Authentic Brands Group plans IPO within a year, founder says

The founder of Authentic Brands Group, which manages brands like Reebok, Champion, and Brooks Brothers, announced plans to take the company public within the next 12 months and named a former Wynn Resorts CEO as its new chief executive.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen, Jamie Salter said Authentic’s president Matt Maddox, who joined the firm as president in January 2025 after a 20-year career at Wynn, will take over as CEO so Salter can transition to executive chairman, News.Az reports, citing CNBC.

In his new role, Salter will remain “deeply engaged in the business” and focused on the mergers and acquisitions that form the lifeblood of Authentic, but will focus on long-term strategy, Authentic said in a news release. Maddox will lead day-to-day operations with a mandate to scale the business, drive organic growth and create value for the firm’s “shareholders and partners.”

“As Founder and Executive Chairman, I will continue to do what I’ve always done: being laser-focused on driving strategic, transformational opportunities that will position our peerless company for continued growth,” Salter said in a news release. “I’ll remain actively involved, partnering closely with Matt and the entire leadership team.” 

Maddox added “the opportunity ahead is significant, and we are just getting started.”

Authentic generates about $38 billion in system-wide retail sales and has become a major force in the retail industry, known for buying the intellectual property behind popular brands that are distressed or bankrupt and licensing that IP for lucrative royalties. 

It has more than 50 brands in its portfolio, including Sports Illustrated, Guess and Juicy Couture, and has partnered with major figures like Shaquille O’Neal, David Beckham and Kevin Hart.

Authentic has been signaling it’s ready for a public offering for years, most recently in April during the Reuters Momentum AI event where Salter said the company will attempt another IPO “soon.” At the time, Salter said the company previously filed to go public twice but “got bought out for way more than we were going public for” and decided to stay private for the time. 

He added that once the company was ready to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, he planned to be in a leadership position other than CEO. 

That moment appears to have arrived with Maddox’s appointment as CEO and Salter’s transition to executive chairman.

Salter, who has spent decades in the consumer and retail space, is an accomplished investor and dealmaker, but he is less experienced than Maddox when it comes to the chops necessary to run a public company. During his time at Wynn, a near $10 billion market cap company traded on the Nasdaq, Maddox spent almost 15 years in the C-Suite as CFO, president and CEO, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

Often when companies are nearing an IPO, they will choose leaders who have deep experience running public companies, especially when those firms are led by founders.

News.Az