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Hill Path Capital
Scott Ross's Hill Path Capital raised over $2.5B for concentrated, long-term consumer and travel bets — holding seven to ten positions at a time from New...
Hill Path Capital
Hill Path Capital was founded in 2016 by Scott Ross, a former partner at Apollo Global Management, and co-founders Nick Cayer and Brian Scurlock. Ross built his career in distressed and special-situations investing, and he brought that restructuring lens to a new platform focused on long-duration bets in mature consumer businesses. The firm operates from a single office in New York. The firm deploys capital through a hybrid strategy that spans both public-equity PIPE investments and private-market buyouts. It targets a narrow portfolio of seven to ten positions, typically holding them for five years or longer. Hill Path's most visible investments have been in the travel and leisure sector. Confirmed positions include SeaWorld Entertainment, where the firm became the largest shareholder and installed a new CEO after a multi-year proxy fight (per Bloomberg, 2019), and Miller's Ale House, a casual-dining chain acquired in 2019. The firm also led a $300 million preferred-equity investment in Wheels Up, the private-aviation company, in 2021. Its geographic focus is primarily North America. Hill Path raised its first fund, Hill Path Capital Partners, with approximately $1 billion in commitments and later closed a substantially larger second fund. In May 2024, the firm sold SeaWorld — renamed United Parks & Resorts — for an estimated total enterprise value of $4.4 billion, generating a significant return after a seven-year hold period (per Bloomberg, May 2024). The firm does not disclose total headcount but maintains a compact team structure consistent with its concentrated portfolio. It has no disclosed philanthropic foundation or real-asset arm operating as a separate vehicle. Hill Path's structural differentiator is its deliberate refusal of diversification as a risk-management tool. Instead of spreading capital across dozens of positions, the firm concentrates assets into a handful of ideas where it can function as an activist or control investor. Ross's Apollo training in distressed balance sheets informs a process that treats even healthy public companies as under-managed assets — buying large minority stakes, seeking board seats, and forcing operational resets over multi-year campaigns.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity Firm
Year founded
2016
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
New York
Corporate office
New York, NY, United States
Principals
Scott Ross
Managing Partner & Co-Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
What is Hill Path Capital's core investment strategy?
Hill Path runs a concentrated, hybrid strategy that mixes public-market PIPEs with private buyouts in mature consumer sectors. The firm holds seven to ten positions at a time and aims for five-year-plus holding periods. Its posture is operationally active — it frequently seeks board representation and pushes for management changes.
Who founded the firm and what is their background?
Scott Ross co-founded Hill Path in 2016 alongside Nick Cayer and Brian Scurlock. Ross was previously a partner at Apollo Global Management, where he focused on distressed and special-situations investing. That restructuring and operations-heavy background directly shapes Hill Path's approach to consumer-company turnarounds (per Bloomberg, 2021).
What was Hill Path's most notable investment?
Hill Path's highest-profile position was SeaWorld Entertainment, which it began accumulating in 2017. The firm eventually became the largest shareholder, installed a new CEO, and navigated the company through the pandemic-era tourism collapse. It sold the stake in May 2024 when the company — renamed United Parks & Resorts — was valued at roughly $4.4 billion (per Bloomberg, May 2024).
Does Hill Path invest outside the consumer and travel sectors?
The firm's disclosed public portfolio has been heavily concentrated in travel, leisure, and casual dining. Its known positions include SeaWorld Entertainment, Miller's Ale House, and Wheels Up. While it does not formally exclude other sectors, its investment committee has consistently executed within a consumer-and-services mandate.
How does Hill Path source its deals?
Hill Path does not rely on auction processes for its core positions. The firm builds large stakes in publicly traded companies through open-market purchases and direct negotiations, often over months or years. This approach gives it an activist posture from the start, securing board seats and driving restructuring plans that are harder to execute in competitive bidding.
Is Hill Path a single-family office?
No. Hill Path Capital is structured as a private equity firm that manages external institutional capital. It raised its first fund with roughly $1 billion in commitments and has closed a larger second fund. It is not affiliated with a single-family wealth source.
What is Scott Ross's track record at Apollo?
Scott Ross spent more than a decade at Apollo Global Management, where he became a partner and senior member of the private equity team. His work there included distressed-for-control investments, operational turnarounds, and complex corporate carve-outs — a skill set that directly informed Hill Path's consumer-activism playbook.
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