David Geffen

17 Stories

Tuition for Yale Drama School Is Now $0

David Geffen's $150M donation makes education free

(Newser) - Meryl Streep will now be able to say, "It wasn't like that when I was in school" without being melodramatic. Yale Drama School announced Wednesday that it will no longer charge tuition, after receiving a $150 million donation from David Geffen. The free education begins this fall and...

David Geffen's Self-Isolation Yacht Post Not Going Over Well

Can you say 'tone deaf'?

(Newser) - Life in the time of social distancing and self-isolation is difficult. Perhaps no one knows this better than billionaire media mogul David Geffen, who is currently suffering through the ordeal of quarantine aboard his $590 million, 454-foot mega-yacht. He posted a picture of said yacht anchored in the Caribbean Sea...

Jeff Bezos Just Bought LA's Most Expensive Home

Amazon founder paid $165M for Warner estate

(Newser) - Jeff Bezos just bought the most expensive house ever sold in Los Angeles, and he's not going to have to worry about mortgage payments: With an estimated net worth of $131 billion, the Amazon founder could have bought the $165 million mansion almost 800 times over. Bezos has bought...

Carly Simon: 'You're So Vain' Subject Still a Mystery

Singer laughs off reports that enigmatic song is about David Geffen

(Newser) - Return "subject of 'You're So Vain'" to your "unsolved mysteries" file—Carly Simon says that contrary to widespread reports last week, the song isn't about producer David Geffen. "What a riot! Nothing to do with David Geffen!" the singer-songwriter tells the Hollywood Reporter . "What a...

Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain' Is About...

 Carly Simon's 
 'You're So Vain' 
 Is About... 
burning mystery dept
Feb 26, 2010 10:26 AM CST

Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain' Is About...

Singer may have finally ended decades-long mystery

(Newser) - For 38 years, jilted lovers everywhere have been singing along to “You’re So Vain” and wondering exactly who is so vain—and they may finally have an answer. Speculation has long centered on Carly Simon’s famous exes, including Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Mick Jagger, Cat Stevens, or...

Jennifer Hudson to Sing at State Dinner

 Jennifer 
 Hudson to 
 Sing at State 
 Dinner
WHITE HOUSE SECRETS SLIP
Nov 24, 2009 9:21 AM CST

Jennifer Hudson to Sing at State Dinner

White House still mum on first lady's outfit

(Newser) - Tonight's first state dinner of the Obama administration is likely to be a star-studded affair, and while the White House has been tight-lipped thus far, details are leaking: Guests at tonight’s celebration of Indian PM Manmohan Singh are said to include Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, as...

Don't Sell the Times ... Yet
 Don't Sell the Times... Yet 
OPINION
May 14, 2009 8:15 AM CDT

Don't Sell the Times... Yet

(Newser) - The New York Times' ruling Ochs-Sulzberger family has a “habit of buying high and selling low,” writes John Gapper of the Financial Times. The clan sold the paper’s old Times Square building at a bargain price and bought back shares near their zenith. Now Arthur Sulzberger Jr....

Geffen Would Make NYT a Nonprofit
Geffen Would Make NYT
a Nonprofit
May 13, 2009 8:41 PM CDT

Geffen Would Make NYT a Nonprofit

Mogul still interested in buying a large stake in the Times

(Newser) - Hollywood’s David Geffen has amassed a multi-billion-dollar fortune through his business acumen, so why on earth is he looking to invest in the newspaper industry by buying a large stake in the New York Times? The reason, two sources tell Johnnie L. Roberts of Newsweek, is that Geffen doesn’...

Geffen Sought Stake in NY Times
Geffen Sought Stake in
NY Times
May 12, 2009 3:43 AM CDT

Geffen Sought Stake in NY Times

Media mogul rebuffed after bid for 20% of company

(Newser) - Media mogul and DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen recently offered to buy nearly 20% of the struggling New York Times Company, Fortune reports. Geffen offered market price, currently $194 million, for the shares owned by Harbinger Capital Management. But the hedge fund rejected his offer as too low. He hasn't been...

Spielberg Strikes Huge Universal Deal

Universal Studios to distribute up to 6 films a year

(Newser) - Steven Spielberg is returning to the Hollywood studio where he made his classic blockbusters Jaws and ET.  Spielberg's DreamWorks, backed with $1.4 billion in new financing, has struck a seven-year distribution deal with Universal for as many as six new releases a year, according to the Hollywood Reporter....

Spielberg, Paramount Split DreamWorks Projects

Divorce accomplished without years of litigation, projects divvied up

(Newser) - It may be one of the most amicable Hollywood divorces in history. Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks announced a division of 200 movie projects in development as golden-touch producer Steven Spielberg leaves to launch a new company, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The unexpectedly easy split comes in defiance of Hollywood...

DreamWorks Near Bollywood Alliance
DreamWorks Near Bollywood Alliance
Jun 18, 2008 10:09 AM CDT

DreamWorks Near Bollywood Alliance

Deal would speed Spielberg team's Paramount departure

(Newser) - Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks venture is closing in on a deal with an Indian media conglomerate that could fund a break from Paramount Pictures, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mumbai-based Reliance, a conglomerate with stakes in telecom, finance, and entertainment looking to expand into Hollywood, could bring as much as $600...

Out Names Most Powerful Gays
 Out Names Most Powerful Gays 
Apr 13, 2008 12:29 PM CDT

Out Names Most Powerful Gays

And mag ejects Anderson Cooper from closet

(Newser) - Out magazine's Gay Power 50 boasts plenty of people with plenty of influence over politics and pop culture:
  1. David Geffen: Look at the headlines this Hollywood bigwig sparked when he endorsed Barack Obama for proof of his broad influence.
  2. Anderson Cooper: Turn on CNN. Enough said.
  3. Ellen DeGeneres: Her daily
...

Why Can't They Just Get Along?
Why Can't They Just Get Along?
Nov 17, 2007 4:25 PM CST

Why Can't They Just Get Along?

Inside the bitter feud that's breaking up Dreamworks and Paramount

(Newser) - Less than two years after Paramount acquired DreamWorks, executive tempers have boiled over. The much-heralded union has degenerated into a series of scathing personal attacks between the principals, Sumner Redstone and David Geffen. Shuttling between the bigwigs, Vanity Fair offers an in-depth look at the Hollywood war—and maybe even...

Speilberg & Paramount Head for Divorce

Unhappy DreamWorks director will likely seek new backer

(Newser) - A split between the DreamWorks braintrust and Paramount appears inevitable amid reports that director Steven Spielberg and partner David Geffen will seek new backers as soon as they're free to do so. The duo have been upset almost from the moment they sold Dreamworks to Paramount two years ago, complaining...

Spielberg May Split From Paramount
Spielberg May Split From Paramount
Jul 20, 2007 10:23 AM CDT

Spielberg May Split From Paramount

Angry director could pack up DreamWorks and leave studio

(Newser) - Steven Spielberg is so disillusioned with Paramount Pictures that he may bail on the studio, which less than 2 years ago bought the director's DreamWorks for $1.53 billion. The legend behind Jaws, E.T.,  and Transformers is furious that Paramount takes credit for his movies and mistreats his...

Geffen, Zell Talk Deal For LA Times

Geffen wants it; Zell has $13 billion in debt to pay down

(Newser) - David Geffen wants to get his hands on the LA Times, and he's optimistic that he may yet succeed after talking to Sam Zell, the feisty real estate mogul who bought the Tribune Company Monday. The two discussed both a spin-off and a joint venture partnership, sources close to the...

17 Stories