Scott Samuel "Scooter"Braun (/brɔːn/BRAWN; born June 18, 1981) is an American businessman,investor, formertalent manager, andrecord executive. One of the most influential names in music industry history, he is credited with having discovered and managed Canadian singerJustin Bieber in 2008 and American singerAriana Grande in 2012, whose success along with other artists under Braun's management led to the establishment ofRBMG Records and later, SB Projects, now part ofHybe where he is a board member and senior advisor. Braun has also served in career management for artists includingKanye West,Demi Lovato,J Balvin,Ozuna,Dan + Shay, andthe Kid Laroi, among others.[4][5] He retired from artist management in 2024.[6]
A Grammy-nominated writer and producer, Braun is also the founder ofSchoolboy Records, co-founder of investment firm TQ Ventures and Mythos Studios, and founder of Ithaca Holdings, whose 2019 acquisition ofBig Machine Records led to adispute with Taylor Swift until 2025.[2][7][8] In film and television, he served as executive producer for the comedy seriesDave, whose first season was the most-watched comedy show forFX.[9]
Braun was born in New York City toConservative Jewish parents, Ervin and Susan (née Schlussel) Braun.[10][11] Ervin's parents emigrated to the US from Hungary in 1956. Ervin was raised inQueens, New York City and became a dentist and high school basketball coach. Susan Braun was anorthodontist.[12] After the couple married, they settled inCos Cob, Connecticut.[13]
Scooter Braun has four siblings. He attendedGreenwich High School, where he was on the school basketball team[14] and was elected class president.[11] Braun attendedEmory University in Atlanta where he played basketball and began using the first name Scooter[14] but he left school to pursue his music career.[15][16][17]
In 2008, Braun scouted Bieber, then 13, after accidentally clicking on aYouTube video of Bieber singing. Braun urged Bieber's mother,Pattie Mallette, to bring her son to Atlanta to record demos and meet R&B singerUsher. He eventually convinced them to move permanently from Canada to the US. Both Usher andJustin Timberlake expressed interest in signing Bieber, who ultimately signed withIsland Def Jam in partnership withRaymond-Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher.[19][20] Braun signedAriana Grande to his management label in 2013.
Braun producedNever Say Never, a documentary about Bieber that MTV reported in 2011 as "one of the highest grossing music documentaries in domestic box-office history".[26] The film's budget was $13 million and earned over $100 million worldwide.[27] Braun was the executive producer ofBurden,Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil,The Giver,The Boy from Medellin, andProject Runway among others.[12] Braun was also an executive producer for theCBS dramaScorpion, which aired from 2014 until 2018.[28] In 2018,Variety reported thatFX had ordered a pilot ofDave, a comedy executive-produced by Braun that included actor Kevin Hart and rapper Lil Dicky.[29] In its first season,Dave was the most-watched show in FX history.[9][30] In July 2019, SB Projects signed afirst-look deal withAmazon Studios that included television and film scripts.[31] Braun's SB Projects has also had film and television projects at Netflix,Hulu, and Fox.[31]
In 2007, Braun established SB Projects, an entertainment and marketing company that encompassed ventures including Schoolboy Records, SB Management, and Sheba Publishing, a music publishing firm.[32][33] The group also included RBMG, a joint venture between Braun and Usher. School Boy Records was founded as a joint venture withUniversal Music Publishing Group. In early 2013, Braun signedAriana Grande.[34][35][36][37][38][39][40]
SB Projects has handled television campaigns, branding, music-licensing deals, and tour sponsorships, including Bieber'sCalvin Klein endorsement for the 2016-2017Purpose World Tour.[41] The company also brokered a partnership betweenKanye West and sneaker brandAdidas.[42][43]
Ithaca Holdings, Braun's holding company that includes SB Projects, raised $120 million in venture capital in 2010.[2][44][45][46]
In 2019, Ithaca acquiredBig Machine Label Group in a purchase that included the masters to the first six albums of singer-songwriterTaylor Swift, whodenounced the transfer of ownership of Big Machine albummasters[47][48] and denied the claims by Big Machine's former president,Scott Borchetta, who said that she declined an opportunity to buy the masters.[49][50]
