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Anita Elberse

@anitaelberse

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Harvard Business School Professor | Expert on the business of entertainment, media, and sports | Author of Blockbusters | Equal parts school and cool

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New case alert! 🚨 The recorded-music business has changed a great deal in recent years, and so I am very thankful that the people at @warnermusic and Atlantic Music Group allowed me a behind-the-scenes look at how they are turning around the iconic label and how they launch, develop, and market artists nowadays. The case dives into the label’s work with three artists in particular: @charli_xcx, @icespice (under a joint contract with @capitolrecords), and @roses_are_rosie. 🎶 I’ll be teaching this case in a new module in my course on how companies and individuals in the entertainment industry are “challenging the status quo,” which seems fitting. Big thanks to Val Blavatnik for making it all possible, to Elliot Grainge and his team for granting a series of interviews, and having me spend some time at their offices, and to Peter Sykes for co-authoring. 🙏 (The case is available in the Harvard Business Publishing catalog (hbsp.harvard.edu) but I have a limited number of free copies so leave me a comment if you’d like to receive one!) by @anitaelberse

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a month ago

Armed with chalk, ready for battle. 💪😉 Season 2️⃣4️⃣(!!!) at @HarvardHBS is underway. LFG. 😂🔥 by @anitaelberse

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a month ago

What does it take to succeed in a competitive setting where the finest of margins separate the winners from the losers?

In the past three years, @mercedesamgf1 team principal Toto Wolff and I have collaborated on a course that offers @HarvardHBS MBA students an in-depth look at the inner workings of the Mercedes Formula 1 team to get an answer to that question. In the three-day course, students step into the shoes of an F1 team principal and — through a combination of lectures, discussions of scenarios, and Q&A sessions — learn how their team can build and sustain world-class performance in such a high-performance setting. This past year, we were aided by various guest speakers, including (in order of appearance) James Allison, @georgerussell63 and @kimi.antonelli (who both joined via zoom), George Kurtz, Russell Braithwaite, and Bradley Lord. But Toto is the star of the show — the many insights he has shared about his leadership approach are invaluable. A truly unique course, and definitely one of the highlights of the year! 🏎️ (And yes, it’s wonderful to see that Mercedes is such a strong performer on the track this year, currently leading the constructors’ and drivers’ championship. But it’s no surprise — that’s what happens when you get the world’s smartest students to weigh in on your team’s operations! 😉😂) #F1 #Formula1 #MercedesAMGF1 #HarvardHBS (🎥 by the equally high performing @kev.wolf). by @anitaelberse

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3 months ago

June 14, 2026 will always be etched in my memory as the day I made it onto the orange bus and got to see the phenomenon that is the ‘orange fan walk’ up close. I also made it into the stadium in Dallas, where I saw the Dutch national team take on Japan in their opening game at the FIFA World Cup, and the previous day I taught a few of my case studies for an audience comprised of leaders of Dutch soccer teams and other invitees in an event put together by the Dutch football federation (@knvb) at the @dallascowboys’ practice facility, but nothing compares to being on that bus, haha! 😂🧡🤩 (If you can cope with all the orange and zoom in, you’ll see me near the front, looking out over the crowd in wonder. Really. 😉) Thank you, Eric Boersma and Marianne van Leeuwen, for the invitation! Great to run into you, @jaboowins. And good luck against the Swedes, Holland! 🇳🇱⚽️🏆 #huphollandhup #noerapenal (you got robbed, Mexico) by @anitaelberse

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4 months ago

BEMS 2026! 👌 This past week we ran another edition of the “Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports” executive education program, with close to 80 executives, athletes, and entertainers, all gathering at @HarvardHBS for four days of learning. And what an amazingly accomplished and good-hearted group of people it was — I am so lucky that my job entails hanging out with such wonderful humans. 🤩👩‍🏫🎓 (Thank you, @evephoto, for the 📸s! 🙏) by @anitaelberse

