I'm a reporter at Forbes writing about the world's richest people with a focus on the tech sector. Send any tips to my email ([email protected]) or Signal (678-834-4200), and find me on Twitter @_pheebini. Before joining Forbes, I studied statistics and data science, education studies and journalism at Yale.
Gayle Benson, Louisiana's richest person and owner of the Saints and Pelicans, is betting big, venture-capital-style, on her home state.Billionaire Gayle Benson, owner of NFL New Orleans Saints and NBA Pelicans, discusses her venture capital firm and its new biotech investment.ne of the wealthiest women in America, Gayle Benson is best known as the owner of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints team and the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans.
Benson doesn’t handle the day-to-day operations of the four-person fund . But she does attend its weekly investment committee meetings. It was at one of those that she pitched the idea of Benson Capital’s real estate fund. “I really enjoy real estate,” Benson says. “It's tangible, and it's something you can have and hold on to. It’s interesting how it’s all come full circle.”
“Frankly, New Orleans isn't maybe known for being a biotech hotbed,” says AxoSim CEO Lowry Curley, adding that accordingly, early-stage funding is relatively difficult to raise in the region. “The support of someone like and her team that's so business-minded and successful … has let us hit some really big milestones, not the least of which is this acquisition.”
Throughout its quarter decade of operation, though, the interior design business had both years of positive cash flow and years of significant debt; Benson faced more than a dozen lawsuits related to her company, mostly alleging that she didn’t pay small bills on time or otherwise breached contracts. It’s not clear what happened in most of those cases from many years ago but in one case, at least, her firm was ordered to pay back $1690.
Her goal now, she says, is to “continue his legacy of business and economic development in the region.” While the sports teams are struggling with middling records, it’s a bit early to tell if her venture firm’s strategy is paying off yet: BCP’s fund is “slightly up” for now, according to Katz, who says they’re targeting a 30% internal rate of return for that fund.
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