In April 2021, South Korean companyHybe announced that it would acquire Ithaca Holdings via the subsidiary Hybe America in a deal estimated to be around $1.05 billion.[23] As part of the sale, Braun became Hybe America's CEO and joined Hybe's board of directors. Long-time staffers were gifted $50 million in stock from Braun's personal allotment, with artists Bieber and Grande receiving $10 million each.[51][52][53] On May 31, 2022, Braun met withBTS and US PresidentJoe Biden at theWhite House to discuss the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.[54] Braun and Clive Davis presented Hybe's Chairman Bang Si-Hyuk with the Visionary award atBillboard's Power 100 Party in 2023.[55]
In 2023, Hybe acquiredQuality Control Music for $300 million, with Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas maintaining control of the label under Braun.[56] In 2025, Braun partneredHybe America withJermaine Dupri'sSo So Def to launch new music and cooperate on distribution and marketing.[57]
A minority shareholder in Ithaca, the label's founder Scott Borchetta remained with the company as its CEO.[58][59] In 2020, Ithaca Holdings sold the album masters toShamrock Holdings for a reported $405 million, earning Ithaca $265 million.[60][61] As of 2023, Braun had netted nearly $400 million from the Big Machine deal.[61] In May 2025, Swift acquired the rights to her first six albums.[62]
In 2018,The New York Times reported that Braun had joinedDavid Maisel, founding chairman ofMarvel Studios, to form Mythos Studios to produce comic book movie franchises in live-action and animated formats.[63][64][65]
Braun is a partner in the investment firm TQ Ventures.[66][67] He was an early investor in Uber, Spotify, Waze, DropBox,Pinterest, Lyft, Ro, Noom, Liquid I.V., among others.[68] The acquisition of his holdings company, Ithaca, brought Braun's net worth beyond $1 billion in 2021.[61]
In 2012, Braun was awarded anACLU Bill of Rights award.[69]In 2013, Braun was included in the annualTime 100 list of the most influential people in the world.[70] He also appeared a second time on the cover ofBillboard in its April 20, 2013, issue, alongsideGuy Oseary andTroy Carter.[71]
In 2018, Braun received the Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic efforts in 2017.[75] He also received theSave the Children's Humanitarian Award that year.[76]
ln 2019 he was inducted into theMidem Hall of Fame.[77] In 2020,Fortune named him to its "40 Under 40" list in media and entertainment.[78][70] In 2021, Braun was namedVariety magazine's "Music Mogul of the Year."[79] In 2024, Braun was honored by theAnti-Defamation League for his role in theNova Festival Exhibit in New York City.[80]
During theGaza war, Braun expressed support for both the release ofIsraeli hostages and relief for Palestinians.[85][86] In December 2023, Braun spoke at a rally in Tel Aviv'sHostages Square,[87] and featured the mother of an Israeli hostage in a video posted to his Instagram calling for the music industry to spread awareness on the issue.[88]
Braun is involved in various charities including the Braun Family Foundation.[89][90][91] He also assists with his brother Adam's charity,Pencils of Promise.[92]Billboard reported that as of 2017, Braun—along with his then-clients and companies—had granted more wishes for theMake-A-Wish Foundation than any other organization in the history of the foundation.[93] He received the Humanitarian Award at the 2016 Billboard Touring Awards for his philanthropic support of Pencils of Promise, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Fuck Cancer.[94] Braun and actorGeorge Clooney held significant roles inMarch for Our Lives and aided in fundraising efforts behind the scenes. In 2017, Braun was an organizer ofHand in Hand, a telethon which raised $55 million for relief efforts related toHurricane Harvey andHurricane Irma.[95]
Braun coordinated the charity single, "Stuck with U" by Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, which benefitted the First Responders Children's Foundation to fund grants and scholarships for children of first responders and health care workers that worked on the front lines during the pandemic.[96] In 2023, Braun joined the board of directors of theMake-A-Wish Foundation.[97]
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