Businesses
Steven Bartlett Launches OBSN With Authentic, Deploys $400m in Creator Businesses
18 Sept 2026
- Steven Bartlett’s Steven.com and Authentic have launched OBSN (Obsession), a new strategic venture designed to transform major creators from audience-led personalities into scalable global businesses.
- The partners aim to deploy up to $400 million into creator-led companies over the coming years, combining Steven.com’s media, technology and audience-growth capabilities with Authentic’s global expertise in intellectual property, licensing, products and distribution.
Steven Bartlett, entrepreneur, investor and host of The Diary Of A CEO, has joined forces with global brand and entertainment platform Authentic to launch OBSN (Obsession), a strategic venture focused on investing in and building the next generation of creator-led media companies and consumer brands.
Announced in New York, OBSN is positioned as both a business-building platform for ambitious creators and a media and experiences destination for the wider creator economy.
According to Bartlett, the partners are aiming to deploy up to $400 million into creator businesses over the coming years, while the companies see opportunities to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in qualifying creator-led businesses in the near term.
The launch reflects a broader transformation taking place across media, entertainment and consumer industries: creators are increasingly moving beyond advertising, sponsorship and content monetisation to build intellectual property, products, media businesses and brands around the communities they have developed.
The next generation of global media companies and consumer brands will be built around creators. But a global audience of millions is not yet a company, and it certainly should not be the ceiling of a creator’s potential,
said Steven Bartlett, Founder of Steven.com.
OBSN: A global brand infrastructure
OBSN is being built around the proposition that large digital audiences can become the foundations of significantly larger businesses when combined with the right capital, infrastructure, intellectual-property strategy and distribution.
Rather than applying a single commercial model to every creator, OBSN says partnerships will be structured according to individual ambitions and opportunities.
The venture brings together two organisations with distinctly complementary capabilities.
Steven.com, Bartlett’s global creator holding company, will lead OBSN’s media, technology, data and audience-growth operations.
The company brings together creator-led media, technology, communities, consumer products and investment. Its portfolio includes The Diary Of A CEO, alongside businesses such as marketing company FlightStory, production company FlightCast and investment platform FlightFund.
Authentic, meanwhile, will provide capabilities spanning brand development, product creation, licensing, strategic partnerships and global distribution.
The company owns and invests in more than 50 brands and intellectual-property assets, with a portfolio that includes Reebok, Champion, Sports Illustrated, Brooks Brothers, Ted Baker, Hunter and GUESS, alongside rights and partnerships associated with cultural and entertainment figures including David Beckham, Shaquille O’Neal, Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali.
Authentic operates through a network of more than 1,700 licensees and strategic partners across 150 countries, while its portfolio generates more than $38 billion in annual systemwide retail sales worldwide.
Its brands collectively reach nearly one billion social media followers.
Investing in creator-led IP
A creator may already have millions of followers, substantial engagement and considerable cultural influence, but OBSN's proposition is that audience reach alone does not necessarily constitute a durable enterprise. Converting that influence into brands, products, media properties, licensing programmes and other intellectual property could create businesses capable of operating independently of individual social platforms.
Matt Maddox, President and CEO of Authentic, described creators as increasingly capable of becoming long-lasting brands rather than remaining primarily media personalities.
Creators are redefining media and shaping the future of entertainment, with many poised to become multigenerational brands in their own right.
We are excited to partner with Steven Bartlett and his exceptional team to launch OBSN and create a powerful new model for creators and their businesses. By combining our complementary capabilities, we will identify, invest in and scale creator-led IP - capitalizing on a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strategically deploy hundreds of millions of dollars across the creator economy and build the brands of tomorrow.” - Matt Maddox
The distinction between audience and intellectual property is central to the venture.
The creator-economy media platform of OBSN
OBSN will not operate solely as an investment and business-development vehicle.
At its centre is a media platform offering news, analysis and live experiences focused on the creator economy, which the partners say is intended to develop into a definitive destination for the sector.
The media and experiences operation is already live and has accumulated more than one million followers on Instagram.
The partners plan to expand the platform through additional content formats and channels as well as physical experiences, including festivals and official awards.
This creates an unusual combination of media, community, investment and business-building infrastructure under the same venture.
OBSN formally debuted through a creator-focused event in New York on September 14, where investor and Hot Smart Rich founder Maggie Sellers Reum moderated a fireside conversation between Bartlett and Jamie Salter, Founder and Executive Chairman of Authentic.
Steven Bartlett expands his creator-economy ambitions
OBSN also represents another expansion of Bartlett’s business activities beyond The Diary Of A CEO.
Steven.com describes itself as a global creator holding company designed to bring together media, communities, consumer products, technology and investment around creators and their intellectual property.
Its businesses include FlightStory, FlightCast and FlightFund, while The Diary Of A CEO sits at the centre of its media portfolio.
In October 2025, Steven.com was valued at approximately $425 million following investment from Slow Ventures and Apeiron Investment, with Bartlett retaining more than 90% ownership, according to reporting included in the material surrounding the OBSN launch.
The OBSN partnership now extends that creator-focused strategy by pairing Steven.com’s expertise in attracting and growing audiences with Authentic’s established machinery for commercialising intellectual property internationally.
