Lew Wasserman
Career

Lew Wasserman was the most powerful businessman in Hollywood history, movie studio co-owner, a person that has led Music Corporation of America into the powerhouse talent agency and more.

He joined the company started by Jules Stein and quickly proved to be an even more talented businessman than his boss. Instead of getting scared and fighting Wasserman off, Jules decided that having the kid working for the competition is a scary prospect and just let him run the show.

Lew's first big achievement was signing Kay Kyser, but he didn't stop at that and was very aggressive in chasing many other high caliber names. Together with Stein, he managed to convince actors that they deserve better deals than studios offer them and therefore have more bargaining power. His successful negotiating and sneaky contract constructs were main forces behind the shift of power from studios towards actors and their agents.

When MCA became big enough and one-night bands market was shrinking due to growing radio popularity, Wasserman made the move to acquire Universal and from then on successfully reversed the earlier created situation.

Lew's dreams didn't let him stop at that and he went deep into politics, befriending presidents, lobbying for Hollywood and making powerful connections at the top of the foodchain.

As an absolute mastermind that monopolized many film-related branches while successfully avoiding antitrust laws (or helping to shape them to his liking) at times when Hollywood was in much better conditions than it is and probably ever will be, it's fair to say that he was the most powerful man the movie industry will ever see.

Lew's parents didn't have a lot of money, even though his father was working hard and was ambitious. As a result, all the boy could hope for was basic education. After that, he was to be on his own.

It wasn't a problem for Wasserman - he was eager to work, but later regretted that he couldn't afford higher education. At the age of 12, he started working already. Coincidentally, it was theater he was working for, selling candy to its clients.

Three years later, he graduated to a better position, now selling movie tickets in the same environment. It was a headache-inducing job, as he was expected to work 63 hours a week, but Lew was a workhorse even as a child. He didn't mind.

Jules Stein, the head of Music Corporation of America, was 17 years older and his soon-to-be empire was already stretched across country and powerful in the one-night band-booking business. At the age of 23 Wasserman came to the MCA office looking for a job. He was already working for the firm in a way, assisting with finding gigs to their bands for few years. Was good at it too.

The job required some sacrifices to be made - the salary was almost half of what Lew was making in his previous job and he had to convince his wife to move with him to Chicago from their native Cleveland. It was a far reach, a move based strictly on his perception that it will work out in the long run, but he was very confident and convincing. Chicago it was.

Very quickly, he made a big impression on his boss by signing Kay Kyser, which was a huge name at the time. Kyser and his band were famous for introducing an interesting extra to their performance - in between tracks, they were making quizzes!

Wasserman found an investor for the project, agreed on a contract with radio network and that's how Kay Kyser and His Kollege of Musical Knowledge (Wiki) was born. You can buy their various CDs on Amazon, Archive.org hosts 5 audio clips and there's plenty on Youtube too.

What's interesting is that in those days, Wasserman didn't have a specific contract for a specific position. Stein quickly saw huge potential in the new kid in his company - he had an enormous drive and he knew what he was doing, always applying good judgement to his decisions. Realizing all that, the head of the company just let him do his thing. It proved to be a great decision.

There was a period where Wasserman was not utilized properly in the company - he got sent with Jules' brother Bill to work for Bill Goodheart. He hated his boss and wanted to work at the core of the company instead of on its outskirts. He decided to go for broke and give Jules an ultimatum - either he goes back to L.A., or he's out. Stein already knew that he probably doesn't want a man like Lew to work for his competition, so he agreed.

Being very serious about his job, he started to study tax law to squeeze the most out of the system. For both him and Stein, it wasn't an obstacle to learn these things but rather an enchanting crossword, a fun brain activity.

There was a chance to leave MCA and enter a possibly even better work environment. MGM were interested in his services and by that time his name was already so big in Hollywood that L. B. Mayer (MGM's co-founder) himself expressed his interest in the man. The pay was much better too.

Surprisingly though, Wasserman said no - his current job was not a financial heaven, but he didn't care about earning money for himself nearly as much as he did for the company and he was happy where he was. The flexibility must have been a trump card here - nowhere else in Hollywood would he be given so much freedom to do what he feels right.

