by Mary Spiller
March 14, 2026
The corporate is co-founded by actor Michael B. Jordan and former Nike govt Chad Easterling.
Advertising and marketing and artistic company Obsidianworks is returning to full independence after repurchasing the minority possession stake beforehand held by Endeavor’s company 160over90, a partnership that started in 2021. The corporate, co-founded by actor Michael B. Jordan and former Nike govt Chad Easterling, said that the transfer is a part of a broader technique to speed up its progress and sharpen its give attention to a shopper group the company refers to as “New Cash America.”
Easterling, who serves as chief govt officer, stated the choice was deliberate from the start quite than the results of a strained partnership.
“After we entered the partnership, going impartial was at all times a part of the plan as effectively,” Easterling instructed Advert Age. “For us and for them, it was actually about wanting to assist us get established—assist us get the basics and construction in place.”
Monetary particulars of the buyback weren’t disclosed. When the funding was first introduced in 2021, studies valued the deal at roughly $20 million.
Obsidianworks was based in 2019 with the objective of rethinking the normal company construction. Easterling stated Jordan’s experiences in leisure and model partnerships helped reveal a niche in how firms join with audiences.
“Mike noticed a chance from his facet as an actor—working with studios and manufacturing firms that had been asking him about connecting with customers—and as a model ambassador working with manufacturers and attempting to connect with customers,” Easterling stated.
From the outset, the founders supposed to create a enterprise that might develop past Jordan’s private business relationships. “We didn’t need this to be the place he’s attempting to stroll us into each single door, and he feels that stress,” Easterling instructed the outlet.
The partnership with 160over90 allowed the younger company to scale rapidly, he added. “The partnership allowed us to have a degree of construction and basis that permit us not solely get after one or two tasks as a small, nimble store, however get after a number of our bodies of labor that overlapped on the identical time.”
One challenge developed through the partnership was the Legacy Basic, a nationally televised HBCU males’s basketball showcase in Newark, New Jersey.
With the buyback full, Easterling stated Obsidianworks now plans to broaden its method to reaching what the corporate calls “New Cash America.” “They’re not area of interest,” he stated of the viewers. “They’re the expansion engine many manufacturers try to get to, however not recognizing.”
He described the group as a youthful, numerous, and entrepreneurial era reshaping how wealth and affect function. “We’re not simply speaking about Black customers or multicultural customers—we’re speaking about that complete demographic throughout each background and nationality,” Easterling stated.
Whereas the company is ceaselessly related to multicultural advertising and marketing, Easterling stated that description doesn’t absolutely seize its technique. “Sure, any name we go on, folks know we’re multicultural—we have now that authority,” he stated, including that “we had been by no means right here to be range consultants.”
As an alternative, he typically describes the corporate extra broadly. “Sometimes, I say we’re an company—or I say we’re an enterprise,” he stated, joking that “we’re a development firm for manufacturers and New Cash America—we’re builders.”
As we speak, Obsidianworks counts manufacturers similar to Nike, Converse, Jordan Model, Meta, Goal, and Spanx, amongst its shoppers. The agency at present employs about 20 folks and plans to rent as much as a dozen extra within the coming months.
Easterling said that working independently will assist the corporate transfer sooner. “Now seems like the precise time as a result of we wish to start to maneuver sooner, take extra dangers, and outline our personal progress trajectory with out constraints,” he stated. “Being impartial is a power and has advantages. It permits us to maneuver rapidly and give attention to delivering measurable influence for shoppers with out as many layers.”
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