Riccardo Silva

Riccardo Silva
Riccardo Silva Profile Picture
Born	1970 (age 46–47)
Education	Bocconi University, Tulane University
Occupation	Owner of Silva International Investments Founding partner and shareholder in MP & Silva President and co-owner of Miami FC
Known for	The Riccardo Silva Stadium, MP & Silva, Miami FC, Americas Champions League and MP talent agencies

Riccardo Silva is an Italian businessman and investor. He is the owner of Silva International Investments, founding partner and shareholder in MP & Silva, President and co-owner of Miami FC, majority shareholder in MP talent agencies, owner of the Riccardo Silva art collection, owner of the QP restaurant group, and previously served as former CEO of the Milan Channel and owner of Smith Woodlands Investments.

Riccardo Silva was born in 1970 in Milan, the grandson of the founder of Italsilva – Gruppo Desa, one of Italy’s largest chemical groups. His maternal family, Fabbri, is known for its publishing company, Fabbri Editori, is now part of the RCS Media Group. Silva completed his studies at Bocconi University and Tulane University.

In 1998 Riccardo Silva launched MP Web, an internet start-up of the Milan-based Media Partners Group (now Infront Media), managing sports rights and content for mobile and Internet platforms, which first came to prominence in the 1990s. In 2001 Riccardo Silva became CEO of Milan Channel, the official TV channel of AC Milan football club, and guided the international development of the channel.

Riccardo Silva founded MP & Silva in 2004 and it has since ‘grown to rival the big beasts of the sports agency world’. MP & Silva is an international media rights company based in London, with 18 offices around the globe.

The company manages sports TV rights for a range of international sporting events and distributes around 10,000 hours of programming to some 500 broadcasters globally. The company's portfolio includes FIFA World Cup rights, senior European football leagues, Grand Slam tennis, motor racing, handball, baseball, volleyball, boxing and the Asian Games. MP & Silva is also a major distributor of the English Premier League across a number of countries around the world. The company is estimated to have had revenues of $750m in 2014-15.

It was announced on May 24, 2016 that Chinese brokerage Everbright Securities and internet entertainment company Beijing Baofeng Technology bought a 65% stake in MP & Silva following a competitive sales process with interest from international companies and equity funds. Under the strategic partnership, Baofeng and MP & Silva will cooperate on management of sports media rights, as well as sponsorships and consulting services. Baofeng also plans to launch its own sports platform Baofeng Sports, which is expected to work closely with MP & Silva and will focus on online sports videos. Riccardo Silva and Andrea Radrizzani had owned 80 percent of MP & Silva before the sale. The company's former owners will retain a combined stake in MP & Silva of 35%. The deal values MP & Silva at $1.4 billion. MP & Silva Chief Executive Marco Auletta announced that "Everbright and Baofeng have emerged as the right partners to support our international growth and help us expand in adjacent fields such as virtual reality, where Baofeng is a key player in China."