Tom Ara named to Variety500 list recognizing the most influential business leaders shaping the global media industry

DLA Piper is pleased to announce that Tom Ara, co-chair of the firm's Entertainment Transactions and Entertainment Finance practices, has been named to the Variety500, an annual list by Variety of the 500 most influential business leaders shaping the global media industry.

The publication noted Ara’s work with TikTok and Apple; his role advising clients such as Korean video game maker Smilegate Holdings, e-sports company Vindex and faith-based radio broadcaster K-Love; and his representation of ZASH in its acquisition of Lomotif, a Singapore-based video-sharing social networking platform.

“Tom’s inclusion on Variety500’s list of impressive media industry business leaders is long overdue,” stated Ted Farnsworth, CEO of ZASH. “His legal skills and experience in media transactions are unparalleled and his business sense and acumen are a true asset to his clients.”

Ara has led a multitude of leading-edge transactions throughout the world in both traditional media and emerging technologies, representing media companies, financiers and industry participants of all types in financing and strategic industry transactions. He has successfully counseled his clients in connection with billions of dollars of complex financing, corporate and M&A transactions spanning the globe, from Europe to the Middle East to Asia. Ara’s selection to the Variety500 caps an accolade-filled 2021, which among other things included his inclusion in Variety’s Dealmaker’s Impact Report 2021 and Legal Impact Report 2021, as well as The Hollywood Reporter’s Power Lawyers 2021.