Scooter Braun
Scott Samuel "Scooter" Braun (/brɔːn/ BRAWN; born June 18, 1981) is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and the CEO of HYBE-America, the North American subsidiary of South Korean entertainment company Hybe Corporation.[4][5][6] He is credited with the discovery of Canadian singer Justin Bieber in 2008, whose success foresaw the establishment of his record label RBMG Records, a joint venture with R&B singer Usher. He has since managed other high-profile music industry acts including Kanye West, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, J Balvin, Ozuna, Dan + Shay, and the Kid Laroi.[7][8]
Scooter Braun
Greenwich High School
Emory University (no degree)
- Talent manager
- record executive
- businessman
- investor
2002–present
- Big Machine
- RBMG
- SB Projects
- School Boy
CEO of Hybe America[3]
Founder of School Boy Records and co-founder of Raymond-Braun Media Group (RBMG)
3
He is also the founder of Schoolboy Records, co-founder of TQ Ventures and Mythos Studios, and co-owner of the esports team 100 Thieves.[2][9][10] Claims by Taylor Swift in response to the acquisition of Big Machine Records, the American record label that owned her masters, by Braun's Ithaca Holdings in 2019 resulted in a publicized dispute.
Early life[edit]
Braun was born in New York City to Conservative Jewish parents, Ervin and Susan (née Schlussel) Braun.[11][12] Following the Holocaust,[13] Ervin's parents lived in Hungary until 1956, when they immigrated to the United States. Ervin grew up in Queens, and became a dentist and high-school basketball coach; Susan Schlussel Braun was an orthodontist.[14] After the couple married, they settled in Cos Cob, Connecticut.[15]
Braun has four siblings. He attended Greenwich High School, where he was elected class president.[12] Braun attended Emory University in Atlanta, where he played college basketball until his sophomore year.[15] He dropped out of college in his junior year.[16][17][18]
Awards[edit]
In 2012, Braun was awarded an ACLU Bill of Rights award.[70]
In 2013, Braun was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.[71] He also appeared a second time on the cover of Billboard in its April 20, 2013, issue, alongside Guy Oseary and Troy Carter.[72]
Braun was nominated for Grammy awards for his work as a producer and songwriter on Bieber's albums Purpose in 2017 and Justice in 2022.[73] In 2017, he appeared on the cover of Variety magazine's Hitmakers.[74][75] With Grande, Simon Moran, and Melvin Benn, he organized One Love Manchester, a June 14 benefit concert and British television special in response to the Manchester Arena bombing after Grande's concert two weeks earlier.[74][75]
In 2018, Braun received the Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic efforts in 2017.[76] He also received the Save the Children's Humanitarian Award that year.[77]
ln 2019 he was inducted into the Midem Hall of Fame.[78] In 2020, Fortune named him to its "40 Under 40" list in media and entertainment.[79][80] In 2021, Braun was named Variety magazine's "Music Mogul of the Year."[81]
Politics[edit]
Braun hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton at his home in 2015.[82] In 2019, he hosted a fundraiser for the Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign.[83][84] He supported developer Rick Caruso in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election.[85]
Braun, a supporter of Israel,[86] has emerged as a vocal advocate in lieu of the Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis. In December 2023, Braun spoke at a rally in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square,[87] and featured the mother of an Israeli hostage in a video posted to his Instagram calling for the music industry to spread awareness on the issue.[88]
Philanthropy[edit]
Braun is involved in various charities including the Braun Family Foundation.[89][90][91] He also assists with his brother Adam's charity, Pencils of Promise.[92] Billboard reported that as of 2017, Braun—along with his then-clients and companies—had granted more wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation than any other organization in the history of the foundation.[93] He received the Humanitarian Award at the 2016 Billboard Touring Awards for his philanthropic support of Pencils of Promise, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Fuck Cancer.[94] Braun and actor George Clooney held significant roles in March for Our Lives and aided in fundraising efforts behind the scenes. In 2017, Braun was an organizer of Hand in Hand, a telethon which raised $55 million for relief efforts related to Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.[95]
Braun coordinated the charity single, "Stuck with U" by Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, which benefitted the First Responders Children's Foundation to fund grants and scholarships for children of first responders and health care workers that worked on the front lines during the pandemic.[96] In 2023, Braun joined the board of directors of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.[97]
In March 2024, Braun launched a fundraising project with Care.org and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel.[98]
Personal life[edit]
In 2013, Braun began dating Yael Cohen.[99][100][101] The couple wed on July 6, 2014, in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, at Cohen's parents' house.[102][103] They had a son in 2015,[104][105] another son in 2016,[106] and a daughter in 2018.[107][108][109] Braun filed for divorce in July 2021,[110] which was finalized in September 2022.[111]