The businessman's second big moment came after meeting with Leland Hayward, who was one of the most powerful agents in Hollywood at the time.

When MCA was opening its office in Los Angeles, they were just small fish in the big sea, and Hayward and few others were that sea. Times have changed though and now MCA was all fluid while Leland's business was getting worse month in and month out.

Hayward decided to meet with MCA to perhaps merge the two businesses - while on a downward slide, Hayward's agency still had enormous assets. Stein showed great trust in Wasserman to allow him into such a critical meeting. Lew knew better than to merge though. He was aware that getting control over Leland's assets would single-handedly make MCA a dominant talent agency in Hollywood.

So, he proposed a takeover. After negotiating very good terms, Hayward agreed. The deal was a big step for both parties and the biggest Hollywood business transactions in quite a while. Leland came out a happy man - his name was no longer at the core of the brand (or nowhere else, actually), but he was allowed to continue doing what he was enjoying and he got filthy-rich as well.

Wasserman and Stein at the time were already doing something extraordinary - they were shifting the balance of power in Hollywood. Studios, who dictated the terms before, now were forced by MCA to give actors better contracts. Agents were now making power plays and were doing them in such a way and in such times that studios had to play by these new rules.

As opposed to big bosses who exercised conservative thinking, Wasserman was elastic, always trying to provoke changes and take full advantage of the unstable circumstances. He was a master of that craft, quickly starting to give film studio heads major headaches.

Wasserman's first successful $1 million contract negotiation was for future president (of Screen Actors Guild and later United States) Ronald Reagan.

The two were on good terms since the beginning - Lew saw a young and ambitious person who could be of much use. In fact, Reagan proved useful beyond the businessman's wildest expectations when he later ruled, lobbied and used his influence in favor of MCA and Hollywood in general on multiple occasions.

Shortly before the premiere of Sam Wood's Kings Row (IMDb), Reagan signed a contract. The terms were good for him, but Reagan's performance met with such positive reception that Wasserman saw an opportunity in renegotiating to Reagan's benefit even more. MCA and Time Warner met.

Jack Warner was amazed to find out that Lew was pushing for the 43-week contract instead of the standard 40-week one. After signing everything, he asked Wasserman why did he want those three extra weeks in the contract. He replied that this little extra made the contract cross the one million dollars mark and it was the first time he did that.

By the end of the 1940s, Wasserman was playing in favor of CBS, with whom he made deals earlier already. The plan was to work out a path for future production of shows, in response to networks stopping to use content from advertisers.

In the early years of U.S. radio stations, advertisers were providing both content and commercials in one package. The networks did not like the idea and wanted to decide for themselves - after all it's their cables and their investments on the line.

Once they freed themselves, there was a huge gap for content in that market and MCA stepped in to try and fill it. First came the super-popular show Amos 'n' Andy, brought from the competing network NBC. Now confident in CBS, many popular artists switched from one network to the other, all with a helpful push from Wasserman.

The beginning of the 1950s was a tough time not only for the studios, but for the movie business in general - and even more than during recession, when the industry didn't suffer nearly as much as the rest of the economy. Film popularity went down the hill, and to make it worse, the new medium emerged. It was a piece of magic in the box that people loved at first sight called TV.

Some even argued that it will entirely eliminate cinema business as a whole, as now people won't have to leave their houses to treat themselves. Alfred Hitchcock, a voice of reason in that case, famously said: people will want to go out.

As opposed to the old Hollywood guard which was scared of TV, Wasserman took a head-on approach towards it. It wasn't easy, as most of the high-ranked MCA employees were against it. Stein was on the ropes - on one side he had Lew, who had such a great nose when it comes to these things, and on the other he had the rest of the Hollywood, which was scared crapless of the television. Wasserman managed to convince Stein.

Using his influence, he managed to get permission to invest in this branch, even though technically such a thing should have never happened. MCA was a talent agency and negotiated actor contracts with their employees, they weren't supposed to be the bosses themselves! Total control of the market - Wasserman dreamt of nothing less!

