Josh Harris is widely known as cofounder of Apollo Global Management, the very successful asset management firm. He also cofounded Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment (HBSE), and is an eminent figure in the sports management arena, with stakes in several teams including the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils, and Crystal Palace Football Club. In 2022, he founded 26North, with the mission to create a next-generation alternative investment platform. With around 140 employees, it’s bringing big-firm capabilities and impressive results; in just 3 years, 26North is pushing toward $30 billion AUM.
In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, Josh talks with McKinsey Senior Partner and North America Chair Eric Kutcher on what’s he’s learned about leadership, culture, and resilience as he’s traversed the worlds of investment and sports. He also considers the power of professional sports, and the responsibility of organizations around them, to build community and positively impact the places where people live.
This is an edited transcript of their conversation, which took place on June 19, 2025. For more discussions on the strategy issues that matter, follow the series on your preferred podcast platform.
Eric Kutcher: We are living in quite a moment of uncertainty right now, with challenges in geopolitics, economics, and policy converging. How do you make sense of it, or navigate through it?
Josh Harris: I agree that we’re in a pretty polarized world right now, both geopolitically and economically. What that does is increase volatility. On the economic side for 26North, sometimes volatility creates opportunity for our investors. The markets are at high places with high PEs, low credit—you’ve got to dig around to find value. On the sports side, some of this volatility, along with the internet and COVID-19, has caused a real breakdown in community, and sports is a community. When the Commanders advanced to the NFC championship for the first time in 33 years—whatever your economic situation, race, or religion—if you were from the DC area, it was very likely you were celebrating that moment. So, sports is an amazing place to be in, in terms of bringing people together and creating community. And then I think being resilient within this volatility is critical. Teaching people to be resilient as they deal with the twists and turns that life creates, and to focus on the positive things in their lives, I preach that as well.
Eric Kutcher: You are the cofounder of Apollo Global Management, one of the largest asset management firms in the world. What was it that led you to want to start all over again as the founder of 26North?
Josh Harris: When you do a start-up at age 55, you come in with a lot more intelligence and resources. But you’re re-entering the arena and you’re taking risks. We achieved great success at Apollo financially, and I was able to help build a great company and own sports teams. And of course, I had my wife and five kids—I was blessed. I decided I wanted to do something that would have the biggest impact on the world in a positive way. My secret sauce was investing and building organizations that were excellent, and I felt that there was also this business opportunity to do something truly unique in the alternative space. I realized I could attract amazing people and that investors would support me, so I went for it. It’s been more successful than I ever would have hoped. It’s unimaginable, given where we were three years ago, that we are now 140 people, with close to $30 of AUM, and have the investor support we have.
Eric Kutcher: What were some of the things that you learned from the first time around that you’ve done differently at 26North?
Josh Harris: When I started at Apollo, I was a doer, a dealmaker. I went out and I did the work. And then I evolved to a manager, where you’re overseeing a group of people and trying to get them to accomplish good things. But then as you get older, you become a leader. And what that means to me is that increasingly, I’m looking at culture. What is the culture that I’m building? What does it stand for? For me, it’s excellence. It’s being mission-driven to have a positive impact on the world.
And, for me, it’s about people. People that are not only good at what they do, but people I want to be around, that others want to be around, where we can create a community together. That evolution really transcends sports and business. You win with the best team on the field, but you get the best team on the field by having the best team off the field. So, I think it’s culture, people, and strategy—but culture and people eat strategy for breakfast, particularly in the investment world and in sports.
I think it’s culture, people, and strategy—but culture and people eat strategy for breakfast, particularly in the investment world and in sports.
Also, I would say for me personally, I’m a servant leader. What drives me is impacting other people positively. Everyone in our world thinks about business acumen, business success, personal financial success. I always say to people, “I understand that. I will do my best to help you achieve personal financial success. Your job is to help us win.” And in sports, winning is winning. It’s winning titles. It’s creating fan happiness. In business, obviously it’s EBITDA, it’s cash flow, it’s stock price, it’s a more objective metric.
Eric Kutcher: I would argue that you also have to have some level of vision, and a relentless focus on achieving that vision through the people, and through the culture.
