Michael Ovitz

Michael Ovitz changed the business of show business. In 1975, with a $21,000 loan, he co-founded Creative Artists Agency, which quickly became the world’s leading talent agency. As a leader of CAA, Michael’s clients included Paul Newman, Barbara Streisand, and Steven Spielberg. But Ovitz has never been a mere Hollywood mogul. Over the years he’s deployed his deal-making skills in advertising, finance, and philanthropy. In other words, Michael Ovitz has had a remarkable, and very public, career. He tells his side of the story in a new memoir, Who is Michael Ovitz.

Debbie talks to Michael Ovitz about his long and controversial career as a Hollywood power broker. “When you are in the eye of the storm, you really don’t see around you very well.”