Michael Ovitz

I've always made my decisions based on two factors: intellectual analysis and my gut. And when they meet, that's a go from me. That's when I see the goal.

When I get on a plane, I don't want a laid-back pilot. I want a pilot who is a control freak, who is paying attention to every single detail of his job.

A lot of drive is innate, self-perpetuated, reinforced energy. As a kid, I could always sell anything I could get my hands on - from newspapers to lemonade to 'TV Guide.' I knew how to make a presentation.

I'm not good at being static. I have to be climbing a mountain.

I believe sometimes I make some mistakes. And I don't think they are life-threatening mistakes.

My whole life has been about risk and reward.

I'm interested in what's new. I'm interested in change. I'm interested in a different game in life.

Hollywood is a small, familial place. Everyone does business with everybody else. The same complications occur in investment banking.

I have never run a public company. I spent my entire life working for a private company.

I must say that in my early years, I was incredibly aggressive. I was working as hard as I could to build a business, to try to dominate a business. And I probably irritated a lot of people.

When I was at U.C.L.A., I worked my way through school as a tour guide at Universal Studios, and I came in contact with a lot of people in the agency business.

In student government in high school, I learned how to deal with people, and in college I studied Eastern philosophy. I'm also an avid team-sports fan. I think I just blended them all together and came out with a business management philosophy that combines the Eastern ethic with the Western sport concept, basically.