Michael Yanover MBA ’88
Head of Business Development, Create Artists Agency
Michael Yanover is the head of business development at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). CAA’s business development group creates new lines of business for CAA, in addition to servicing clients across the agency in their pursuit of broader initiatives. Yanover also focuses on the representation of individual and corporate clients within the technology sector. Yanover has spearheaded CAA’s incubation of several venture-financed companies, including HAUS Laboratories, the beauty business launched with Lady Gaga, distributed in an exclusive relationship with Amazon; Funny or Die, a leading transmedia company co- founded by CAA, Sequoia Capital, and actor Will Ferrell; WhoSay, a digital media management platform for high-profile individuals, since sold to Viacom; Empowered, a comprehensive online education and software company, since sold to Qualcomm; and Creative Labs, a start-up studio that focuses on developing consumer-facing technology companies and next generation media and entertainment experiences. Yanover’s team has also represented several technology companies looking to leverage opportunities in entertainment, which, among others, have included Amazon, Tencent, LINE, and Cisco. Yanover oversaw Star Avenue Capital, an investment vehicle focused on providing growth equity for consumer retail companies in fashion, beauty, health and fitness. He also spearheads CAA Ventures, a formal venture fund consisting of third-party capital investing in tech start-up companies. Prior to joining CAA, Yanover was senior vice president and general manager at Macromedia (now part of Adobe), where he launched their successful online entertainment division, Atom Entertainment (now part of Viacom). Previously, he ran his own entertainment production company, which produced two television series for domestic and international broadcast, and a theatrical film released by MGM. Yanover began his career in M&A, corporate finance, and entertainment law at Bankers Trust and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in New York, and at Sinclair Tenenbaum & Co., a leading entertainment law firm in Los Angeles. Yanover holds an MBA in finance from Chicago Booth and a JD from the University of Toronto.