Word: ovitz
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Ovitz orchestrated the merger with cool precision. To avoid the bickering that marred the Columbia deal, he handpicked the law firm, investment bankers and public-relations agents to represent Matsushita. He then served as a shuttle diplomat between the two companies, anticipating problems before they could grow. When the merger was clinched, Ovitz joined the army of 100 dealmakers at Matsushita's law firm in Manhattan for a 9:15 a.m. champagne toast. For Ovitz's work on the merger, Matsushita could eventually pay CAA as much as $40 million. The sum aroused the green-eyed envy of deal-starved...
...Ovitz predicts that the Japanese style of long-term planning will help bring stability to Hollywood. "That's very important to creative people," he says. By the same token, he feels that Americans will grow more comfortable with such global alliances. "It's crystal clear that we are no longer an isolationist country...
What's next for Hollywood's hottest leading man? After the Matsushita deal, Ovitz may be in line to succeed Lew Wasserman as head of MCA. Yet such a move could limit his power, which now encompasses the entire movie business. And he is not yet finished changing the face of 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...
What effect will Matsushita's takeover of MCA have on American entertainment? -- Superagent Michael Ovitz arranged the marriage. -- Meet one of Saddam's favorite arms dealers...