Katzenberg raises $590m for new venture

Jeffrey Katzenberg has created an LA-based media company, WndrCo, raising US$591.5 million for the venture.

A regulatory filing reveals DreamWorks Animation founder and former CEO Katzenberg has established WndrCo as a holding vehicle that will invest in various media and technology businesses.

Katzenberg’s next role as been the subject of much speculation since he sold DreamWorks Animation to Comcast in a US$3.8 billion deal last year.

Following the sale’s completion, he was named chairman of digital business DreamWorks New Media, which oversees investments in multichannel network AwesomenessTV and tech firm NOVA.

The WndrCo filing shows former DreamWorks Animation Ann Daly and ex-Dropbox CFO Sujay Jaswa are working with Katzenberg on the venture, and that the business is based in Beverly Hills, LA.

Katzenberg launched DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen running The Walt Disney Company’s movie production business between 1984 and 1994. DreamWorks Animation spun out of DreamWorks a decade later following an IPO.

Former Warner Bros. toon boss Chris DeFaria was recently named CEO of DreamWorks Filmed Entertainment Group, which now houses the assets of DreamWorks Animation.