StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Michael Ovitz

12 statements across 3 episodes · 3 bullish · 4 bearish · 4 people on the record · first statement Jan 2, 2019 by Michael Ovitz · said 30 times in 6 episodes since 2019 · across every show →

On the record as a speaker too: Michael Ovitz's record, appearances and statements → this page counts the times other people say the name.

Mentions by year

brought up most by Chris Lyons (13), Ben Horowitz (11), Earvin "Magic" Johnson (2), Margit Wennmachers (1), Marc Andreessen (1), Lawrence Levy (1), Erik Torenberg (1)

tap a year for its mentions
008215320192020202120222023202420252026episodesmentions
02320192020202120222023202420252026episodes it came up in
007.51.515320192020202120222023202420252026episodesmentions per episode
2026 15 mentions in 1 episode
2025 12 mentions in 3 episodes 4 per episode
2019 3 mentions in 2 episodes 2 per episode

every mention, scene by scene, with the transcript →

Everything said about Michael Ovitz, oldest first

Jan 2, 2019 negative
Insight
Ovitz: Agenting is manipulating and forcing your will on someone else
“Agenting is, you know, it's manipulating, it's pushing, it's maneuvering, it's Trying to force your will on someone, that's agenting and it's a tough word and it's a tough mechanism.”
Michael Ovitz Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 21:44 a16z Podcast | New Upstarts in an Old Industry
Jan 2, 2019 negative
Opinion
Ovitz: Golden Age Hollywood moguls were far more ruthless than CAA
“If you go back to the moguls of the thirties, forties, and fifties, the mayors, the Thalbergs, the Harry Cones, the Jack Warners of Warner Brothers, William Fox, you know, founded Fox Studios. These guys were tough as nails. They took no prisoners. They made u…”
Michael Ovitz Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 12:44 a16z Podcast | New Upstarts in an Old Industry
Jan 2, 2019 positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Horowitz: CAA became the world's top talent agency within 15 years
“The fact that he was able to create, by far, the most successful talent agency in the world, 15 years after starting, 75 years after vaudeville, is an impossible business story.”
Ben Horowitz Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 1:48 a16z Podcast | New Upstarts in an Old Industry
Jan 2, 2019 positive
Insight
Ovitz: Streaming capital and direct distribution make this a golden age
“It's a great time to be a creative person, because we went from a dearth of money to more money than anyone needs, and a new form of distribution.”
Michael Ovitz Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 25:55 a16z Podcast | New Upstarts in an Old Industry
Jan 2, 2019 positive
Opinion
Ovitz: CAA's culture ate Hollywood just like a16z's ate venture capital
“Our culture ate the entertainment business. It just did, and so did the Andreessen Horowitz culture.”
Michael Ovitz Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 32:39 a16z Podcast | New Upstarts in an Old Industry
Jan 2, 2019 negative
Disclosure
Ovitz: I sometimes failed to downshift and treated my kids like clients
“Sometimes I go home and I didn't downshift, and I'm talking to my kids like they're clients. Believe me, regrettable, but unfortunately, factually accurate.”
Michael Ovitz Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 21:22 a16z Podcast | New Upstarts in an Old Industry
Jan 2, 2019 neutral
What-if
Ovitz: CAA could not have succeeded using a less aggressive approach
“Someone asked me the other day, do you think you could have done it differently in the day? And I don't think that we could have because we were in a cutthroat business to start with.”
Michael Ovitz Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 12:25 a16z Podcast | New Upstarts in an Old Industry
Jan 2, 2019
Insight
Horowitz: Negotiators must do anything legal and moral to close deals
“Look, I believe in artificial deadlines. I believe in playing one against the other. And I believe that you have to do anything and everything possible short of Immoral or illegal to get the damn deal done.”
Ben Horowitz Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 30:37 a16z Podcast | New Upstarts in an Old Industry
Jan 2, 2019 negative
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ovitz: Building a traditional movie star is no longer possible today
“The idea of building a movie star now is not possible.”
Michael Ovitz Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 24:05 a16z Podcast | New Upstarts in an Old Industry
Nov 26, 2025 neutral
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Adding Michael Ovitz to a16z's board was internally controversial
“Yeah, it was it was controversial at the time, even amongst our own board. I won't name names, but yeah, it was it was different to have him.”
Ben Horowitz Nov 26, 2025 ▶ 8:20 The Secret Marketing Strategy That Built a16z: From Zero to Legendary VC Firm
Feb 11, 2026
Assertion Supported
Chris Lyons: Andreessen Horowitz was modeled after CAA's service model
“The firm was actually built off Of CAA's model, and Ovitz was on the board of Mark and Ben's company, and so that's where they originally got the idea for A-sixteen Z and having a service-based model”
Chris Lyons Feb 11, 2026 ▶ 3:31 Inside The Life of Silicon Valley's First Athlete Investor | Magic Johnson
Feb 11, 2026
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Magic Johnson: Michael Ovitz reworked his NBA contract for free
“He reworked my contract to make me one of the highest paid in the NBA, But he did it, and then I said, well, how much I owe you? He said, I don't want nothing from you.”
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Feb 11, 2026 ▶ 8:48 Inside The Life of Silicon Valley's First Athlete Investor | Magic Johnson
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 1,000 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more