Word: ovitz
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...MICHAEL OVITZ Back from limbo and on Broadway, where he'll give his regards to ex-boss Michael Eisner...
...home and abroad. Hired in his 30s by the secretive Bass brothers of Texas, he helped them acquire a 25% stake in then troubled Disney, pocketing a reported $50 million for himself in the process. His work with Disney helped him befriend Hollywood heavyweights like Michael Eisner and Michael Ovitz, and in 1994 he joined the Beverly Hills crowd by buying the old estate of actor Sidney Poitier. In 1989 he helped finance a $3.65 billion leveraged buyout of Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines, investing about $12 million of his own money. Today much of his fortune is based...
...lived in seclusion, first on Fisher's Island, N.Y., and then in rural Connecticut. He played the foreign-exchange market and ignored movies, except for producing an occasional project with his friend director Mike Nichols, like 1990's Postcards from the Edge. At one point Michael Ovitz--then the top man at Creative Artists Agency--dropped by to ask if he was satisfied with his life. At the time, says Calley, "I felt I was living a little bit in God's waiting room. I was sleeping 18 hours a day...I like to dream. It was not a sign...
Given the stakes, a settlement makes sense, though it would be awkward for Eisner to pay Katzenberg a vast sum in the wake of shareholder anger over the $130 million or so that Disney dealt to Michael Ovitz after firing him as president last December. Conversely, the Ovitz settlement ensures that Katzenberg's sights are set high: Why should Katzenberg take less for 10 successful years than Ovitz got for 14 unimpressive months? If a deal is made, three things seem certain. One: the terms will be sealed. Two: the amount will be leaked to the press--by both sides...
...will be costly for the studio. Early estimates from the plaintiff's camp put that amount around $250 million. Now, following court-ordered discovery detailing Disney's finances and profits, projections run between $300 million and $500 million--much more than the $125 million payout to ousted executive Mike Ovitz...