An enduring Hollywood executive, dubbed the "last of the moguls," Wasserman gained headlines in 1990 with the announcement that MCA, of which he was chairman and CEO, was being sold to the Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Wasserman had helmed the company, which at various times encompassed a record company, a film studio, a TV production and distribution arm and a leading talent agency, since 1946.
The former theater usher got his start in the entertainment industry in 1936 when, as a 23 year-old band booker, he was taken under the wing of Jules Stein, founder of the Music Corporation of America (MCA). A band-booking agency founded in 1924, MCA was one of the top companies in its field, involved in operations such as the packaging of radio shows. In 1937 a Los Angeles office was opened and, within a decade, the agency was representing numerous top movie stars. Stein became chairman of the company, leaving Wasserman, now president, in charge of running its day-to-day operations.
Known for his zealous loyalty to the company and ability to make his agents feel part of an elite (MCA was sometimes compared to the Marines), Wasserman led the corporation into the budding TV industry. As a producer and distributor of TV programming, and boasting a formidable client list, MCA had emerged as a major force in the new medium by the end of the 1950s.
MCA's incursion into the movies came in 1962 with the purchase of Decca Records, which owned Universal Pictures. This expansion, however, led to anti-trust threats from the Kennedy administration, eventually forcing the company to drop its talent agency operation.
The lone threat to Wasserman's reign came from his former benefactor, Jules Stein, in 1969; Stein's concern stemmed from nearly $100 million in debt that had accrued over unsuccessful movie ventures in the 60s. Wasserman allegedly suffered a heart attack and, when the press learned of the board's plan to oust an ill man, the maneuver was thwarted. Wasserman not only remained in power, but had been named chairman and CEO by 1973.
In the following decade, Universal's film fortunes changed drastically with the $100 million-plus blockbusters "The Sting" and "American Graffiti" (both 1973), "Jaws" (1975), "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977), "Animal House" (1978), "On Golden Pond" (1981) and "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982), which has earned upwards of $367 million domestically to date.
After a post-colon surgery accident brought Wasserman to the brink of death in 1987, he decided to sell in order to save the company, which he feared would fall apart without him. The deal with Matsushita (facilitated by Michael Ovitz) brought MCA an immense injection of cash, kept Wasserman in the chairman and CEO posts and ensured that, should Wasserman leave, his right hand, Sidney Sheinberg, would take his place.
Wasserman's long career as a player finally ended in 1995, when Matsushita sold MCA to Seagram's Edgar Bronfman Jr. for $5.7 billion. Sheinberg resigned as president and Wasserman was named chairman emeritus. That same year, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 1996 was named the first recipient of the Arthur B. Krim Award.