Josh Harris: I think the vision came from this idea that the private investment world was bifurcating into these really big companies. Companies that had (for the most part, there’s some exceptions) achieved incredible investing ecosystems with lots of capabilities, people, alpha creation, and integrated platforms with debt and private equity, and insurance. The smaller companies hadn’t invested as much in their business. They had stayed smaller, very much focused on one thing. Our vision at 26North was to bring big firm capabilities to the middle market.
Increasingly, if you’re a public company in the alternative space, you’re driven by management fees. And management fees are predictable cash flow vehicles that the market values very highly. As a private company, which we are, you’re not driven by that at all, you’re driven by alpha. And sometimes it’s harder to create alpha with big pools of capital. In my career, I went from managing a billion-dollar private equity fund to managing $25 billion. There’s the law of big numbers; it’s just harder. Our vision was to bring those capabilities back to focus on alpha, and to focus on returns, and to set up the company and compensation system around alpha, and around being much more entrepreneurial.
To make this happen, it all starts with talent. Talent was saying, “That sounds really fun; to have a chance at this, I’m going to take less cash compensation. I'm going to bet that with 26North’s support and Josh, we can raise the capital, and then we can deploy the capital and generate more alpha.” So, we’ve set up the company with individuals running the platform and their teams, and they do much better financially. But we all understand that if we don’t align on that, we all lose.
Eric Kutcher: Now, in just a 3-year time frame, 26North is a $30 billion asset manager. You’ve also got what might be the largest sports ownership platform in the world. How do you lead, and scale across such diverse organizations?
Josh Harris: First, I spend time on my health. If you’re not healthy, then you’re not going to be good to anyone. Then it’s my family. One of the big ways you can impact your life and the world is by raising great human beings. As it relates to business, it’s about managing what you spend your time on. To do that, you have to be very intentional about the people you put around you, the decisions you want to be involved with, and the issues you want to focus on; you have to be able to issue spot and delegate.
You have to be very intentional about the people you put around you, the decisions you want to be involved with, and the issues you want to focus on.
At 26North, I run the business. I’m the CEO and I chair the investment committee. But in every role, I have always tried to manage myself out of the job. Increasingly, I’m trying to focus on developing individuals at 26North or finding new individuals that create a structure for 26North.
And then, on the sports side, I don’t want to operate those teams. Your three most important jobs as a sports team owner are hiring a great GM, hiring a great coach, and hiring a great CEO/president. So doing that’s allowed me to focus more on 26North.
Eric Kutcher: You talk about this idea of resilience, particularly in the moment when the world around us has its fair share of challenges. What characterizes resilience, and how do you bring that into an organization?
Josh Harris: When we hire, we’re focused on excellence, being mission-driven, and impact, and then ultimately on hiring people that are willing to bring it. And so how do we ultimately judge someone who’s resilient in this environment?
Wrestling taught me a lot about resilience. Facing off against another human being who wants to physically dominate you really sharpens your mind, and it didn’t always go perfectly. Being able to pick yourself up and train and get back right out there, that’s a really important trait. We look for that kind of focus and intensity, and I think people who have gone through some challenge early in their life generally do better than people that have had it a lot easier.
Whether it’s competing in sports, whether it’s competing outside of sports, whether it’s 26North or the many organizations of the people listening, there’s going to be very smart people on both sides of you, and it’s your ability to dig down and get through tough situations that will set you apart.
There’s going to be very smart people on both sides of you, and it’s your ability to dig down and get through tough situations that will set you apart.
Eric Kutcher: If we pivot towards sports, it feels like we are sitting at a unique moment, in particular in the business of sports. The LA Lakers recently sold a majority share at a record valuation of $10 billion. How did we get to a place where franchises are selling for that kind of number?
Josh Harris: First, people love sports. They love being part of that community and it creates a really positive experience for them. Second, the way the media ecosystem has developed is creating huge growth in big sports, with the increase in streaming and the ability for people to watch the best athletes in the world, anywhere in the world, at any time. This is global. More people watch the 76ers in China than they do in Philly. So it’s massively increased the audience side, and it’s very important to the media ecosystem. As a result, we are seeing substantial increases in the value of that content.
