by owning brands but never touching a single store, warehouse, or employee. While the retail apocalypse claimed household names and had traditional retailers desperately cutting costs and closing stores, Authentic Brands Group found a radically different approach: buy the brand, skip the business.

Here’s what you’ll learn

By the late 2010s, iconic American brands were collapsing under a common curse: valuable names trapped in failing business models.

Brooks Brothers, the 202-year-old retailer that dressed 40 U.S. presidents, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2020. The pandemic devastated demand for business attire, but the company had been struggling for years as workplace dress codes relaxed. Despite generating more than $991 million in sales the previous year, Brooks Brothers couldn't escape crushing rent obligations and operational overhead.

Forever 21, once the darling of fast fashion, saw total sales drop 30% to $3.1 billion from its 2016 peak before filing for bankruptcy in September 2019. The retailer had expanded too aggressively with oversized stores while failing to build sufficient e-commerce capabilities. By 2018, online sales represented just 16% of total revenue.

Sports Illustrated, the 70-year-old sports journalism icon, was sold by Meredith Corporation for $110 million in May 2019 as traditional print media struggled to survive the digital transition. The magazine that shaped sports culture for decades couldn't monetize its massive archive and brand recognition.

Each case revealed the same underlying problem: legendary brands with deep cultural equity were anchored to unsustainable operations. Traditional buyers saw liability. Turnaround specialists saw impossible complexity. Private equity saw too much risk.

But Jamie Salter saw something different entirely, intellectual property portfolios waiting to be unlocked.

The insight that would build Authentic Brands Group's $30+ billion empire was deceptively simple: what if you could separate a brand's cultural value from its operational baggage?

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Authentic Brands Group turned dying brands into billion-dollar assets by fundamentally rewriting the acquisition playbook. While private equity firms tried to fix broken retail operations, ABG bypassed operations entirely. The company developed what CEO Jamie Salter calls an "asset-light" model: acquire only the intellectual property (trademarks, logos, and brand rights) while leaving operational baggage behind.

When Brooks Brothers filed for bankruptcy, ABG didn't purchase stores, inventory, or employees. Instead, they acquired the IP rights and immediately licensed operations to WHP Global. This approach instantly converted a distressed retailer into a revenue-generating licensing asset without operational risk.

ABG then connects these brands with operators who excel in specific markets. Reebok's global operations were licensed to New Guards Group in Europe, SPARC Group in the U.S., and Tristate Holdings in China. Each partner pays licensing fees while handling manufacturing, distribution, and retail execution.

The strategy leverages cultural equity over operational fixes. Sports Illustrated's real value wasn't its struggling magazine operations, but rather decades of iconic photography, the swimsuit issue franchise, and cultural authority in sports. ABG monetizes these assets across new channels: sports betting, hospitality, and licensing deals.

ABG's 50+ brand portfolio creates cross-pollination opportunities. Sports Illustrated powers apparel collaborations. Celebrity estates like Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe add cultural cachet to fashion partnerships. Reebok benefits from Shaquille O'Neal's ownership stake and basketball credibility.

The result is unpredictable retail revenue transforms into steady, compounding royalty income, while partners handle all the heavy lifting and operational complexity.

By 2025, ABG's intellectual property strategy had created one of the world's largest brand portfolios, generating over $30 billion in annual retail sales across 150 countries.

The licensing model transformed volatile retail businesses into predictable revenue streams. Reebok, acquired from Adidas for $2.5 billion in 2022, posted a pre-tax profit of $176.8 million on $276.4 million in turnover for 2023. International sales drove growth, with rest-of-world revenue reaching $111.4 million.

Sports Illustrated leveraged its archive of over 2 million iconic images into new revenue channels beyond struggling print operations. ABG monetized the brand through sports betting partnerships and licensing deals while maintaining editorial operations through publishing partners.

Brooks Brothers found new life through ABG's network, maintaining its Boston headquarters while expanding into premium capsule lines and direct-to-consumer partnerships.

However, the model doesn't guarantee success. Forever 21, acquired during the retailer's 2019 bankruptcy, filed for Chapter 11 protection again in March 2025 and announced the closure of all 350 U.S. stores. ABG CEO Jamie Salter later called the Forever 21 acquisition "probably the biggest mistake I made."

Here are the takeaways you can apply..

1. Identify Your Hidden Assets: Beyond your core business, catalog what you actually own: proprietary processes, customer relationships, brand reputation, or specialized knowledge that could generate revenue independently.

2. Focus on What You Do Best: Separate your core competency from everything else. Partner with specialists for non-core functions rather than building costly internal capabilities.

3. Create Synergies Across Business Units: Look for ways different parts of your business can cross-promote, share resources, or leverage each other's customer bases for compound growth.

4. Leverage Partnerships for Scale: Before opening the checkbook to aggressively expand into new markets or services, explore partnerships with established players who can execute under your brand while you collect royalties.

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$30B+ - The total annual retail revenue across the entire ABG brand portfolio.

$1.2B - ABG’s 2023 revenue royalty income.

$176.8M - Reebok’s pre-tax profit in fiscal 2023.

$300M - The amount of debt ABG paid down in 2023, improving to a B1 Moody’s rating.

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