Summary

The Friedkin Group is a privately held consortium of global businesses and investments dominated by the strategic vision of its Chairman and CEO, Dan Friedkin. 

The Group generates its financial power predominantly by its major enterprise, Gulf States Toyota (GST), one of the world’s largest and most profitable independent Toyota distributors. 

This cash generative automotive business serves as the engine for a diversified portfolio that reflects the personal passions of Dan Friedkin. Under his direction, the family business has expanded far beyond its Houston-based automotive roots into a collection of well run companies spanning luxury hospitality with Auberge Resorts, critically acclaimed independent film through Imperative Entertainment and NEON, and now, most significantly,  professional sports.

The Group’s entry into the world of sports, particularly European football, is (perhaps unlike many other ownership groups) shaped by a stated philosophy of “sustained, long-term investment” rather than short-term fixes.

I think this is critical for Evertonians to understand and appreciate.

This strategy involves the acquisition of clubs often in periods of financial distress or managerial transition. This presents opportunities for significant value creation through capital injection and disciplined, common sense  management. 

The takeovers of Italian Serie A club AS Roma in 2020 and Everton F.C. in 2024 appears to confirm this approach. The creation of Pursuit Sports  adds more evidence. Further ambitions can be seen in the Group’s emergence as a well positioned candidate to bring a National Hockey League (NHL) expansion franchise to its home city of Houston. (The reasons and opportunities arising out of US franchise acquisitions are significantly different than overseas acquisitions, particularly with tax incentives for highly profitable US based individuals or groups.)

Very little has been written in depth about the Friedkins and their businesses – certainly in the UK. I will try to address this information shortfall. 

The beginnings – Thomas H. Friedkin to Gulf States Toyota

The Friedkin Group entrepreneurial spirit is a multi-generational trait. Long before the family name became synonymous with Toyota in the American South, it was associated with aviation. Dan Friedkin’s grandfather, Kenny Friedkin, was the founder of Pacific Southwest Airlines, a pioneering carrier that grew to become a major player in the US airline industry.

 The ability to succeed in a capital-intensive, highly regulated, and logistically complex industry provided experience that would prove invaluable in the automotive sector. In particular it established a pattern of identifying and capitalising on opportunities within large-scale transportation and distribution networks.

The Founding of Gulf States Toyota (GST) in 1969

The story of The Friedkin Group begins in 1969 with Thomas H. Friedkin, a pilot and car racing enthusiast. Through his friendship with the legendary automotive designer Carroll Shelby, Friedkin was presented with an unusual opportunity: to become a distributor for a then-fledgling Japanese automaker in the American market, Toyota.

This was a highly contrarian bet. Shelby himself had declined the offer, reportedly after being advised by Lee Lacocca, a giant of the American auto industry, that “the domestic makers were going to push the Japanese back into the ocean”.

 This sentiment reflected the prevailing wisdom of the era, where Detroit’s big three were seen as unassailable. The decision by Thomas Friedkin to ignore this consensus and move forward with the distributorship  demonstrated significant foresight and an appetite for calculated risk. He recognised the potential in Toyota’s generally well-built, reliable, and affordable vehicles at a time when the established American automotive industry was dismissive of foreign competition.

By defying conventional market wisdom to secure a high-value opportunity it created a precedent for identifying value where others see risk, a trait that is still visible decades later in Dan Friedkin’s acquisitions of European football clubs facing financial or operational challenges.

By securing the distribution rights from the Port of Houston, Thomas Friedkin established Gulf States Toyota Distributors.  Crucially, GST was structured as one of only two private, independent distributors of Toyota vehicles in the entire United States, the other being Southeast Toyota Distributors based in Florida.

 This arrangement granted GST exclusive rights to supply Toyota vehicles, parts, and accessories to a vast and growing five-state region encompassing Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. This business model effectively created a protected, regional monopoly. It negated direct competition and positioned it to capitalise directly on Toyota’s meteoric rise in the American market. 

Gulf States Toyota

The success of Gulf States Toyota is built upon a highly efficient operational infrastructure that has been expanded and modernised over five decades. The company’s growth is evidenced by its huge facilities which handle an immense volume of vehicles and parts.

