Former ESPN analyst Ryan Clark has spent a lot of his spare time building up his own media brand. Amid his “The Pivot” show’s continued growth, one famous billionaire is ready to become a partner with him.
According to reports, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has invested in Clark’s media company.
“Ryan Clark and his media company have secured an investment from former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz,” FOS wrote on X this morning. “In July, Clark was let go from ESPN after 11 years. Now, The Pivot has 1.5M YouTube subscribers, a deal with Netflix, and the man who took Starbucks worldwide as a partner.”
Clark took to X shortly afterwards and revealed that he’s been building that relationship with Schultz for a while and has already learned a lot from him.
“New days and continued blessings. Building a relationship with Howard Schultz has taught me so much about business already. I’m excited to continue to learn & grow with him as a partner,” Clark wrote on X. “As the saying goes. ‘Onward & Upward.'”
While many of Clark’s detractors mocked him and declared that the venture has no chance of working out, his supporters applauded him and encouraged him to keep working hard:
“IF YOU LIKE IT, I LOVE IT,” one user replied. “Always maintain control of your brand. We are supporting you. Please don’t turn on us.”
“It just wasn’t yo time at your last situation. Its Your time now tho #ThePivot,” wrote another.
“I love to see this! The man above saw what you was going through & wanted put you in a better environment congrats to you & your team continue to shine,” a third wrote.
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Clark Goes Independent
Clark was part of a round of layoffs at ESPN that took place in July. While many behind-the-scenes production and operations employees were affected, several high-profile on-air personalities were also let go, including Clark, veteran baseball broadcaster Karl Ravech, NFL insider Tom Pelissero, longtime SportsCenter anchor David Lloyd, fantasy football analyst Stephania Bell, and former NFL MVP Cam Newton.
But while most of the personalities who lost their jobs moved on with little-to-no fuss, Clark asserted that his dismissal came because he was too outspoken and that ESPN was just trying to get rid of him without having to make a bigger deal out of it.
Nevertheless, Clark had a second job waiting for him with his continued work on The Pivot, which he’d been working on for several years along with several other former NFL players.
