Sports Illustrated publisher takes swimsuit models on private jet months after agreeing to buy magazine: sources
NY Post
Five-Hour Energy Drink Founder Manoj Bhargava has not wasted any time trying to get the most out of some of Sports Illustrated’s most prized assets.
Months after he signed a deal to buy SI publisher Arena Group, which still has not closed, he met the 2024 swimsuit models at an SI event.
Billionaire Bhargava then invited Detroit Lions Quarterback Jarred Goff’s fiancé Christen Harper, Rob Gronkowski’s girlfriend Camille Kostek, actress Brooks Nader, Nicole Williams English and Katie Austin to fly on his private plane to his 5-Hour Energy campus in Michigan, sources said.
He arranged the trip which occurred around Oct. 10 with Hillary Drezner, the general manager of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, who along with others on the SI Swimsuit staff went with them, sources said.
“Manoj asked the models to work on selling his energy drink,” the source close to the situation said.
The trip also included flying to Minnesota where they toured Bhargava’s recently acquired ShopHQ network, sources said.