The corporate headquarters are in Houston, Texas. However, the logistical heart is the nearly 165-acre Vehicle Processing Center (VPC) in North Houston, which opened in 1994 to replace a smaller facility at the Port of Houston. This centre processes over 300,000 vehicles annually.  It is equipped with an industrial rail spur with seven sidings to efficiently offload vehicles from trains. At the VPC, vehicles are customised to dealer specifications with post-production accessories like window tinting or roof racks before being loaded onto car carriers for final delivery. Critically, all vehicles destined for Texas dealerships receive their required state inspection at the VPC, a value-added service that streamlines dealer operations.

Complementing the vehicle operations is the 426,000-square-foot Parts Distribution Center (PDC) located near Sealy, Texas. Originally built in 1986, the PDC underwent a 40% expansion in 2019 to accommodate growing demand. This facility manages an inventory of 55,000 different parts and accessories, ensuring that the network of over 150 dealerships is well-supplied.

The history of the Group’s physical footprint—from its initial offices, to the Harwin Drive location, to the 150,000-square-foot facility on Wilshire Drive in 1985, and to the massive modern centers—tells a story of growth and consistent reinvestment into the core business.

Market Dominance and Financial Performance

The operational scale of GST translates directly into market dominance and high financial returns. As the exclusive distributor for its five-state region, GST serves as the sole supplier to more than 150 Toyota dealerships.

This exclusive relationship, combined with the immense popularity of Toyota vehicles, particularly trucks in Texas, generates a massive and consistent revenue stream.

The financial figures underscore the scale of this enterprise. In 2023, Gulf States Toyota sold $11 billion worth of Toyota vehicles. This aligns with figures from previous years, including $11 billion in revenue for The Friedkin Group in 2022 and $10.7 billion in 2021, with GST being the primary contributor.

 For comparison, sales in 2022 were reported at £7.1 billion, or approximately $9 billion. This consistent, multi-billion-dollar annual revenue has repeatedly placed GST and The Friedkin Group at the top of lists of the largest private companies in Houston.

Building on this automotive foundation, the Group began diversifying albeit within its core sector. It established GSFS Group in 1982 to provide automotive financial services, insurance, and warranty products, creating a synergistic revenue stream from its existing dealer network. In 1988, it launched GSM, a full-service automotive marketing company, further vertically integrating its operations.

This stable and predictable cash flow generated by Gulf States Toyota is the bedrock of The Friedkin Group’s entire diversification strategy. The acquisitions of AS Roma for over half a billion dollars and Everton F.C. for over £400 million, along with significant capital investments in luxury hospitality and the volatile film industry, would be untenable without this.

 The profits generated from selling Toyota Tundras and Camrys across the American South directly enable the purchase of football clubs in Europe and the financing of Academy Award-winning films. On the one hand we have the core automotive business and then more passion led investments – this mix is key to understanding The Friedkin Group’s structure, capabilities, and risk appetite.

Table 1: Key Executive Profiles

Profile of Chairman and CEO Dan Friedkin

Thomas Dan Friedkin was born on February 27, 1965, in San Diego, California, and  is the architect of The Friedkin Group’s modern, diversified identity.

 He inherited a powerful business legacy as the son of GST founder Thomas H. Friedkin and the grandson of Pacific Southwest Airlines founder Kenny Friedkin.

He combined this entrepreneurial heritage with an impressive academic background;  a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and a master’s degree from Rice University. 

Dan Friedkin resides in Houston, Texas, with his wife, Debra Lynn Friedkin, and their four children.

The pivotal moment for the enterprise came in 1995 when Dan Friedkin officially took the reins of the Friedkin companies from his father.

 At the age of 35, he was the CEO of both Gulf States Toyota and the parent holding company, The Friedkin Group. This generational switch marked a distinct strategic shift. While his father had built a  successful and focused automotive distribution powerhouse, Dan Friedkin’s leadership initiated an era of ambitious and aggressive diversification, pushing the Group’s boundaries into new global industries that aligned with his personal interests.

