G erry Cardinale is an American billionaire financier and the founder and managing partner of the private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners. Before starting his own firm, he had a long and highly successful 20-year career at Goldman Sachs, where he was a partner and a senior leader in the firm's private equity division, managing billions of dollars in investments.

In 2014, he founded RedBird Capital to focus on building high-growth companies in two main sectors: sports and media, and financial services. He has since become a major and highly active investor in professional sports. Through RedBird, he is the owner of the legendary Italian Serie A soccer club, A.C. Milan. He also has stakes in Fenway Sports Group (the owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool F.C.) and the XFL football league, alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. His career is a prime example of a top-tier financier pivoting to become a major sports team owner.