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- Billionaire music and movie producer David Geffen is the richest man in the entertainment industry.
- He’s worth an estimated $8.49 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
- Geffen founded music label Geffen Records, which he sold in 1990 for $550 million. He also cofounded movie studio DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
- Geffen owns millions of dollars of real estate in New York and California, a $2 billion art collection, and a $590 million superyacht where he hosts high-profile guests like the Obamas, Jeff Bezos, Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, and Orlando Bloom.
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Billionaire Hollywood producer David Geffen is the richest man in the entertainment industry, with an estimated $8.49 billion fortune, according to Bloomberg.
Geffen founded music label Geffen Records and cofounded movie studio DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
The 76-year-old billionaire is known for cruising the seas on his 453-foot megayacht, Rising Sun, on which he’s hosted celebrity guests including Barack and Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Hanks.
Most recently, Geffen was pictured partying on his yacht with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, and model Karlie Kloss and her husband, Josh Kushner. The yacht used to belong to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.
Geffen owns a massive portfolio of real estate in New York and California, including a $54 million Manhattan penthouse and a $47.5 million Beverly Hills mansion built by one of the founders of Warner Bros. The billionaire reportedly has an art collection worth $2 billion.
Here’s a look at the Hollywood mogul’s life, career, and spending habits.
Movie and music producer David Geffen is worth an estimated $8.49 billion, making him the richest man in Hollywood, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
REUTERS/Phil McCarten
The Brooklyn-born billionaire dropped out of college to join the entertainment industry, starting his career in the mailroom at William Morris Agency in Manhattan, where he worked his way up to being a talent manager.
In 1971, he founded music label Asylum Records, where he signed artists like Jackson Browne.
AP Photo/Carlos Rene Perez
After about a year, Geffen sold the label to Warner Communications for $7 million and proceeded to serve as the head of the merged Elektra/Asylum Records.
In the 1970s, Geffen had a high-profile relationship with singer Cher.
Adam Scull/PHOTOlink/MediaPunch /IPX
Although Geffen later came out as gay, Cher said of the relationship in a 2012 interview: "At that point in his life, I was the right person for him."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Barney’s just declared bankruptcy. Meet the company’s billionaire chairman, who was once considered one of Wall Street’s most promising investors and owns at least 3 homes across the US.
- Jeff Bezos partied on billionaire David Geffen’s $590 million superyacht in the Balearics — here’s a look at the yacht, which has hosted everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Barack Obama
- I visited a 200-year-old Russian bathhouse in Moscow, where I paid $85 to be whacked with branches and doused in ice-cold water. It was the most memorable part of my trip.
Source: Business Insider – kwarren@businessinsider.com (Katie Warren)