American billionaire filmmaker Tyler Perry joins Georgia governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms' team

American billionaire filmmaker Tyler Perry has been named a co-chair of Georgia Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms' transition team, giving the owner of Atlanta's Tyler Perry Studios a role in shaping the state's first Democratic administration in more than two decades.

Bottoms announced the team, which she has called "Georgia's Promise," at the State Capitol in Atlanta on Friday, three days after she defeated Republican Rick Jackson in the governor's race. Perry is one of 10 co-chairs. The group will help her pick staff and agency heads, set policy priorities and prepare for her first day in office in January.

Bottoms introduced Perry as "an entertainment mogul who is also a huge philanthropic part of our Georgia community and owns Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta." She did not say what his specific duties will be. The post is advisory and does not make him a state official.

A team of business leaders

Perry sits alongside some of Georgia's best-known executives. The other co-chairs include Arthur Blank, the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot Inc. and owner of the Atlanta Falcons; Rosalind Brewer, the former chief executive officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.; Jason Carter, chair of the Carter Center's board and a grandson of former President Jimmy Carter; and Michelle Nunn, a nonprofit leader. Former Sen. Sam Nunn, Sen. Raphael Warnock and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young are among the honorary co-chairs.

John King, who was chief operating officer of the City of Atlanta when Bottoms was mayor, will run the transition in the same role. More appointments are expected in the coming weeks.

Bottoms said her priorities are the cost of living, access to health care and education. She has pledged to end the Georgia Pathways program, the state's work-requirement version of Medicaid, and to fund mental health diversion courts across the state. Outgoing Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has offered state resources for the handover. "I've spoken with Governor Kemp, we had a very good conversation," she said.

The Associated Press called the race for Bottoms on Tuesday night. She will become the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state. Jackson, the founder of health care staffing company Jackson Healthcare, spent more than $200 million of his own fortune on his campaign.

Perry's Atlanta base

Perry's appointment comes as he prepares to move to Puerto Rico at the start of 2027, a plan he announced in September. He has said he will keep his Atlanta home and Tyler Perry Studios, the production complex he built on the site of the former Fort McPherson Army base in southwest Atlanta, and plans to open a production office on the island.

The 57-year-old faces two civil lawsuits filed in 2025 by actors Derek Dixon and Mario Rodriguez, who accuse him of sexual misconduct and seek $260 million and $77 million in damages. Perry has denied the allegations.

Perry became a billionaire in 2020 and is worth an estimated $1.4 billion. Most of that fortune comes from the film and television library he owns almost entirely, including the Madea films, and from his Atlanta studio. His next film, "The Gospel of Christmas," premieres on Netflix on Nov. 11.