why We Aren't Seeing More Digital Zombies Like Michael Jackson". nbcnews.com. NBC News. Retrieved August 11, 2021. Pulse Evolution Corporation, a Port St. Lucie, Fla.-based digital human animation and production startup launched last October
  45. ↑ Facebank Group Inc. (June 10, 2019). "Pulse Evolution Group Reports 2018 Audited Results". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release).
  46. ↑ Spencer Lowell (August 5, 2018). "Inside the bitter war to bring Tupac and Michael Jackson back to life". wired.co.uk.com. Wired. Retrieved August 13, 2021. The performance, at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, was the latest in a stream of holograms featuring deceased artists.
  47. ↑ Melanie Lee (March 31, 2016). "Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru Looks East". Forbes. Retrieved August 11, 2021. Over John Textor's long career in Hollywood, he and his team have digitally resurrected Michael Jackson for the Billboard Music Awards
  48. ↑ "Pulse Evolution Group becomes Facebank Group as Europe Acquisition Drives Digital Human Industry Growth Plan" (Press release). Intrado Global Newswire. September 30, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  49. ↑ Reza Chowdhury. "fuboTV Acquired by FaceBank Group". alleywatch.com. Alley Watch. Retrieved August 12, 2021. fuboTV will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of FaceBank Group
  50. ↑ Krystal Hu (March 23, 2020). "FuboTV to merge with FaceBank; sources say values FuboTV at $700 million". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved August 12, 2021. Streaming provider FuboTV said on Monday that it had agreed to merge with virtual entertainment firm FaceBank Group Inc
  51. ↑ "Facebank Group SEC Form 10-Q Sep 30_2019". SEC.gov. Securities Exchange Commission. November 19, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2021. FaceBank Group, Inc. is a digital human technology company, focused on the development, collection, protection and preparation of the personal digital likeness assets, of celebrities and consumers, for use in artificial intelligence, entertainment, personal productivity and social networking.
  52. ↑ David Bloom (March 23, 2020). "Skinny Bundle FuboTV Beefs Up Amid COVID-19 Storm In Merger With Facebank Group". Forbes. Retrieved August 12, 2021. Sports-oriented streaming-video service FuboTV announced it will merge with technology developer Facebank Group
  53. ↑ Dinesh Nair, Liana Baker, David Hellier (March 24, 2020). "Dealmakers Getting Creative After Virus Upends M&A Market". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved August 12, 2021. FaceBank and FuboTV executives wrapped up their final rounds of negotiations last week on Zoom{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  54. ↑ Rick Munarriz (December 28, 2020). "This Was the Top-Performing IPO in 2020". fool.com.com. The Motley Fool. Retrieved August 12, 2021. You more than tripled your investment if you were able to get in on the IPOs for Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR), Lemonade (NYSE:LMND), and fuboTV (NYSE:FUBO).
  55. ↑ Jon Lafayette (April 2, 2020). "FuboTV Emerges After Combining with FaceBank". nexttv.com.com. Broadcasting+Cable. Retrieved August 12, 2021. FuboTV and FaceBank Group said they completed their merger agreement and that the combined company will be called fuboTV.
  56. ↑ "Facebank Group SEC Form 8-K Mar_23_2020". SEC.gov. Securities Exchange Commission. March 23, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2021. The effect of the Stock Exchange Ratio and the voting provisions of the Series AA Preferred Stock is to initially establish a two-thirds majority ownership of FaceBank on a common equivalent basis for the fuboTV shareholders while preserving a majority voting interest for the FaceBank shareholders.
  57. ↑ "Beneficial Ownership of Securities". SEC.gov. Securities Exchange Commission. October 26, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2021. John Textor 12.01 percent
  58. ↑ "fuboTV Set to Join Russell 3000® Index". businesswire.com. Businesswire. June 22, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021. fuboTV Inc. (NYSE: FUBO), the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform, is set to join the broad-market Russell 3000® Index at the conclusion of the 2021.
  59. ↑ Reuters. "U.S. businessman John Textor buys stake in Crystal Palace." 11 August 2021.
  60. ↑ Financial Times. "US tech entrepreneur puts Crystal Palace stake up for sale." 24 May 2024.
  61. ↑ AP News. "Crystal Palace lifts FA Cup for the first time." 25 May 2025.
  62. ↑ Reuters. "New York Jets co‑owner Johnson completes purchase of stake in Palace." 25 July 2025.
  63. ↑ EU News. "Molenbeek changes name: Daring Brussels is back." 24 June 2025.
  64. ↑ Reuters. "From fallen giants to giant‑killers: Botafogo’s remarkable revival." 22 June 2025.
  65. ↑ Reuters. "Botafogo stun PSG in Club World Cup thriller." 20 June 2025.
  66. ↑ Sports Illustrated. "2025 Ballon d'Or Men's Club of the Year nominees." 2025.
  67. ↑ Reuters. "Lyon to remain in Ligue 1 after successful appeal." 9 July 2025.
  68. ↑ The Guardian. "Lyon's demotion 'incomprehensible,' says Textor." 6 July 2025.
  69. ↑ Reuters. "Football club investor Eagle files for US IPO." 14 June 2025.
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