Third, sports are increasingly a platform for global and local development. We’re building stadiums in Philly and in Washington and looking to do the same in South London for Crystal Palace. And that development is an opportunity to really impact a community, not just through local teams winning and through creating great experiences, but by bringing in development, like mixed-use and retail, and affordable housing. All these things have come together to create this massive upward push in sports content value, and I think it’s here to stay.
Eric Kutcher: You had to make a decision about where to build the next Washington Commanders stadium. Can you talk about your vision for that, and what kind of response you had from the city of DC?
Josh Harris: My vision for the Commanders comes from me walking into RFK Stadium when I was five years old. I remember walking down East Capitol Street and the whole street being filled from the Capitol. And then walking into the stadium, you’d just hear this roar.
If you think about the RFK site, it’s right by the National Armory and there’s 200 acres of land. It’s the last big parcel in Washington. We’re working with the city of Washington to build four neighborhoods with a lot of affordable housing and job creation, with a massive ROI for the city. It’s a $2.7 billion investment, which is the largest ever in Washington history. Washington has had a history of creating massive economic growth, whether it be Nationals Park, whether it be MLS and the soccer team, or the Washington Wizards.
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Those were all the reasons, but at the end of the day the memories that I had, everyone else had. The minute that we said we were heading in this direction, the city came out and explosively supported it. As an owner of a sports team, I consider these teams being owned by the city, and I’m a steward for the cities. Clearly, I invest capital, I privately take risk, and hopefully I achieve value creation. But I think if you do what’s right for the city, you’re going to end up in a good place.
Eric Kutcher: I think we are in the early innings of what will be an incredible run for women’s sports. How do you think about the growth of women’s sports we are seeing right now?
Josh Harris: I think we’re at an existential moment in women’s sports. Obviously, Caitlin Clark has massively increased the Women’s NBA audience. You’re seeing the WNBA with massive viewership numbers that are 60 percent of the NBA level, on average. And then you’re also seeing the NWSL really expand and start investing. I think those platforms are going to be uber successful and there’s a real economic opportunity.
I think there’s also an equity component of it. I believe as owner of a major sport in a city, you have a responsibility to create opportunity for women’s sports. We’re looking hard at that. We’re investing in flag football through our platform Unrivaled. Flag football is now an Olympic sport and it’s growing massively internationally, and more than half of players are female. As is said, I was a wrestler, and the fact that I had people to look up to as role models actually changed my life. We need to create that for girls and for women. Tennis has long been a sport where girls can see professional players and look up to them. There’s no reason why basketball and soccer and many other sports can’t be as well.
Eric Kutcher: Thinking back on your journey, what advice would you give to your younger self? And how has that played out as you’ve straddled the worlds of investment and pro sports?
Josh Harris: First, trust your gut. My gut was I enjoyed economics, I enjoyed finance. Whatever it is that you enjoy, if you want to be really good at it, you’re going to have to do a lot of it and be very focused. Then, be intentional about your career decisions. I look back now and I tell my kids, when you’re 15 to 30 years old, you’re building your narrative. That’s also the most fun time in your life, and you want to go out and play. But if you want to play hard, make sure you work hard too because if you do a good job in those 15 years, the ROI’s for the next 50 years. Lastly, I was always around very talented people and that was how I picked what I did. I went for the smartest people where I’d be the most challenged. It’s also about being around people you like and respect. When setting up 26North, there’s been scenarios where we haven’t moved forward with people because although they’d be really good at their job, I didn’t think they were right for our environment and our community.
As for how that’s played out? In my career many people have said to me, “You work too hard. Why are you doing this?” My answer is, “Because I want to do it.” It’s actually been semi-controversial throughout my life that I like to work hard. But my view is that I’m a better father, I’m a better husband, I’m a better person because I’m fulfilled when I’m building something. Now I say to people who come to 26North, “We’re not for everyone. You’ve got to really want to do this.” And I look at pro sports and it’s very similar. If you want to play with the Washington Commanders or any of the pro teams, you’ve got to bring it. Athletes put their heart and soul into this stuff, and they really care. The world thinks it’s glamorous to be an athlete and that you make a lot of money, and in some sense for certain people it is. But I just see the level of their commitment and focus. That’s what 26North is about, and that’s what the Commanders are about, and that’s what all our organizations are about. If you want that, great. Come and be part of it if you’ve got the goods.
