A Goldman M&A Banker Helped Bring the Olympics to Los Angeles
Gene Sykes, co-head of Global M&A at Goldman Sachs and president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, discusses the 2028 LA Olympics' private funding model, the current M&A landscape driven by AI infrastructure investment, and parallels between current AI buildout and past tech bubbles.
Summary
Gene Sykes, a longtime Goldman Sachs partner and head of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, joins the Odd Lots podcast to discuss multiple topics spanning the Olympics, M&A, and AI. Regarding the 2028 LA Olympics, Sykes explains that the games will be privately funded (except for federal security support) and leverages existing world-class sports infrastructure in Los Angeles, eliminating the need for expensive new stadium construction. He addresses concerns about LA traffic and ticket availability, noting that half the tickets have already sold at premium prices, and that 1984 Olympics traffic proved manageable when proper planning was implemented. The Olympic Games will feature 17,000 athletes competing in 900 medal events across 15 million tickets sold, dwarfing the World Cup's scale.
On the M&A front, Sykes reports that 2024 is the biggest M&A year in history, exceeding the 2021 peak. However, the composition has shifted: private equity-sponsored deal exits dropped from 40% to 30% of the market, replaced by strategic acquisitions driven by AI infrastructure needs. Companies across natural resources, power generation, and semiconductors are aggressively acquiring to build proprietary AI capabilities. Sykes notes that 80% of AI startups have acquisition as their end game, though companies like OpenAI and Anthropic may become sustained independent businesses due to their scale.
Regarding AI adoption, Sykes cites analysis showing only 2% of companies report positive EPS impact from AI, though 20-30% have implemented AI strategies. At Goldman Sachs, AI is reshaping workflows for junior employees and improving analytical capacity across deal-making. He argues that AI will enhance human judgment in M&A advisory by providing faster access to better information and enabling better synthesis of independent variables, rather than making advisors smarter.
On media and content, Sykes presents two competing visions: AI commoditizing media creation versus AI amplifying existing IP value. He predicts back catalogs will become more valuable as AI finds new uses for existing content. He also discusses the music industry's anxiety about AI disruption and licensing concerns, while noting that creators with strong IP can use AI as a force multiplier.
Sykes draws parallels between current AI infrastructure investment and the 1990s TMT bubble, noting that the key difference is the source of funding: today's investment comes from major tech platforms with hundreds of billions in free cash flow, versus venture capitalists in the 2000-2001 period. He emphasizes uncertainty about whether infrastructure buildout will exceed actual demand.
About this episode
<p>We're in an era of megadeals, with Goldman Sachs reporting a record year for big deal volumes as companies scramble to compete with AI. Gene Sykes has seen multiple deal cycles come and go over his multi-decade career. The co-head of mergers and acquisitions has worked on famous transactions like Comcast's purchase of Universal and Disney's buyout of Pixar. In addition to being "the most-influential M&A banker you've never heard of," as New York magazine has put it, he has also spearheaded Los Angeles's successful bid to bring the Olympic Games to the city in 2028. In this conversation, recorded live at the Future Proof Festival in Huntington Beach, California, we discuss how a city pays for a big event like the Olympics, and parallels between the early 2000s TMT environment and now.</p> <p>Read more:<br /><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-17/port-of-la-foiled-around-120-million-cyberattacks-last-month?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=odd_lots&utm_content=article">Port of LA Foiled Around 120 Million Cyberattacks Last Month</a><br /><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-18/goldman-s-snider-says-fears-of-us-earnings-bubble-are-misplaced?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=odd_lots&utm_content=article">Goldman’s Snider Says Fears of US Earnings Bubble Are Misplaced</a></p> <p>Only <a href="http://Bloomberg.com">http://Bloomberg.com</a> subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox each week, plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots?in_source=oddlotspodcast">bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots</a></p> <p><a href="http://bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots">Subscribe to the Odd Lots Newsletter</a><br /><strong>Join the conversation:</strong> <a href="https://discord.gg/oddlots">discord.gg/oddlots</a></p><p>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.</p>
Key Insights
- The 2028 LA Olympics will be privately funded with no government support except for federal security, relying on existing world-class LA sports infrastructure, making it fundamentally different from previous Olympics that required massive new construction.
- M&A activity in 2024 represents the largest year in history, surpassing the 2021 COVID-inflated peak, driven primarily by companies acquiring AI infrastructure capabilities rather than private equity sponsor exits.
- Only 2% of companies currently report positive EPS impact from AI implementation, though 20-30% have deployed AI strategies, indicating enterprise AI adoption remains nascent despite widespread experimentation.
- About 80% of AI startups view acquisition by larger companies as their intended end game, shaped by venture capitalist and founder expectations, while only the most differentiated or scale-achieving startups like OpenAI and Anthropic are likely to remain independent.
- The current AI infrastructure investment differs critically from the 1990s-2000s TMT bubble because funding now comes from tech giants with hundreds of billions in free cash flow, rather than venture capitalists, potentially sustaining higher investment levels.
- AI will enhance M&A advisory by providing faster information synthesis and enabling advisors to ask better counter-questions, improving confidence and judgment rather than making advisors inherently smarter.
- Back catalogs and existing media libraries are likely to become more valuable as AI creates new use cases for existing content and helps algorithmic systems match content to audiences more effectively.
- The music industry expresses significant anxiety about AI's potential to both commoditize creation and enable IP licensing misuse, while creators with strong personal brands view AI as a force multiplier for expanding their output and reach.
Topics
Transcript
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