Is David Geffen really the ‘richest man in Hollywood’? With a US$8 billion net worth, the DreamWorks co-founder was linked to Keanu Reeves, dated Cher, and ‘married’ a male dancer five decades younger
David Geffen is not only one of the richest people in Hollywood – he’s regarded as one of its most influential. The music and movie mogul boasts an estimated net worth of US$8 billion thanks to a series of clever business moves – including signing two of the world’s most successful rock bands, Nirvana and Guns N’ Roses.
Nowadays, at age 81, Geffen spends his time on his superyacht with his “husband” who is 50 years his junior. Here’s how he grew up as a child of immigrants in Brooklyn to a like of unimaginable wealth and success.
His powerful rise
Geffen grew up in Brooklyn and started his career in a William Morris talent agency, where he worked in the mailroom. It was in the 1960s, through a stroke of luck, that he became singer-songwriter Laura Nyro’s manager. According to Hollywood Reporter, Geffen started a publishing company for her songs which he later sold for US$4.5 million. He used that money to start Asylum Records and put out records by huge artists including the Eagles and Joni Mitchell. He then sold Asylum to Warner Communications.
Geffen took a sabbatical from the music industry after receiving a bladder cancer diagnosis and started teaching at Yale. But when he learnt that his cancer was a misdiagnosis, he come out of retirement and founded Geffen Records. It was in the 80s that his success skyrocketed as he signed the world’s biggest rock groups including Nirvana, Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses, and legendary singer-songwriter Neil Young (who the label infamously sued for making “uncharacteristic” music). He eventually sold his company for US$550 million in 1990, per Bloomberg, earning him the title of the “richest man in Hollywood”.
Geffen extended his power, tilting towards the movie industry when he co-founded DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg in 1994.
About that Keanu Reeves rumour
In the 1990s, as Geffen’s influence hovered above music and film, a rumour that he had secretly married actor Keanu Reeves started getting traction. In an interview with Vanity Fair in 1995, Reeves said he had “never met” Geffen, commenting on the gossip that, “It’s so ridiculous, I find it funny”. Geffen called the rumours “mean-spirited”.
He dated Cher
The couple were together for two years and it was Geffen who negotiated her business exit with her then husband Sonny Bono. Cher famously commented that she was the first person to “share his bed and to share his life”. Post the relationship, Geffen came out as gay.
A star-studded friendship group
Geffen’s links to the rich, powerful and influential was widely spoken about in the 90s. According to The New Yorker, back then his pals included then US president Bill Clinton, Steven Spielberg, Madonna and Seagram boss Edgar Bronfman.
Over the past few years, there have been multiple reports of him hanging out with the likes of Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Jeff Bezos and Joshua Kushner.
He isn’t afraid to spend his money
Geffen has an estimated net worth US$8 billion at the time of writing, apparently more than anyone else in the US entertainment industry – even Star Wars creator George Lucas, whose US5.5 billion fortune puts him top of Forbes annual list of celebrity billionaires.
So how does he spend it? For one, in 1990 Geffen bought the Jack Warner Estate, the iconic home that was built by Hollywood businessman Jack Warner. Then he sold it to Jeff Bezos, in 2020 for a whopping US$165 million, according to reports. He also has homes in Malibu, The Hamptons and owned one of Manhattan’s most expensive penthouses.
Then there’s his mega yacht, the Rising Sun, which is worth an estimated US$590 million. During the pandemic, he posted images of himself isolating on his yacht, which attracted criticism that the billionaire was being rather tone deaf.
Geffen’s interest in art has also topped up his bank balance, with the music mogul trading works by Jasper Johns, David Hockney and Jackson Pollock. Per Bloomberg, his art collection had an estimated net worth of US$2 billion.
A husband?
Geffen’s fresh relationship with Donovan Michaels has made headlines with reports that Michaels is a former go-go dancer who has changed his name a few times. Per Page Six, Michaels was a dancer in Miami in 2014 before moving to New York to take his shot at modelling. The pair reportedly got married in a private ceremony in 2023 – but it has never been confirmed.
