Superagent Ari Emanuel: Born to fight

September 20, 2026 / 10:15 AM EDT / CBS News

The office is spacious, the view spectacular. Add a treadmill desk, and you've got the ideal setting for a Hollywood superagent, Ari Emanuel. The TV character Ari Gold from HBO's "Entourage" was based on him.

Emanuel's rise to the top began at the bottom in – where else? – the mailroom. "You'd be picking food up in the morning, copying scripts from all the different agents," he said. And twice a day, he'd drive all over Los Angeles, dropping off scripts to producers, directors and actors. "You come back, you'd have a morning run and a night run," he said.

He affirmed that the job sucked. But all those deliveries? They paid off. He's now the head of WME Group, the mega talent agency whose clients include Denzel Washington, Adele, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Bruno Mars, and Adam Sandler. Emanuel is also chairman of TKO, which owns UFC and WWE.

"I'm a really hard worker," he said. "I've created a culture, and people that follow me. So, I still might be a moron. But certain people think I'm actually good at my job. And so, that's good!"

At 65…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/