Matthew Thompson

Global Co-Leader, Entertainment, Sports & Media Group
Sidley Austin LLP

As the global co-leader of the Entertainment, Sports & Media Group at Sidley Austin LLP Matthew Thompson orchestrates massive eight-, nine- and 10-figure mergers, corporate joint ventures and institutional financing deals. He counsels high-profile content creators, global entertainment businesses and private investment firms, including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Shamrock Capital. This expertise extends to monumental media asset consolidations, advising a premier sponsor consortium on a landmark joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery to manage a library of iconic music copyrights. Leveraging this record of success, Thompson directed Warner Music Group through a high-value partnership with Bain Capital to make $1.2 billion of new capital available for catalog acquisitions. He channels his specialized expertise into industry mentorship by serving as co-chair emeritus of the UCLA Entertainment Symposium Advisory Committee.