Rick Hess is the founding partner of CNC Partners, an investment platform built at the intersection of culture and capital. CNC invests in and helps scale differentiated cultural capital assets across sports, media, entertainment, and adjacent experiential categories. The platform identifies culturally relevant IP, aligns institutional capital and structured partnerships to drive long-term growth, and applies strategic value-creation capabilities to convert cultural relevance into repeatable, scalable economic outcomes. Most recently, Rick led the Series B of Range Media Partners in partnership with the late David Bonderman and Liberty Global. Previously, he founded Evolution Media Partners in 2012, which became the early-stage investing vehicle of TPG Growth, investing across media and consumer sectors across three funds. Notable investments include Scopely, Masterclass, Gametime, Calm, FanDuel, and Thom Browne. Prior to his time at TPG, Rick founded Evolution Media Capital in 2008 in partnership with Creative Artist Agency, advising on the sale of sports and media properties including the Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, and the launch of Illumination. Prior to Evolution Media, Rick created and led the Film Finance Group at CAA, packaging, financing, or selling more than 125 feature films, including Academy Award winners Crash, Brokeback Mountain, and The Tree of Life. He held executive positions at TriStar Pictures and William Morris, and served as President of both Phoenix Pictures and Propaganda Films. Rick serves on the boards of Range Media Partners, Tonal, Genvid, and Gametime. He is a board member of the Alliance Schools, one of the nation’s largest public charter school networks, serving over 12,000 students across 25 schools in Los Angeles, and is also on the board of directors for the Tetiaroa Society, which advances technology and innovation to protect, save, and research the planet’s oceans. Rick is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.