NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wheelhouse CEO Brent Montgomery announced today that Ann Berry, seasoned investment and private equity executive, has joined Wheelhouse as Chief Investment Officer. Berry will run Wheelhouse Partners, Wheelhouse’s investment arm, and will grow its portfolio in the fast-growing technology and consumer categories.
Berry joins Wheelhouse from New York-based private equity firm Cornell Capital LLC, where she was a Partner and Investment Committee member. She previously spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs and has negotiated, executed and managed over $1.5 billion of investments over the course of her career.
Wheelhouse was launched in 2018 by Montgomery, in close partnership with Jimmy Kimmel, as a one-stop shop for content, talent, brands and capital. In addition to Wheelhouse Partners, the group includes production enterprise Wheelhouse Entertainment; in-house brand marketing division Wheelhouse Labs; digital media arm Wheelhouse DNA; and a real estate footprint that includes private social clubs in New York and Los Angeles, and The Village, a multi-acre waterfront innovation campus in Stamford, CT.
Wheelhouse has previously invested in select high-growth consumer and technology companies, including premium activewear brand Rhone, connected fitness provider Hydrow, culinary community Food52, book club platform Literati, and non-alcoholic beverage maker Athletic Brewing Company.
Said Montgomery, “We are delighted to welcome Ann to Wheelhouse and to have her considerable expertise to drive and scale Wheelhouse Partners. Alongside her superb investing experience and deep knowledge of media, Ann brings to Wheelhouse an affinity for invention and significant operational know-how, all integral to our brand and to those founders in whom we will invest. ”
Berry said, “Brent’s track record of entrepreneurial success across multiple industries uniquely positions Wheelhouse to understand the holistic needs of high-growth organizations. I am very excited to lead Wheelhouse Partners in delivering the full power of Wheelhouse’s business building, content creation and digital distribution engines to talented founders. The Wheelhouse team has already built an impressive portfolio and I’m looking forward to collaborating across our leadership to amplify our investing capabilities further.”
Berry has served on numerous corporate boards and is currently a director of PureStar, and previously Blue Mistral, Interline Brands, GCA Services, and US Security Associates, among others. She has supported entrepreneurs as an early-stage investor, including in Drone Racing League and Element Inc., and has significant operational leadership experience inside private equity-backed companies. She regularly appears on the BBC, Bloomberg, CBS, CNBC, CNN, Fox Business and Yahoo Finance.
Born and raised in London, Berry graduated from Cambridge University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. She resides in New York City.
About Wheelhouse:
Wheelhouse was launched in 2018 by award-winning producer and entrepreneur Brent Montgomery, in partnership with Jimmy Kimmel. A one-stop shop for content, talent, brands and capital, Wheelhouse harnesses business and programming opportunities across industries and platforms, helping companies and creators to accelerate and manage their ventures. The group consists of Wheelhouse Entertainment, a content and production enterprise that has deals in place with Kevin Hart, Adam Levine, David Dobrik and Hype House; Wheelhouse Labs, the company’s in-house brand marketing and creative innovation division; digital media division Wheelhouse DNA; and investment platform Wheelhouse Partners.
