London Spirit investor makes audacious claim about the Hundred believing it can be made in a billion dollar product.
London Spirit investors believe Hundred can rival IPL.
According to the leader of the Silicon Valley technology group that paid £144 million (about US$193 million) in January for a 49% share in London Spirit, the Hundred has the potential to grow into “a mutli-billion dollar product” that can compete with the IPL.
Nikesh Arora, the CEO of Palo Alto Networks, a cybersecurity company, is the leader of Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, also referred to as the “Tech Titans.” He just joined Spirit’s board following their successful acquisition of a minority share. The group was hosted at Lord’s this week by MCC, with whom they will operate the franchise as a joint venture.
Since defeating Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG Group in a virtual auction earlier this year, the consortium has expanded. According to Arora, 15 of its members attended the Hundred’s first match day at Lord’s, where Spirit’s women defeated Oval Invincibles but the men’s team was bowled out for 80.
They lined a hospitality suite in the Edrich Stand on Tuesday after seeing Justin Langer and Kane Williamson at a training session on Monday and dining in the pavilion that evening. The CEOs of Google, YouTube, and Adobe are all involved; according to Times Internet vice-chairman Satyan Gajwani, not even the World Economic Forum could unite them.
“This is a way to get involved with one of the most storied and hallowed grounds in the world,” Arora said at Lord’s, while watching his new team for the first time. “It’s like bringing our passions to our work.
“We’ve never had buyer’s remorse. We’ve never been stressed about what we paid. I have more people who want to be part of the consortium now than I had before I made the investment, so it’s not a problem. Many of them are here; they flew from the US to come watch it. This is a passion for every one of us… It’s going to be fun.”