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Laurene Powell Jobs Invests in Production and Talent Management Firm

LOS ANGELES — Laurene Powell Jobs is diving deeper into Hollywood.

Ms. Powell Jobs, already a major investor in the Walt Disney Company and Apple, said on Friday that her firm, Emerson Collective, had taken a substantial minority stake in Anonymous Content, a prominent production and talent management company. Founded in 1999 by Steve Golin, Anonymous has been behind hit television shows like “Mr. Robot” and movies like “Spotlight,” the reigning Academy Award winner for best picture.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The investment by Ms. Powell Jobs, the widow of Steven P. Jobs, the Apple co-founder who died five years ago, will give Anonymous the money needed to make programming intended to compel social change — one of Emerson’s primary goals. In a statement, Ms. Powell Jobs said that she “believes in the power of storytelling to shape our culture and improve lives.” She declined to be interviewed.

Ms. Powell Jobs has dabbled in using entertainment to promote causes; in 2013, she backed Davis Guggenheim’s “The Dream Is Now,” a short-form documentary focused on immigration reform. By investing in Anonymous, which manages roughly 500 directors, actors and writers, Emerson gains access to some of Hollywood’s top talent. Anonymous clients include Steven Soderbergh, Emma Stone and Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

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Laurene Powell Jobs said Friday that her company, Emerson Collective, had taken a minority stake in the company Anonymous Content.Credit...William Widmer for The New York Times

Mr. Golin, who previously ran Propaganda Films, a major supplier of music videos and television ads, said in an email to his 100-person staff that Emerson’s investment offered Anonymous “incredible new opportunities for expansion and growth.” He added of Emerson in a statement, “We are eager to help further their bold initiatives.”

The move puts Anonymous into more direct competition with Participant Media, the current leader in cause-based entertainment.

Making movies with a message is not an easy business. Participant, founded in 2004 by the eBay co-founder Jeffrey S. Skoll, has had wildly uneven results. Participant-backed hits have included the global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” while flops have included “Our Brand Is Crisis,” a drama about election manipulation in Bolivia. Participant was also involved with “Spotlight.”

The investment in Anonymous comes as Emerson steps up its activity on numerous fronts. This month XQ Institute, Emerson’s nonprofit arm, announced the recipients of $100 million in grants to rethink the American high school. Last year, Emerson became the leading investor in Macro, a company that produces content aimed at African-American and Hispanic audiences.

Ms. Powell Jobs is also backing Arne Duncan, the former United States education secretary, who has set up an Emerson outpost in Chicago, where he is focusing on solutions to that city’s epidemic of gun violence.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 5 of the New York edition with the headline: Widow of Steve Jobs Takes Stake in a Media and Management Firm. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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