Robert Simonds

Robert Bruce Simonds Jr. (born 1964) is an American film producer, entrepreneur, and the founder & chairman of STX Entertainment, which creates, produces, distributes, finances, and markets film (as STXfilms), television (as STXtelevision), digital media (as STXdigital), and live events as well as virtual reality (as STXsurreal).

According to The Wall Street Journal in its first four years, Simonds more than tripled the company's valuation to an estimated US$3.5 billion.

From 1990 to 2012, Simonds produced over 30 Hollywood studio films, including the Adam Sandler films Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy and The Waterboy; Cheaper by the Dozen, and The Pink Panther which stars Steve Martin.

He also produced This Means War with Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hardy.

Simonds has produced a number of highly-profitable cult films including Joe Dirt and Half Baked.

In 2012, Simonds and Bill McGlashan, founder and managing partner of private equity firm TPG Growth, began conceptualizing and building a film, television and multimedia company that would make, market and distribute star-driven, commercial content to be distributed worldwide.

In 2014, STX Entertainment was formally launched with financing led by TPG Growth, and the company later secured investments from Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital and other individuals including Gigi Pritzker and William "Beau" Wrigley, Jr. II.

Serving as chairman and CEO of STX, Simonds hired entertainment industry veterans to build his executive team including former Viacom Entertainment Group COO Thomas B. McGrath and former CEO of Crest Animation Noah Fogelson.

Former Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson and former Disney and Fox production and marketing chief Oren Aviv were also added to the team.

Discovery Communications' former CFO Andrew Warren and former Paramount Pictures and Condé Nast communications head Patricia Röckenwagner later also joined.

The company has multiple divisions: film (STXfilms), which includes animation and family content; television (STXtelevision), which includes scripted and unscripted content; and digital media (STXdigital); along with an international partnership and distribution arm headquartered in London (STXinternational).

In 2014, the television division’s first project was the 13-episode series State of Affairs, starring Katherine Heigl and Alfre Woodard, which was sold to NBC.

In early 2015, the company signed a multi-year television output agreement to release films exclusively to Showtime Networks and its multiplex channels Showtime, TMC and Flix, covering STX theatrical releases through 2019.

In April 2015, the company entered a multi-year partnership with Universal Studios Home Entertainment for Universal to handle marketing, sales and distribution services for Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms for STX theatrical titles in North America.

That same month, STXfilms closed a three-year slate deal with Huayi Brothers, one of China's largest film studios, enabling the companies to co-produce and co-distribute 12 to 15 films annually.

In 2015, STXfilms acquired its first film at the Toronto International Film Festival, purchasing the worldwide rights to Hardcore Henry for $10 million USD.

In 2015, STXtelevision produced the NBC pilot Problem Child, based on the 1990 film of the same name.

In 2016, the company received additional investment from Chinese Internet company Tencent and Hong Kong-based telecommunications company PCCW, and East West Bank's chairman and CEO Dominic Ng.

In April 2016, the STXtelevision Chinese variety show Number One Surprise premiered on Hunan TV, and became the #1 show in China with over 1 billion total views.

In August 2016, STXdigital acquired virtual reality (VR) studio Surreal, renaming it STXsurreal.

In September 2017, it was reported that STX was close to an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK), and in April 2018, the company announced it had filed for an IPO.

In 2017, the world's largest international television and broadband company Liberty Global invested an undisclosed amount in the company.

Funds from that round of financing will be used to continue to build STX Entertainment's TV division, further expand internationally and potentially make acquisitions.

In January 2017, STXfilms signed a three-year marketing and distribution agreement with Luc Besson's EuropaCorp Films USA to release their upcoming slate of films.

STXfilms projects have included Bad Moms; Molly's Game; I Feel Pretty; and Gringo with Amazon Studios; The Gift, written, co-produced and directed by Joel Edgerton; The Edge of Seventeen; The Foreigner starring Jackie Chan; and Secret in Their Eyes starring Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts; The Boy; and Free State of Jones starring Matthew McConaughey.

In May 2017, STXtelevision announced it had acquired the first TV project from Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians.

In November 2017, STXtelevision announced Valley of the Boom, a docudrama about the 1990s tech boom from showrunner and director Matthew Carnahan and executive producer Arianna Huffington, set to air on NatGeo.

STXtelevision produced season 23 of True Life, which aired on MTV in 2017.

In October 2018, it was announced that STX would not go through with the IPO, as political and market conditions had changed.

Prior to working at STX, Simonds was an independent film producer whose over 30 films have generated more than $6 billion in worldwide box office revenue.

Simonds is reported to have a net worth of $800 million.

Simonds was born in Phoenix the son of Robert Bruce Simonds Sr., a businessman.

He graduated from Yale University.

STXfilms announced The Happytime Murders starring Melissa McCarthy and the film was released on August 24, 2018; a scrapped romantic comedy which was to be developed by and star Anne Hathaway; and Second Act, a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez and directed by Peter Segal that came out December 21, 2018.

In February 2018, Fox and STXtelevision announced it is developing an unscripted series based on STXfilms' Bad Moms.

In October 2018, STXtv received a pilot order from YouTube for The Edge of Seventeen, based on the film of the same name released by STXfilms in 2016.

In March 2019, STX raised $700 million in new capital, in a round led by TPG Growth and Hony Capital, to help STX release more films, expand its TV business, and pursue acquisitions.

STX Entertainment's Board of Directors is composed of investors and industry veterans including: Simonds, David Bonderman (founding partner of TPG Capital), John Zhao (CEO of Hony Capital), Gigi Pritzker (founder of MWM Studios), Janice Lee (managing director of PCCW Media Group), Tracy Cui (managing director of Hony Capital), Frank Biondi (former president and CEO of Viacom and former chairman and CEO of Universal Studios; senior managing director of WaterView Advisors), Dominic Ng (chairman and CEO of East West Bank), Carmen Chang (chairman of New Enterprise Associates), and Bruce Mann (chief programming officer of Liberty Global).

When STX was launched the film division of the company focused its efforts on creating a new model.

Rather than pursuing the traditional distribution process the company secured direct distribution agreements with North American theater chains AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Goodrich, Marcus Theatres, and Carmike Cinemas.