Ari Emanuel is betting that artificial intelligence will boost leisure time with a three-day work week

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Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood talent agent and sports mogul, has raised nearly $3 billion from investors for a new events venture, in a bet that artificial intelligence will shorten the work week and give people more free time.

He told the Financial Times that the world could “shrink to four-day workweeks” in the coming years. He said this could drop “to three with AI” as more people use technology to speed up everyday tasks. “There will be more free time.”

MARI, Emanuel’s new company, will host the Madrid and Miami Tennis Opens, as well as Frieze art exhibitions, which Emmanuel He bought out Endeavor, the sports and entertainment group he co-founded. The company announced Wednesday that it has also agreed to acquire Barrett-Jackson, the collector car auction company, from Endeavor.

Emanuel has raised $2 billion in equity from investors including private capital giant Apollo and the Qatar Investment Authority, plus another $800 million or $900 million in debt for his new venture. Emanuel said more acquisitions and investments are under consideration.

Emanuel said the project is a bet that live events will boom, as artificial intelligence increases productivity and gives people more time and money to “go out and do things.”

He added: “If you believe in the premise that humans are social animals, they will have to do something. They can’t just sit at home, so they will go to music, they will go to sports, they will go to the live events that I do.”

Emanuel’s views are shared by private equity group Silver Lake, whose support for the proposed $55 billion acquisition of video game company Electronic Arts is partly considered. Based on belief That artificial intelligence will fuel the explosion in leisure time.

Marie is the latest addition to the evolving Emanuel empire. He resigned from his position as CEO Endeavor after it was acquired by Silver Lake for $25 billion this year.

The Hollywood power broker still leads TKO Group, which owns the mixed martial arts series Ultimate Fighting Championship, World Wrestling Entertainment and sports marketing company IMG.

MARI’s investors also include Ares Management, Jerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital Partners, IMI Media Group and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong.

A group including billionaire real estate tycoon Stephen Ross and Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai also invested in the Miami Open alongside Emanuel.

Ross told the Financial Times that there was an opportunity to grow the tournament into a “premium sporting asset.”