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Michael Ovitz (born December 14, 1946), talent agent and Hollywood powerhouse, served as the head of the Creative Artists Agency from 1975 to 1995. While at CAA, he was responsible for pioneering the practice of "packaging" writers, directors, and actors for motion pictures. This practice led to CAA and its clients holding negotiating significant leverage over the studios in getting movies made and garnered Ovitz the title "The Most Powerful Man in Hollywood". Ovitz is also well-known for negotiating David Letterman's move from NBC to CBS chronicled in the book by Bill Carter, and for discovering the worldwide action phenomenon known as Steven Seagal.
In 1995, he resigned from CAA to become president of the Walt Disney Company under chairman Michael Eisner. Fourteen months after taking office, he was fired by Disney's board of directors and received a $140 million severance package; this, along with the failure of his subsequent venture, the Artists Management Group, led to his very public charge of a conspiracy by the so-called Gay Mafia to bring about his ruin.
Today, Ovitz is a private investor and passionate basketball fan who continues to informally advise the careers of such luminaries as Martin Scorsese, David Letterman, Tom Clancy, and others while he plots his next move.
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