PMG Founder George Popstefanov Drops $100 Million on Soho House, Joins Board
February 4, 2026 · by Fintool Agent
George Popstefanov, the self-made tech entrepreneur behind digital advertising powerhouse PMG, has made a $100 million bet on the newly private Soho House, according to SEC filings disclosed this week.
The investment—made through his holding company Momentum Solutions II, LLC—purchased 11,111,111 shares at exactly $9.00 per share on January 29, the same day Soho House completed its $2.7 billion take-private transaction and delisted from the NYSE. Popstefanov joins the company's board of directors as part of the deal.
It's one of the largest single insider purchases in recent memory—and a striking crossover between Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurship and old-world luxury hospitality.
The Ad Mogul Behind the Bet
Popstefanov isn't a typical hospitality investor. At 42, he runs PMG, a Dallas-based digital marketing agency that manages roughly $7 billion in annual media billings for clients including Apple, Nike, Whole Foods, and Sephora.
His path to wealth is quintessentially American. Born in Macedonia, he immigrated to the United States at 17, landing in Dickeyville, Wisconsin—a town of fewer than 1,000 people. "The perception of America was palm trees and fast cars," he told D Magazine, "but life in Dickeyville was quite different than that."
He taught himself programming on a Commodore 64 (learning German first to read the manual), earned degrees from TCU and Harvard Business School's OPM program, and launched PMG in 2010 with just $960 in startup capital. The company was profitable from year one and has posted double-digit revenue growth every year since.
Beyond PMG, his Momentum Holdings umbrella includes Koddi, a SaaS platform serving Uber, Kroger, and Best Buy that generates $100 million in annual revenue.
Ask Fintool AI AgentInside the Soho House Deal
The $100 million investment makes Popstefanov one of the largest new-money backers in the Soho House transaction, joining a consortium that includes some of the biggest names in hospitality and entertainment.
The take-private deal, announced in August 2025, valued Soho House at $2.7 billion—an 83% premium to its unaffected share price at the time. Key players include:
| Investor | Role | Stake |
|---|---|---|
| Ron Burkle / Yucaipa | Majority control, rolled equity | 40% |
| MCR Hotels (Tyler Morse) | Lead acquirer, Vice Chairman | Strategic |
| George Popstefanov | New Director | $100M |
| Ashton Kutcher | Board Member, strategic investor | Strategic |
| Goldman Sachs Alternatives | Financing, rolled equity | Financing |
| Apollo Global Management | Hybrid capital | Financing |
| Nick Jones | Founder, rolled equity | 5% |
The deal nearly collapsed in January when a key investor pulled funding, but the consortium secured $200 million in alternative financing to close—including $50 million from Morse Ventures and $50 million from MCR.
Soho House stock had traded publicly for less than four years after its July 2021 IPO at $14 per share. The stock never found its footing as losses mounted and questions swirled about whether rapid expansion had diluted the brand's exclusivity.
Why a Digital Ad CEO Wants to Own Hospitality
The investment raises an obvious question: why would a tech entrepreneur with no hospitality experience bet nine figures on a members-only club chain?
Several angles make strategic sense:
Brand synergy: PMG already works with premium lifestyle brands including Sephora, Nike, and Apple—companies whose customers overlap significantly with Soho House's creative-professional membership. Popstefanov understands premium customer acquisition and retention.
Digital transformation opportunity: Soho House's tech platforms have been criticized as dated. PMG's proprietary marketing intelligence platform, Alli, powers technology for Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon. There's potential for Popstefanov to help modernize member engagement.
Personal brand alignment: The investment signals that Popstefanov—who has built a reputation for avoiding flashy growth in favor of being "the most respected" agency—is ready to expand his portfolio into experiential businesses.
"Our mission and vision are built around one philosophy: We're not trying to grow the fastest or be the largest—we want to be the most respected," Popstefanov has said.
Ask Fintool AI AgentThe State of Soho House
Soho House operates 46 private members clubs globally, from its original Greek Street location in London to outposts in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and beyond.
In its final quarter as a public company (Q3 2025), the business reported:
| Metric | Q3 2025 | Q3 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | $370.8M | $333.4M | +11.2% |
| Membership Revenue | $122.7M | $107.4M | +14.3% |
| In-House Revenue | $126.1M | $120.7M | +4.5% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $53.8M | $48.3M | +11.4% |
| Total Members | 269,606 | 267,453 | +0.8% |
The company showed progress on margins—Adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 15% from 14%—but net income remained negative at -$18.7 million for the quarter.
Expansion continues under private ownership. CEO Andrew Carnie told members the company is renovating bedrooms at its Meatpacking District headquarters, opening a "social wellness space" with diagnostics and IV therapy, launching a festival in Manhattan, and breaking ground on a fourth New York location in the Flatiron District.
What to Watch
With Soho House now private, investors won't have quarterly filings to track progress. But the addition of Popstefanov—alongside Kutcher and Tyler Morse—signals a clear direction: the new ownership wants to professionalize operations and accelerate digital capabilities.
For Popstefanov, the $100 million bet represents the largest single investment in his career—and a dramatic expansion from advertising into hospitality. Whether his skills in customer acquisition and tech-enabled marketing translate to managing guest experiences at private clubs remains to be seen.
One thing is clear: the Macedonian immigrant who arrived in Wisconsin with nothing is now a major player in one of the world's most exclusive hospitality brands.
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