This operation was organized in such a masterful way that nobody could prove anything. Ronald Reagan (Screen Actor Guild's president from 1947 to 1952) was instrumental in making it all happen.

Music Corporation of America did wonders for CBS - from the network that was always playing the catch up game, it became the entertainment powerhouse. Feeling no loyalty for MCA's input (or perhaps knowing they are dealing with snakes), CBS declined their offer to produce TV programs. Earlier, the agency failed to reach an agreement with NBC and went CBS way, and now CBS made that same mistake and NBC knew they might have an opportunity here.

When in 1958 Robert E. Kintner became the NBC president, Wasserman instantly stepped in to make this relationship more positive and fruitful than with his predecessor. He succeeded and as a result was able to attract an even bigger pool of talent to the agency. More jobs, more job offers, more satisfied customers.

NBC might have been afraid of antitrust laws coming into play, but they profited dearly from the relationship and were in bed with the elite, which meant other bonuses too, like the elite not in bed with competition scheming to destroy them. With all the quality content the competition could only dream of, NBC were a happy customer.

Despite a rather cold relationship with CBS that followed, Wasserman was able to change it by convincing Jack Benny to represent him for the renegotiation of his contract. While he was at it, he made a typical MCA move - CBS can have him, but they have to agree to something extra. That extra was no peanuts, as MCA was allowed to provide the show they want and air it at the time they want.

This must have been a shocker to many top CBS employees as that was some terrible negotiations at work and the whole extra deal must have been made backstage; there was no mention of it in the contract, but when the wheels started spinning, it was obvious what's happening.

In 1962, Arthur Krim created President's Club - an elite membership club organized to gather money from people who want future favors from Lyndon Johnson. All that as long as they're not too attached to their money, of course!

The elections were next year, so those charitable gifts were still largely a gamble, but Johnson had pretty good chances. As the initial effort worked out well, soon Johnson's people thought of expanding to other cities. In Los Angeles, Wasserman stepped in.

At first it seemed like an unnatural environment for Wasserman, who was more used to gaining an advantage and then applying pressure to get things done, but turned out to be extremely successful - huge sums of money were raised.

The effort wasn't coincidental on Lew's part, as he was hoping to get friends in the world of politics for a long time, but knew that until then he had been too small a fish to be taken seriously. The beginning of the 1960s was just the right time to start finding influence at the top.

It was necessary to do, because MCA became so big that political decisions going against them could screw them for millions of dollars. On the other hand, favorable gestures could (and later many times did) earn them a fortune.

Wasserman's efforts didn't go unnoticed, and soon he started coming to numerous business and political meetings. He was in and with him was Hollywood, now lobbying hard for the industry and protecting their interests where the big decisions were being made.

Jack Valenti, who was working for Johnson, quickly caught Lew's eye. Soon, the businessman managed to steal Jack from the president by offering him the position of the president of the Motion Picture Association of America (Wiki). Valenti instantly became an influential player in Hollywood. Wasserman proved to be a great judge of character the day he decided to lure him in.

Valenti came at a crucial moment - MPAA was suffering from internal tensions and its most influential members couldn't come to an agreement about who should lead them. Wasserman stepped in, exercised his power and forced his candidate. A president's right hand was a worthy candidate. In 1966, Jack became the MPAA president and as a bonus, soon Wasserman became the chairman of The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Lew maintained a good relationship with president Johnson even after he finished his tenure. Two years after that happened, the MCA mastermind contributed millions of dollars to the presidential library. It seemed like a great gesture, but could very well be an investment - common objectives with the president of the United States are something to brag about, they give extra credibility, enhance the aura of invincibility that was already strong around Lew.

That relationship was just a start. Once MCA was in, they were in. From then on almost until MCA's last days, every president had some kind of relationship with Wasserman and other important Hollywood figures, both professional and personal. A separate book could easily be written about the meeting of those two worlds and 'Wasserman' would probably be the most frequently used word in it.

In the early 1970s, Jules Stein was already way past his active years at MCA. He was still coming to work everyday, but Lew was running the show while he was just supervising it. Actually, even that description might seems like a stretch. In 1973, Stein decided to abandon the position of chairman of the board. Without having to think about it much, Wasserman quickly filled it to improve his grasp over the company.

