Yahoo News Kai Cenat Joins MrBeast as an Influencer Talent Management Firm Gets Bigger
Just as Hollywood talent agencies aim to pick off boutique firms to bolster their client lists, a newer crop of influencer-based companies are also looking for deals to scale up. One of those firms, the Reed Duchscher-run Night, which has a management division that touts itself as the home of YouTube influencer Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast), is set to grow by acquisition.
Night stated Friday it is acquiring LFM, a New York-based management firm focused on influencers that includes YouTube and Twitch creator Kai Cenat among its 10 clients. LFM founder John Nelson will join Night as vp talent and will bring along three of his employees as part of the deal (terms of which weren’t disclosed). The roster of Night appears to have grown substantially in a few years: in 2020, Duchscher said the company had 10 clients, several of them YouTube stars, it now lists about 65, not including those from the LFM acquisition. During that time the company, which launched in 2015, moved from Dallas to an office in downtown Austin, Texas.
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The reach of Cenat on social media made headlines earlier this month, though likely not the type his team would like to see. The influencer posted about a giveaway of gaming systems and other prizes in Union Square in New York City, where he was going to show up on Aug. 4. His posts went viral and a crowd of 300 people turned into thousands and turned unruly with damage done to vehicles, food carts and stores and clashes with officers, NYPD’s chief of department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a presser that day, adding that 65 arrests were made and citing “the power of social media” for how quickly the crowd amassed. Cenat was charged with inciting a riot and unlawful assembly. Days later, on Aug. 9, the influencer posted a video saying he’s “beyond disappointed in anybody who became disruptive that day” and “none of that was my intention.”
Cenat, who is repped by UTA on the talent agency side, will now be joining a management firm in Night whose roster includes influencers and creators like including the streamer known as Dream as well as Hasan Piker, Safiya Nygaard, Ryan Trahan, Moriah Elizabeth and others. LFM clients that will join Night include Deshae Frost and Daydrian Harding as well as the creator collective Any Means Possible (AMP), which Cenat joined in 2020.
Night’s talent management division is one part of a larger company that includes unit like Labs (a venture studio that includes Feastables and MrBeast Burger, which is the subject of a $100 million lawsuit), Studios (which helps talent pitch shows for film and TV concepts), Ventures (investments in other companies) and Capital (which is a $100 million investment fund from The Chernin Group. The Peter Chernin-founded firm is a minority investor in Night). Around 60 employees work at Night across the five divisions.
“I couldn’t be more excited to welcome John Nelson and his roster of clients to Night,” said Night CEO Duchscher, who got his start as an NFL sports agent before founding the influencer management firm. “Night is laser-focused on building alongside the biggest stars on the internet, and this acquisition demonstrates that. We are thrilled to be backing Kai, AMP, and so many other great creators with this move.”
LFM’s founder Nelson said the deal will open doors “to even more opportunities for our creators through Night’s exceptional resources and expertise. I look forward to building out and elevating the future of content creation.”
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