Rory McIlroy Dives Deeper Into Private Equity

Fresh off finally securing a career grand slam with a thrilling win at the Masters, Rory McIlroy, the world’s second-ranked golfer, is rounding out another corner of his life: investing.

Mr. McIlroy’s investment firm, Symphony Ventures, is teaming up with the private equity firm TPG to start TPG Sports, an investment fund that will place bets on businesses across the sports industry.

Mr. McIlroy started Symphony Ventures with his business partner, Sean O’Flaherty, in 2019. Both men will serve as operating partners for TPG Sports.

“We were talking about what’s the next step for us,” Mr. McIlroy said in an interview. “The timing was right.”

Mr. McIlroy’s increasing immersion in business is not uncommon among golf’s greats; Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus have all built big business portfolios around golf and beyond. But his partnership with TPG comes as record dollars are flowing into sports. Competition by media companies over premium live content has driven up valuations of traditional teams and created demand for new ones.

“Sports is undergoing a big transformation,” Mr. McIlroy said. “There is a lot of investment going into the sports world and trying to make it more professional — and trying to bring it into the 21st century.”