His position was unchallenged and he still was able to impose his will on almost anyone in Hollywood. The problem was that his judgement and creativity were starting to abandon him.

Many people in Hollywood have long been waiting for that day. After all, he was a dictator in the totalitarian regime. Everything was meant to go his way and if it didn't, all hell would break loose. Studios resented him for all the money lost as he and Jules stripped them of some of their power and gave it to agents. Agents were angry because when MCA bought Universal and got into making movies themselves, they again transformed the industry to favor the studios.

On top of that, many bold new faces were appearing in Hollywood. They didn't have any reason to resent the two men, but just wanted to make it. If anything, a person like Lew was an icon to copy. They dreamt of dominating the business the way he did and at that stage of his life, they had to be taken seriously, as many were sneaky and talented individuals (although never as much as he in his prime).

Not surprisingly, first punch came from Warner Bros - Steve Ross, the studio's CEO and also a son of Jewish immigrants, threw it. Wasserman didn't need help in tarnishing his reputation though. To dwarf the rebellion against him, he made an agreement with unions that hit all the studios financially. Universal was the least affected because their financial condition was the best of all studios at the time.

And that's what his angle was - Universal will get penalized, but will gain an edge over other studios. And most importantly, they will pay for their backstage plays to dethrone Lew!

That move was seen as desperate and largely motivated by a blind rage more than anything. More importantly, it was seen as something Wasserman in his prime would never do. After all, he was lobbying heavily for the industry. By making that action, he gave his enemies ammunition. Everyone got hit financially because Wasserman was in the mood.

In the 1980s, Stein was already dead and Lew was suffering from the same conditions that Hollywood's old guard did when he first came to work for MCA. The will to seek challenges, adventures and the youthful opportunism were long gone. Year after year now he was becoming more conservative and preservative with his business decisions.

Young wolves took full advantage of it the same way he did when he was one himself. They came at him from all directions - other studios, agents, even high-ranked MCA employees who began realizing that if the company is to survive at the top, big changes have to be made.

One of Wasserman's last pushes was the fight to keep afloat Financial Interest and Syndication Rules (Wiki), a set of regulations for which he was largely responsible. Now he was working on strategies together with Jack Valenti, and was backed by the studios, which profited dearly from it being in place. It kept open the market that would otherwise be mostly closed for the studios.

Thanks to the hard battles they fought, they managed to keep the controversial rules in place until 1991, when TV networks finally triumphed. They have been free to produce their own shows from then on.

His occasional successes couldn't cover the flops he was making for long though. Probably the biggest of them all was a failed attempt to acquire Coca Cola Bottling Inc. First, MCA made an awfully cheap offer and soon followed it with Wasserman's arrogant phone call that was the last nail in the coffin. The message Lew wanted to give was that they are buying the company. End of discussion. He used screaming to convey his message too.

That strategy had worked well in Hollywood, where everything was connected. If anyone disobeyed, it was a declaration of war and MCA could pull the strings to punish the disobeying. Unions, contracted workers that could be influenced, political decisions, even gangsters (thanks to his good friend Sidney Korshak) - you name it!

But a bottling company was operating independent of Hollywood and to them screaming was nothing more than an insult and it made Wasserman look like an arrogant rookie. It only convinced them to go the other way. Soon, as the worth of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. grew considerably, it was clear that Wasserman's terrible negotiating costed MCA a fortune.

In 1990, Matsushita (now Panasonic) bought Music Corporation of America and with it came changes. Wasserman was no longer his own boss and the Japanese company's awareness of the fact that Lew isn't as capable as he used to be made it even harder for him to operate freely. Up to that point, Stein was leading Music Corporation of America, but Wasserman was really his own boss. The fact that he now had someone above him was something new and he had trouble adjusting.

In 1995, Seagram bought 80% of MCA from Matsushita, which decided that the its core (where Wasserman was sitting) was beyond repair. The new owner changed the name and further withdrew Lew from the position of power. Until 1998, he was part of the board of directors and then he was casted out.

At 85 years old already at the time of being fired, it meant retirement for the media mogul. Four years later, he died.