The official philosophy of The Friedkin Group, as can be found in its corporate materials and Dan Friedkin’s public statements, is based on a mission “to inspire best-in-class experiences”.

 As mentioned earlier he is his business ventures, particularly in sports, he is committed to a “sustained, long-term investment approach rather than quick fixes of questionable durability” and a strategy of identifying and backing strong, existing management teams. (although this was not evident with his acquisition of Everton)

In practice, this philosophy is executed through a leadership style that is consistently described by insiders as low-profile and intensely private. He is not a public-facing CEO in the traditional sense, rarely giving interviews and maintaining a deliberate distance from the media spotlight. This quiet approach, while evidently effective in the context of a privately held corporate conglomerate, has proven to be more challenging and questionable in the highly public and emotionally charged arena of European football.

This dynamic creates a significant point of cultural friction. For a business like Gulf States Toyota, a quiet, results-oriented leadership style is a virtue. This view is shared by some supporters of AS Roma, who appreciate that the owners appear professional, avoid drama, and “let the results speak for them”.

 However, a substantial portion of the fanbase views this same behavior through a different lens. They levy criticism for what they perceive as a “complete lack of transparency,” noting that the owners “basically never have given interviews or released statements on their strategy and ambitions for the club”.

 This silence is interpreted not as professionalism, but as a lack of engagement or respect for the supporters who see themselves as the soul of the club. This disconnect between a corporate leadership style honed in Houston and the expectations of a passionate European fanbase, in my opinion,  represents an operational challenge for the Group’s multi-club sports empire. 

While his recent decisiveness in managerial changes at Roma suggests an adaptation to the ruthless nature of the sport, his communication style remains a point of contention and may be viewed as a key risk factor.

Personal Passions

The Friedkin Group’s portfolio is, in essence, a tangible representation of Dan Friedkin’s personal passions. The diversification strategy is not a random pursuit of returns but a curated collection of businesses in industries that deeply interest him.

• Aviation: An accomplished pilot, Friedkin flies high-performance vintage military aircraft in air shows and is one of only nine civilians qualified by the U.S. Air Force to fly in formation with its demonstration teams. He founded the non-profit Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation to preserve this history. This passion translated directly into his professional life when he served as a stunt pilot for the 2017 film
  Dunkirk, piloting an authentic Spitfire in aerial combat sequences and earning a Taurus Stunt Award for his work.
• Film: His love for cinema led him to co-found the production studio Imperative Entertainment in 2014 and the film finance and distribution company 30West in 2017. In 2018, his group acquired a majority stake in NEON, the acclaimed distribution company behind the Academy Award-winning film
  Parasite. His studios have been involved in a number of critically and commercially successful films, including Martin Scorsese’s
  Killers of the Flower Moon, Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, and Clint Eastwood’s The Mule. He also stepped behind the camera to direct the 2019 film The Last Vermeer.
• Conservation and Adventure: Building on decades of family investment in East Africa that began in the 1980s, he formalised these efforts through the Friedkin Conservation Fund. The fund is dedicated to protecting millions of acres of endangered wildlife areas in Tanzania, stimulating local community development, and supporting ecological research. This work is linked to the Group’s hospitality and adventure portfolio through Legendary Expeditions, a renowned photographic safari company, and the ultra-luxury Mwiba Lodge in the Serengeti.
• Golf: As an avid golfer, Friedkin has invested in creating and owning some of the world’s most exclusive golf courses. In 2012, he acquired the Diamond Creek Golf Club in North Carolina, and he also built the Congaree golf course in South Carolina, both of which are ranked among the top courses in the United States

 Marc Watts

Marc Watts,  joined The Friedkin Group as President in 2011, and provides a crucial complementary skill set to Dan Friedkin’s leadership. His background is not in the automotive industry but in corporate law and governance. Prior to joining the Group, Watts was the Vice Chairman and Managing Partner of the Houston office for the major international law firm Locke Lord LLP, where he accumulated over 26 years of experience in corporate law, securities, mergers and acquisitions, and governance matters. His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and, most notably, a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

If Dan Friedkin is the architect of the Group’s expansion, Marc Watts provides the legal and corporate superstructure to make it a reality. His role is that of the strategic implementer, translating vision into executable deals and sustainable corporate structures. This function is most evident within the Group’s sports assets. He was appointed to the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of AS Roma upon its acquisition and holds the title of Executive Chairman at Everton F.C.

