Thomas H. Rudy is the Co-Founder and CEO of WhiteRock, a global advisory firm working on M&A transactions and capital raises in the sports, media, entertainment, fashion, and luxury sectors. He plays a key role across both sports team and sports-related business deals. With a background in sports investment banking and principal investing, Rudy’s broad knowledge base delivers a great deal of value to clients around the world. In 2019 and 2020, he was voted one of the Top 25 experts in SportsTech in the North American SportsTech Report.
Rudy is leading WhiteRock’s efforts in the creation of SportsAI, an extension of the firm’s expertise in SportsTech transactions, valuations, trends, and its disruptive impact on the sports, media, and entertainment industries. He is also focused on sports M&A as well as on structuring private equity transactions in sports, media, and entertainment globally.
Also the Founder of investment fund Capital R Investments, he has appeared as a financial expert on Deutsches Anleger Fernsehen (DAF), N-TV, N24, Der Aktionär TV, and Inside Wirtschaft in Germany, in addition to appearances on U.S., Chinese, and Korean television programs at the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Furthermore, Rudy is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of New York-based venture capital fund Elevate Innovation Partners that focuses on early stage investments in fintech and enterprise software companies. To date, Elevate Innovation Partners has made over 50 investments worldwide.
Rudy’s career in sports investment banking started at Citigroup in New York, where he worked as an Analyst for the firm’s Sports Advisory Group. In this role, he worked with NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, and European football team owners to buy and sell franchises as well as finance the expansion of their enterprises.
In 2008, he left Citi to start Capital R Investments, a hedge fund and venture capital firm with locations in New York, Florida, and Germany.
He is actively involved in the community on the local and international level through his work with the Rotary Club of Wall Street, of which he is the Co-Founder and former President, and Columbia University’s Alumni Representative Committee in Germany, on which he serves as Chairman of the Board.
After his Abitur in Germany, Rudy graduated from the College at Columbia University in New York City in 2006 with a B.A. in Economics.