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4 months ago

Y’all know how much I enjoy dressing in colorful attire 😉, and so I am pleased to report that I had 2️⃣ excellent chances to do so recently. Last week, at @Harvard’s commencement where I walked in the academic procession and ran into a whole bunch of newly minted graduates, and a few weeks ago in Hong Kong at The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Scholarships and Fellowships Award Presentation Ceremony, where I delivered the keynote speech —a huge honor!— and was able to applaud the hundreds of students and scholars who receive scholarships, fellowships, and even endowed professorships. Both wonderful events, and it was great to be able celebrate all these people’s successes, but it’s also bittersweet to say goodbye to the amazing @HarvardHBS Class of 2026. 😁🎓🙏 by @anitaelberse

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4 months ago

The 2026 BEMS reunion, earlier this month… Close to 1️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ BEMS executive education alumni coming together, 4️⃣ new case studies, once every 2️⃣ years, 1️⃣ helluva time. 🤩 (swipe left for a brief video recap, with lots of hugs and laughter, expertly shot and edited by the one and only @kev.wolf 👏, with music by the unparalleled @zakesbantwini 🙏. Big thanks to @emilyanadu for organizing the reunion! 🙌) by @anitaelberse

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5 months ago

What an amazing race weekend at the Montreal F1 Grand Prix! 🇨🇦 F1 brought some spectacular racing (another win for @mercedesamgf1, and @lewishamilton back on the podium!), but the women of @f1academy were just as riveting in their races. 🏎️🏆 So much fun. And the weekend confirmed yet again that @susie_wolff is a total boss. 🙌 Thank you, Susie, for having us, and for letting me moonlight as a race marshal! 🙏😉 by @anitaelberse

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5 months ago

Reunited with my besties in the nightlife business! 😁 And for a special reason, because we debuted a day-long course on the hospitality industry for students at @HarvardHBS last Saturday, with @jasonstrauss and @noahtepperberg in the role of professors and guest speaker appearances by @chrislake, Brett Fischer, Patrick Lang and Allen Smith, in which we covered everything from @marqueeny’s early days to the hospitality empire they are managing now. So much fun! 🤩 (📷 by @evephoto). by @anitaelberse

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7 months ago

The blizzard was well-received in the Elberse household… Nelson is living his best life. 😁🐶❄️ by @anitaelberse

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8 months ago

We ended 2025 with a highlight at @HarvardHBS — the one and only @llcoolj was back in the classroom, along with his chief operating officer @claudinejoseph. The duo were dropping pearls of wisdom about making it in the entertainment industry, carving out a decades-long career, and staying hungry for more. I absolutely love these two! i’m so happy and honored that they took the time to come and speak to our students. I think we’re all a bit more ready to tackle 2026 now. Make the most of the new year, everyone! 🙌🎊😁 (📸 by @evephoto) by @anitaelberse

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9 months ago

Professor Piqué! 👑 On Monday, I welcomed soccer-legend-turned-entrepreneur @3gerardpique to my @HarvardHBS MBA classes for the debut of a case study on Kings League, an innovative seven-players-a-side competition featuring teams led by streamers and soccer legends that has taken the sports industry by storm. 🙌 After we discussed the case, Gerard shared his @kingsleague journey with the students, from what sparked the idea and how he tackled the league’s launch to how he and his team approach King League’s fast-paced international expansion — all very impressive. (I can’t say for sure that Gerard became so brilliant because he completed the “Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports” executive education program that I chair a few years ago, but I’m just going to stick with that story 😉). Big thanks for my trusted co-author David Moreno Vicente, and of course to Gerard and his team for allowing us capture his entrepreneurial journey and for bringing it to life for the students in such a compelling way. What a day! ⚽️🏆💯(📸s by the amazing @evephoto). 🚨 P.S. Leave a comment with #kingsleague below if you’d like to have a chance at a free copy of the case! by @anitaelberse

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a year ago