Why would a 60-year-old financial firm put serious money into media and entertainment, and plant its flag on Sunset Boulevard to do it?
For Richie Gebbia, Co-CEO of Muriel Siebert & Co. and Gebbia Media, the answer is simple: that is where the new wealth is.
“The new wealth is content creatorship,” Gebbia says. The next generation of high earners is not only coming out of banks and boardrooms. It is coming from creators, artists, athletes and entertainers who build brands of their own. If Siebert wants to serve them, it has to be where they are, and it has to speak their language.
Media, he adds, does something a balance sheet cannot. “Media connects everyone,” he says, “and it excites investors.”
Access Is the Brand
The move also fits Siebert’s history. The firm’s founder, Muriel Siebert, became the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, and the company has made a point of opening financial freedom to everyone ever since. Gebbia sees the creator economy as the next chapter of that mission: giving everyone, not just the old guard, access to financial success.
A Big Bet on Sunset
That thinking is behind Siebert’s major investment on Sunset Boulevard. Gebbia has called LA home since the 1990s, and while Siebert also has a presence in New York and Miami, he sees Los Angeles as the center of entertainment.
The new space houses a large share of Siebert’s brokerage business in LA, and it was chosen for a specific mix: real foot traffic paired with working office space. It also comes with an amazing balcony overlooking Madeo, the Italian restaurant that has long been a Hollywood favorite. Gebbia sees that balcony as an advertising opportunity for both the company and its music business.
Where BMR Comes In
That music business is the clearest answer to the question. Siebert owns BMR, a rock label Gebbia believes will thrive on Sunset, the street that helped launch a generation of rock bands.
By creating performance opportunities for BMR artists, Siebert lets creators become part of the brand itself, and puts the company at the center of new and up-and-coming bands.
For clients, BMR is what Gebbia calls “a sexy tool.” It gives them direct access to entertainment partnerships no typical brokerage can offer. When names like Sammy Hagar are part of the conversation, clients get excited in a way a quarterly statement never will.
Following the Tastemakers
Gebbia’s view is that the people shaping culture are already in LA. Young people here are building big brands. Athletes and entertainers live and work here. Tastemakers want to create here, and a space on Sunset makes it easy for all of them to work together.
A 60-Year-Old Brand With Young Ideas
As the brand Muriel Siebert built turns 60, Gebbia is using the milestone to look forward. His son, Tristan, is joining the company along with other young team members whose job is to connect with the next generation of tastemakers.
“Siebert is multi-generational,” Gebbia says. “We get all of the culture.”
A Message for City Hall
Gebbia does have one ask. Siebert is putting real dollars into Los Angeles, and he would like to see the city buy in too. Many LA politicians have reached out to the company, he says, but when Siebert has reached back, the follow-up has not come. If Los Angeles wants to build itself back up, its leaders need to meet the companies betting on it halfway.
