Jon Jashni is leaving his post as president and chief creative office at Legendary Entertainment to launch Raintree Ventures, an investment and incubation fund operating in the entertainment space, it was announced Monday.
Jashni joined Legendary in January 2006 and has been integrally involved in helping to evolve the company from a film-financing entity into a diversified, multi-platform media company. In January 2016, China’s Wanda announced it would acquire Legendary for $3.5 billion dollars.
During his tenure at the company, Jashni has collaborated with such brand partners as Blizzard, Mattel, Electronic Arts and Toho, in addition to such acclaimed directors such as Zhang Yimou, Baz Luhrmann, Guillermo del Toro and Paul Greengrass.
“Jon has helped me build Legendary as a trusted advisor, friend and collaborator and I couldn’t be more proud of his contributions over the last decade. I look forward to working with him in his new venture,” said Legendary’s chairman/CEO Thomas Tull.
“I am exceedingly proud of having been a part of the team which has grown this company. I was afforded a life-changing opportunity by Thomas ten years ago and I will be forever grateful to him and to my Legendary colleagues for the privilege of working together,” added Jashni.
Jashni will next focus on Raintree Ventures, which will invest in and build immersive content and location-based experiences. He will continue to collaborate with Tull in identifying and co-investing in select content and tech opportunities.
Prior to joining Legendary, Jashni was President of Hyde Park Entertainment, senior VP of 20th Century Fox, president of Irving Azoff‘s Giant Pictures and a creative executive at Columbia Pictures.