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The Tornante Company
Michael Eisner's private investment vehicle — permanent capital deployed across media, consumer, and tech, including Topps and BoJack Horseman.
The Tornante Company
The Tornante Company launched in 2005 after Michael Eisner stepped down from The Walt Disney Company, where he had served as CEO since 1984. Under his leadership, Disney's market capitalization grew from roughly $2 billion to over $60 billion, generating the personal capital base that funds Tornante. The firm is headquartered in Burbank, California, deliberately removed from the venture-capital density of Silicon Valley. Tornante pursues a concentrated strategy across media, consumer products, digital health, and enterprise software. The firm is structure-agnostic — deploying capital through majority buyouts, minority growth equity, and seed-stage venture checks. Its highest-profile asset is The Topps Company, the iconic trading-card and collectibles business that Tornante acquired in 2007 alongside Madison Dearborn Partners and relaunched as a broader entertainment brand. The firm also incubated the animated series BoJack Horseman, which ran for six seasons on Netflix and became a defining original for the platform. Additional portfolio exposure spans video-licensing technology (Vobile Group, taken public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2014) and early-stage digital health ventures. Tornante maintains a deliberately lean structure with Eisner as the primary investment decision-maker, supported by a small internal team. The firm does not publicly disclose assets under management or total deployment, consistent with its single-family-capital posture. In September 2023, Fanatics acquired Topps trading-card operations in a deal that left Tornante's entertainment and collectibles arm positioned to focus on digital and content-driven assets (per The Wall Street Journal, September 2023). The firm's Burbank base anchors a geographic footprint concentrated in Southern California and New York. The firm's structural differentiator is its indefinite holding period — Tornante is not a fund with a mandated liquidation timeline. This architecture lets Eisner hold businesses through cycles, as demonstrated by the 16-year Topps ownership before the partial exit. The combination of permanent capital, an operator-founder with deep content-industry relationships, and a willingness to incubate projects from scratch (BoJack Horseman) distinguishes Tornante from conventional private equity firms that must return capital to limited partners on a fixed schedule.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2005
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Burbank
Corporate office
Burbank, CA, United States
Principals
Michael Eisner
Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How is The Tornante Company different from a traditional private equity fund?
Tornante is not a fund — it deploys Michael Eisner's personal capital with no fixed investment period or required return of capital to limited partners. This permanent-capital structure allows indefinite holding periods, as demonstrated by the 16-year ownership of Topps before a partial exit. The firm takes both majority and minority positions and can incubate projects from scratch, which a conventional 10-year fund cannot easily do.
What are Tornante's most notable investments?
The firm's two most visible assets are The Topps Company, the trading-card and collectibles business acquired in 2007, and BoJack Horseman, the animated series Tornante incubated and sold to Netflix for a six-season run. Other known positions include Vobile Group, a video-licensing technology company that went public in Hong Kong, and selected digital health ventures. Tornante does not publish a full portfolio list.
Is Tornante actively investing, or is it primarily managing legacy assets?
Tornante remains active. The September 2023 sale of Topps trading-card operations to Fanatics was a significant liquidity event, but the firm retained Topps entertainment and digital collectibles assets and continues to pursue new opportunities. Eisner has described the firm's posture as opportunistic across media, consumer, and technology.
Does Tornante invest alongside outside co-investors?
Yes, Tornante has partnered with institutional co-investors including Madison Dearborn Partners on the original Topps acquisition. The firm can syndicate deals when appropriate but is not constrained by fund-level concentration limits, meaning it can also hold assets entirely on its own balance sheet.
What is Tornante's connection to The Walt Disney Company?
Tornante has no formal connection to Disney. Michael Eisner founded the firm after stepping down as Disney's CEO in 2005, and the capital base derives from his personal wealth accumulated during that 21-year tenure. Tornante's Burbank headquarters is geographically proximate to Disney but operationally independent.
Does Tornante invest in venture-stage companies or only control buyouts?
Tornante invests across the spectrum — from seed-stage venture checks in technology companies to majority buyouts like Topps. The firm also incubates original content, which is a structure most venture and private equity firms do not pursue. This flexibility is a function of the permanent-capital model.
Who makes investment decisions at The Tornante Company?
Michael Eisner serves as the primary investment decision-maker. The firm maintains a small internal team and has not publicly named additional investment partners. Eisner's operating experience and content-industry relationships drive sourcing and diligence, particularly in media and entertainment.
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