Jeffrey Katzenberg Biography & Net Worth

Jeffrey Katzenberg Biography & Net Worth

Jeffrey Katzenberg is a businessman and notable film producer. He is the former chairman of the Walt Disney Company and a former chief executive officer of DreamWorks Animation. He is the founder of the short-form video service Quibi, which he launched in 2018. This highly skilled filmmaker is known to be one of the highest-earning producers in Hollywood, made possible primarily due to a series of box office smash hits throughout his time at Disney. He has performed excellently in the past to earn his reputation and wealth, and continues to do well in this day to maintain his legendary status. By all means, Jeffrey Katzenberg is a wealthy man. Here’s his biography and career journey so far.

Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Early Life

Jeffrey Katzenberg was born in New York, United States on December 21, 1950. He was born to a stockbroker named Walter, and his wife, an artist by the name Anne. He attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and graduated in 1969.

Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Career

His career in the entertainment world began when he secured a job as an assistant to gifted producer David Picker. He soon moved up the ladder and started working as an assistant to Barry Diller in 1974. Diller was the chairman of Paramount Pictures at that time, and went on to transfer Jeffrey to the marketing department of Paramount Pictures, as well as other tasks within the studio. In late 1970s, Katzenberg was selected to work on the project to restore the “Star Trek” franchise. His rise up the ranks at Paramount Pictures continued, and he was managed to work his way up to secure the president of production at the company under the president of the studio, Michael Eisner.

In 1984, Michael Eisner became chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, and took Katzenberg along with him. He put Katzenberg in charge of the Walt Disney Company’s motion picture department, where he was laden with the responsibility of reviving the studio at a time when the studio ranked bottom-low among big studios at the box office. Jeffrey carried out his duties efficiently and  refocused the studio’s works  on producing adult-oriented comedy films like “Good Morning, Vietnam”,  (1987), “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” (1986), and “Three Men and a Baby” (1987). Eventually, his efforts were successful, and by 1987 the company had risen to become the No. 1 studio at the box office.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Jeffrey Katzenberg was involved in other ventures at Disney. For example, he took over the struggling Feature Animation division, and under his direction the division began to improve. He also oversaw the Touchstone Television unit that produced hit TV shows like “Home Improvement” and “Golden Girls”. Eventually, the animation division of Disney went on to create some of the company’s most successful and critically acclaimed animated films like “The Lion King” (1994), “Beauty and the Beast” (1991), “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988), “Aladdin” (1992), and “The Little mermaid” (1989).

As he rose up the ranks at The Walt Disney Company, tensions built between him, Michael Eisner, and Roy E. Disney (Walt Disney’s nephew). Eventually, the tensions rocketed and Katzenberg was forced into resignation in October 1994.

After leaving Disney, Katzenberg partnered with David Geffen and Steven Spielberg to found the film production house DreamWorks SKG. Katzenberg was put in charge of animation operations. He was executive producer of many DreamWorks animated feature movies, including hit films such as “Shrek” (2001), “Shrek 2” (2004), “The Prince of Egypt” (1998), “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” (2002), “Joseph: King of Dreams” (2000), and “The Road to El Dorado” (2000). Following a massive $125 million loss on the animated feature “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas” (2003), Katzenberg was a key figure behind the evolution of the studio from earlier traditional animation methods to computer generated animation. In 2016, Katzenberg, Geffen and Spielberg sold Dreamworks studio to Comcast-Universal for a total of $3.8 billion. His personal cut from the sale was $420 million.

In 2018, Jeffrey Katzenberg announced his newest project, a video streaming platform named Quibi, which he developed in partnership with Meg Whitman, a former chief executive officer of eBay, who became the first employee of Quibi when she was employed to be the company’s chief executive officer. In 2018, the new company raised $1 billion in funding from various investors, including ITV, JPMorgan Chase, Alibaba Group, The Walt Disney Company, MGM, Goldman Sachs, 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal, Viacom, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, and Time Warner. Quibi launched in the United States and Canada officially on April 6, 2020.

Personal Life, Family, Philanthropy

In 1975, Katzenberg married a kindergarten teacher named Marilyn Siegel. Together, the couple have two children, David and Laura. Their son David is a producer and director.

Together, Katzenberg and Marilyn have been active in philanthropic endeavors and numerous projects. Some of their donations include the Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Center of Animation at University of Southern California, and the Katzenberg Center at Boston University’s College of General Studies. In addition to his charitable donations, Katzenberg is active in political circles as well. Since 1979, he has donated more than $3.5 million in political contributions. Of that $3.5 million, 66% went to special groups without party affiliations, 33% went to Democrats, and less than 1% was relieved by Republicans.

Jeffrey Katzenberg Net Worth

This American businessman and film producer has managed to amass a sizeable net worth of $900 million. As a former chairman of the Walt Disney Company and former chief executive officer of DreamWorks Animation, he received a decent salary for his dedicated services, which today make up his overall wealth. He currently makes a handsome income from his short-form video service Quibi which he launched in 2018.

He has long-been one of the highest earning producers in the world. His biggest career payday was in 2016 when Dreamworks studios, a company he founded along with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen was sold for $3.8 billion, and he earned a personal $420 million from the sale. He is known for his luxury life asides his achievements in film. He also owns many properties most of which are quite expensive. His 6+ acre estate in Beverly Hills is said to be worth more than $35 million. As recent as 2019, he sold his ski chalet in Utah for $11.6 million.