This leadership dynamic represents a classic complementary partnership. Dan Friedkin’s passions and long-term vision appear to determine the “what” and “why” of the Group’s major strategic moves. Marc Watts, with his Harvard Law pedigree and decades of experience navigating complex M&A transactions, provides the “how.” 

He is the executive responsible for structuring the acquisitions, managing the due diligence processes, navigating the regulatory hurdles of bodies like the English Premier League and the Financial Conduct Authority, plus critically in the context of Everton, establishing robust corporate governance required but lacking for so long

This division of labor is a key strength. It allows Friedkin to remain focused on strategy and the cultivation of a best-in-class culture across the portfolio, while Watts ensures that the execution is handled with institutional-grade legal and financial discipline. 

Watts’s extensive experience is further highlighted by his service on the boards of major public companies like Service Corporation International and Coterra Energy, as well as civic institutions like the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Houston Branch, underscoring his status as a high-level corporate statesman.

The Friedkin Group Portfolio:

The modern Friedkin Group is a  consortium of companies that extends far beyond its automotive origins. The portfolio has been curated to reflect what the company describes as “the passions of Chairman and CEO Dan Friedkin and his family”.

 This has resulted in a collection of distinct but often synergistic businesses in luxury hospitality, entertainment, sports, and adventure, all undergirded by the financial strength of the core automotive division.

Table 2: The Friedkin Group Corporate Structure and Key Holdings

Sports Strategy, Acquisitions, and Challenges

The most ambitious and highest-profile element of The Friedkin Group’s diversification strategy is its expansion into sports ownership. 

The Group’s approach to sports ownership appears to be guided by a clear and consistent philosophy. The publicly stated strategy is one of “sustained, long-term investment,” explicitly rejecting “quick fixes” in favor of building lasting value. This is manifested in the targeting of iconic clubs with rich histories and passionate fan bases, which may be undervalued due to temporary financial distress or managerial instability.

The acquisition of Everton F.C. is the extreme example of this strategy in action. The club was purchased whilst in a state of complete financial duress, allowing The Friedkin Group to enter the English Premier League at a favorable valuation. A key advisor on the transaction articulated the rationale bluntly: “We bought the team at less than fair market value and got a $1bn stadium for free”.

 This highlights a core tenet: identifying distressed situations where their capital, stability, and management expertise can unlock significant underlying asset value—in this case, a new, world-class stadium. The approach also appears to be increasingly data-driven, with the Group acquiring the data analytics company Insight Sports to support player recruitment and strategy for both AS Roma and Everton.

The AS Roma Acquisition (2020)

The Friedkin Group’s entry into European football occurred in August 2020 with the acquisition of AS Roma. The deal saw them purchase the club from a fellow American-led ownership group headed by James Pallotta for a transaction value of €591 million (approximately $700 million).

The acquisition was for an initial 86.6% majority stake, with a subsequent mandatory tender offer for the remaining publicly held shares.

They inherited an extremely challenging situation. The club was burdened with mounting debts and significant financial losses, and it had not won a major trophy since 2008. The previous ownership had become deeply unpopular with a frustrated fanbase due to a perceived emotional distance from Rome, a track record of selling top players, and the controversial handling of the departures of club legends Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi.

Under Friedkin’s ownership, the club achieved a significant milestone by winning the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022, its first European trophy in more than six decades. 

However, the ownership tenure has also faced substantial challenges and criticism. The club’s finances remain precarious, as evidenced by a €185 million ($216 million) loss posted in the 2020/21 fiscal year immediately following the takeover. Furthermore, the long-stalled project to build a new, modern stadium—a key goal for any owner—has seen little tangible public progress, becoming a major point of contention for supporters.

