The 50 Smartest People In Hollywood

4. ARI EMANUEL

AGE 46
JOB TITLE Partner, Endeavor Agency
SMART BECAUSE In just over a decade, he's built Endeavor from the ground up, taken on the industry's big four talent agencies, and made his the second-most powerful in town. A maverick thinker, Emanuel seems congenitally incapable of following the crowd. Instead of losing sleep over who signs Halle Berry (ICM ended up nabbing her last year), Emanuel and partner Patrick Whitesell have shifted Endeavor's focus to helping filmmakers expand their businesses and gain autonomy from the studio system. While everyone's trying to break into China (and, so far, failing), Emanuel's thinking about AT&T's plan to deliver original content to consumers and how his clients can profit. Emanuel was the inspiration for Entourage's brash Ari Gold: When Disney refused to release his client Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, he came out swinging at then CEO Michael Eisner. But behind that street-fighter facade is the sharpest strategist in the business.
MONEY NEVER SLEEPS He starts calling studio heads at 4 a.m. to lobby for his clients.

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