Ronald Meyer

Ronald Meyer (born September 25, 1944) is an American entertainment executive and former talent agent. He co-founded Creative Artists Agency in 1975, and served as the President and Chief Operating Officer at Universal Pictures from 1995-2013 and the President and Chief Operating Officer of Vivendi Universal Entertainment from 2002-2004. He was then promoted to Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal at Comcast Corp. and held that position until his resignation in 2020. He is currently the CEO of Wild Bunch, and an advisor to the Doha Film Institute. Early life Ron Meyer was born in Los Angeles in 1944, to Jewish immigrant parents who escaped Nazi Germany in 1939. His father worked as a travelling dress salesman. His family's love for film influenced him at an early age. At 15 Meyer dropped out of high school, and at 17 he joined the United States Marine Corps, where he served until he was 19. While in the Marine Corps, his mother sent him The Flesh Peddlers, a novel about the talent industry by Stephen Longstreet. The book inspired him to pursue a career as a talent agent after his service ended in 1963. He worked as an agent for the Paul Kohner Agency in Los Angeles from 1964 to 1970, and from 1970 to 1975 for the William Morris Agency. Career Creative Artists Agency (1974–1995) At a lunch in 1974, Meyer and some friends came up with the idea of starting an agency to represent talent in Los Angeles. They opened Creative Artists Agency in a rented office with card tables, folding chairs, and their wives as the secretaries. It later expanded its range of services to include consulting with corporations.