Word: broker
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Even before his latest coup, he was regarded as the most powerful man in Hollywood. Michael Ovitz, the town's No. 1 talent agent, can make or break a movie project or an actor's career. But as the power broker behind Matsushita's acquisition of MCA, Ovitz has reached an international stature that even legendary moguls might envy. "He is the mega-dealmaker," says an industry executive. "Not only on a film-by-film basis, but on the very largest scale of buying and selling studios. That is the most significant thing you can do in Hollywood...
Finally, while Americans may gripe about the foreign takeovers of Hollywood's dream machines, none of the buyouts have been hostile. Far from sneaking into Hollywood, both Sony and Matsushita were squired around by superagent Michael Ovitz, the homegrown power broker. All of which brings to mind a scene in the 1978 film Heaven Can Wait in which the fictional owner of the Los Angeles Rams decries the abrupt takeover of the team by a fancy-pants financier. "The s.o.b. got my team," he moans. But how did the sneaky businessman do it? Says the team owner: "I asked...
...business in itself. Rental lists, which cost anywhere from $50 to $150 per 1,000 names, are bartered not only by most mail-order houses and many nonprofit organizations but also by a few public utilities and telephone companies. List owners typically pay a 20% commission to a list broker and 10% to a list manager. Even with those overheads, some concerns make more money from the rental of their lists than from the sale of their products...
...everywhere, along with the softer, more soigne tailoring of the French and Italian variety. One recent Wallachs ad trumpeted the virtues of a Christian Dior suit (at $550), a store staple for years even though Wallachs' buyers managed to turn Dior's Gallic glitz into a kind of standard broker bland...
With the real estate market slumping, some homeowners think it takes a miracle to sell a house these days. Not just any broker can perform one, so many sellers are turning to an expert: St. Joseph. Religious-goods merchants in several cities have been surprised at the brisk sales of St. Joseph statues, which homeowners bury in their yards in the belief the saint will drum up some business. The hopeful sellers inter the statues headfirst, with the feet toward heaven...