Ovitz spent a year cultivating Japanese relationships while impatient American peers failed
Michael Ovitz · Founder of CAA Michael Ovitz: "I Just Knew I Was Going to Outwork Every One of Them" · Aug 9, 2026 · at 19:09
CAA co-founder Michael Ovitz contrasts his long-term relationship approach in 1980s Japan with American peers who expected immediate deal closures.
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“In the early eighties, I was going to Japan once a month for business, and friends of mine were going, and they'd come back, and they'd call me, and they said, my God, I just had the greatest meeting in Japan. I'm going to close. And I'd start laughing, and they would say, what are you laughing at? And I'd say, well, call me in a year and let me know how you're doing. None of them closed anything. I spent a year cultivating relationships before I even got an assignment.”
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