Orchestral Maneuvers

—Does this make him Levin's successor? "No one has told me that," says Fuchs. They don't need to. His promotion means Fuchs will enjoy a position of power second only to Levin's. (Levin, according to his spokesperson, has no comment on the Fuchs appointment.) By all accounts, Fuchs has left little to chance in his rise to the top. Though skilled at finessing artists, Fuchs can be ruthless in business. "Michael doesn't like to lose," says Blank. "HBO has been his life." Some say the job so consumed him that he has no life, despite a steady stream of actress girlfriends, including Brooke Adams and Sonia Braga. Traveling light, however, may be key to his success. Burt Harris, a onetime Warner Cable exec, says Fuchs doesn't mind alienating people. "He's direct and can be impatient," says Harris. "Making friends isn't his aim in life."

But the friends Fuchs does have are loyal. Garry Shandling, who first worked with Fuchs on The Larry Sanders Show, says: "He's exceptional because he understands that getting the best from talent means giving them the freedom to do what they want. Other executives operate out of fear. He has courage." Comedian Dennis Miller is a recipient of that courage (Fuchs offered him his current half hour on HBO, Dennis Miller Live, after the humiliating failure of a 1992 syndicated talk show) and pays him an even higher compliment. "He's fun to hang out with,'' says Miller. "When Fuchs sidles up to you, it's wry and funny. What more could you want from a chief executive officer?"

Reported by Jennifer Pendleton and Robert Seidenberg