 As detailed previously, the owners’ low-communication style has created significant friction, with vocal fan criticisms about a lack of transparency, skyrocketing ticket prices, and a two-year failure to secure a main shirt sponsor.

 From a sporting perspective, critics argue that the Group has not invested sufficiently to build a squad capable of consistently qualifying for the lucrative UEFA Champions League, often relying on player loans rather than permanent, high-impact signings.

 The Everton F.C. Takeover (2024)

The acquisition of Everton F.C. in 2024 represents the next evolution of the Friedkin sports strategy. An agreement to initially purchase the 94.1% stake held by then-owner Farhad Moshiri was reached in September 2024, with the Premier League approving the deal and its completion in December 2024. The transaction was structured through a Friedkin-controlled entity named Roundhouse Capital Holdings Limited.

As we all know, Everton was a classic distressed asset. Moshiri’s disastrous tenure had left the club in a precarious financial state, having narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League in consecutive seasons. The club was also encumbered by a complex web of debt, including substantial loans from previous prospective buyers like 777 Partners and MSP Sports Capital, plus sub-prime lenders in Rights and Media Funding which The Friedkin Group had to resolve as part of the takeover.  As I have reported extensively, Moshiri ultimately sustained a huge financial loss on his investment, paving the way for a new owner.

The strategic rationale for Friedkin was clear and compelling. It provided an opportunity to acquire an iconic club with a founding role in English football and enter the world’s wealthiest and most-watched domestic league at a significant discount.

 The crown jewel of the deal was the nearly-completed, state-of-the-art stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. The Friedkin Group has explicitly committed to the stadium’s completion, viewing it as the central pillar for the club’s future commercial growth and stability. The immediate priorities upon taking control were to stabilize the club’s balance sheet, appoint a new board and executive team, and oversee the critical transition from their historic Goodison Park home to the new waterfront arena.

This has been followed by new commercial deals, a naming rights deal for the stadium and more aggressive ticket and merchandising pricing for a predominantly working class fan base.

Owning two major football clubs in Europe’s top leagues—AS Roma in Italy and Everton in England—positions The Friedkin Group within the growing trend of multi-club ownership. This model presents both synergies and significant potential conflicts. On one hand, opportunities exist for shared data analytics in player scouting, the creation of broader commercial partnership packages, and efficiencies in back-office operations.

On the other hand, the model is fraught with challenges. UEFA’s regulations on multi-club ownership are designed to prevent conflicts of interest and can restrict two teams under the same ownership from competing in the same European competition. 

More fundamentally, there is an undeniable financial hierarchy between the leagues. The English Premier League’s global media rights deals give its clubs financial firepower that far outstrips that of Serie A. This creates a natural, if unspoken, pecking order where Everton represents the more valuable long-term financial asset.

This dynamic may  give rise to a credible risk, voiced openly by some AS Roma supporters, that their club could effectively become a feeder club for Everton, developing talent that is later transferred to the more lucrative Premier League entity.The strategic tension is palpable, leading some analysts to predict that the dual-ownership structure may not be permanent, with one observer suggesting, “I expect one will be sold within 3 years”.

 The Friedkin Group will face a strategic choice: attempt the difficult balancing act of managing two ambitious clubs with potentially conflicting interests, or eventually divest one to consolidate resources and focus on the asset with the higher ceiling for financial returns. This is a central and unresolved tension in their sports ownership strategy.

In July 2025 the Friedkin Group announced the introduction of Pursuit Sports, “a company dedicated to overseeing and supporting The Friedkin Group’s professional sports properties”.

Pursuit Sports is led by the experienced sports industry operator Dave Beeston as Chief Executive Officer, having officially begun his tenure on February 3, 2025.

Beeston, who will also serve on the Board of Pursuit Sports and report to Dan Friedkin, Chairman of Pursuit Sports and Chairman and CEO of The Friedkin Group, will be responsible for facilitating operational excellence across the existing teams and evaluating opportunities to expand through the acquisition of other sports properties.

The Houston NHL Expansion Bid

As above, the Friedkin Group’s sporting ambitions are not limited to European football. The Group has emerged as a leading and serious contender to bring a National Hockey League (NHL) expansion franchise to its home city of Houston.

 NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has publicly confirmed that the league has met with The Friedkin Group “on a number of occasions” to discuss this possibility. Reports suggest they are viewed as a “more viable option” than other potential local bidders, including Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta.

This potential move represents a significant diversification within the Group’s sports portfolio. It would mark their entry into one of the major North American professional sports leagues, a different landscape with salary caps, drafts, and a franchise-based model. The bid leverages their deep community roots and business presence in Houston and aligns perfectly with their stated mission of investing in “best-in-class” assets by targeting a top-tier global sports league.

A Consolidated Financial Overview

The financial scale of The Friedkin Group is substantial, though the specifics are often opaque due to its status as a privately held consortium. However, public filings, news reports, and financial estimates provide a clear picture of the Group’s wealth, the revenue of its core business, and the scale of its major investments.

Table 3: The Friedkin Group & Subsidiaries – Financial Snapshot

In summary, the Friedkin’s have identifiable strengths and weaknesses

• Strengths:

• Financial Power: The consistent, multi-billion-dollar revenue from Gulf States Toyota provides strong and stable cash flow, enabling large-scale, long-term investments in other sectors.
• Visionary and Stable Leadership: The Group benefits from the long-term vision of Chairman and CEO Dan Friedkin, who has final authority and is not beholden to public shareholders.
• Proven Deal Execution: The successful acquisitions of complex international assets like AS Roma and Everton demonstrate a high level of sophistication in M&A, legal navigation, and corporate structuring, led by President Marc Watts.
• Diversified Portfolio: Investments across multiple industries (automotive, hospitality, entertainment, sports) spread risk and create potential for cross-platform synergies.

• Weaknesses:

• Revenue Concentration: An overwhelming reliance on the automotive industry, and specifically the Toyota distributorship, for cash flow makes the conglomerate vulnerable to cyclical downturns or strategic shifts in that single sector. Geopolitical risks must also be considered in this respect
• Culturally Mismatched Leadership Style: The low-profile, media-averse leadership style that is effective in a corporate setting has created significant friction with the passionate, high-communication-demand fanbases of European football clubs.
• Inexperience in Sports Culture: Despite their business acumen, the leadership lacks deep, native experience in navigating the unique cultural, political, and media landscapes of European football, which operate differently from American corporate environments.

• Opportunities:

• Unlocking value at Everton: The new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock presents a monumental opportunity to transform Everton’s commercial revenues, brand value, and competitive standing within the lucrative Premier League. Improved on pitch performance should lead to a significant increase in revenues as a result of regular European qualification
• NHL Expansion: Securing an NHL franchise for Houston would be a major coup, planting a flag in a premier North American sports league and leveraging their deep local ties.
• Multi-Club Synergies: If managed effectively, the multi-club model could yield significant advantages in global scouting, player development pathways, and multi-national commercial partnerships.

• Threats:

• Automotive Industry Disruption: The global auto industry faces significant disruption from electrification, new manufacturing models, and economic cycles, which could threaten the Group’s primary cash cow. Geopolitical and trade war risks are significant future concerns
• Sports Regulatory Risk: European football is subject to evolving regulations regarding Financial Fair Play (FFP), salary caps, and multi-club ownership, which could constrain their strategic flexibility.
• Reputational Risk: The high visibility of sports ownership means that failure on the pitch can cause reputational damage that spills over to the parent brand.
• Fan Power: Unlike customers of a car dealership, football fans view themselves rightly as custodians of their clubs. Sustained fan opposition can destabilise operations, impact commercial deals, and ultimately undermine an ownership’s objectives.

Conclusion

From an entirely Everton driven perspective, the Friedkins represent a quality of management and financial security plus corporate governance and sophistication not seen since the days of the Moores family. The many intervening decades and the plethora of unsuitable owners,  directors, executives and potential suitors have damaged the club significantly – we as Evertonians need no reminder of that.

Yet, as with what is demonstrated above, if the Friedkins can make Everton perform as well as their core business in the years ahead we have much to look forward to.