Marvel Studios Creator — Never-Before-Heard Tales of Hollywood Deals, Selling to Disney, & More

David Maisel traces his path from Boston Consulting Group to Hollywood, beginning when he cold-called super-agent Michael Ovitz and became his right-hand man at CAA and later Disney. He explains how, over a single weekend in 2003, he conceived the 'universe' model where every film after the first acts as a sequel, then joined a near-bankrupt Marvel as president of Marvel Studios. The bulk of the conversation details how he pulled off the seemingly impossible: raising roughly $525 million in non-recourse, no-equity debt from Merrill Lynch, securing Paramount as a last-money distributor, clawing back the rights to Hulk and Iron Man, and pushing his risk-averse board to bet the company on Robert Downey Jr. He recounts Iron Man's surprise $100M opening weekend and the secret June 2009 meeting with Bob Iger that led to Disney buying Marvel for about $51/share. Throughout, Maisel reflects on blending business fundamentals with creative vision, street smarts, and the role of timing and the 'butterfly effect' in his career.

• Ovitz hired Maisel largely because of timing: Ovitz had secretly been retained by Matsushita to analyze and potentially sell Universal Studios and needed someone to do the work, so Maisel's first job was working that secret deal.
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• Maisel reveals as 'breaking news' that he first recommended Disney buy Marvel back in 1996-97 for under $100 million, but was effectively kicked out of the room because there were no theme-park rights available east of the Mississippi.
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• Over a 24-48 hour weekend in 2003 in sweatpants in his rental apartment, Maisel conceived the 'universe' model: make every film after the first a sequel or quasi-sequel by reusing characters, because sequels have predictable revenues.
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• Maisel raised about half a billion dollars of non-recourse debt with no equity component and no real collateral risk, structuring it so Marvel kept 100% of the upside rather than giving away half the equity, which would have been easier.
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• Maisel reveals he nearly took a competing project instead of Marvel: Michael Jackson personally called him to turn his life story into a Broadway show via his music videos, but Maisel let it fizzle after Jackson was arrested.
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• He pitched Marvel owner Ike Perlmutter at Mar-a-Lago in November 2003, where Donald Trump came by and mentioned an upcoming TV show that turned out to be The Apprentice.
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• The Disney sale began when Maisel proactively called Bob Iger in early June 2009 (Ike didn't even know about the meeting), proposed 'a five in front of it,' and Disney ultimately paid about $51/share, roughly $4 billion total.
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• Maisel reveals Steve Jobs called Ike Perlmutter to vouch for how well Bob Iger preserved Pixar's culture after that acquisition, which helped get the Marvel-Disney deal across the finish line.
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• Maisel had turned down job offers from David Stern at the NBA (VP of Entertainment at $50K/year) and from Marvel under Ron Perelman, and had actually started at McKinsey for one week before Ovitz pulled him back.
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• Marvel went bankrupt in 1999; Ike Perlmutter acquired it out of bankruptcy for $30-50 million and held roughly 40-50% of the public company.
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• Maisel's investment banker on selling his Broadway company was Steve Bannon, then fresh from Goldman Sachs; Maisel only later realized it was the same person.
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• Maisel capped the Iron Man budget at about $100-105 million so it could break even at two-thirds of X-Men's numbers, versus Batman's $230 million budget that same year.
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• Marvel's first office was sublet from Hugh Hefner in the top corner of a former Mercedes-Benz dealership on Santa Monica Boulevard, with a $10,000 Marvel Studios sign outside.
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• Iron Man was nearly not the first film; New Line/Warner Bros. held the rights for years and let them expire, and Maisel got Hulk's rights back from Universal by offering Ron Meyer 10% to distribute.
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• Iron Man opened on May 2, 2008 to roughly $100 million for the weekend; Marvel chose that early date only because no other studio wanted it.
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• To celebrate Iron Man, Maisel gave Jon Favreau a Mercedes and Robert Downey Jr. a Bentley as gifts; they pranked Downey by delaying his car a week.
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• Maisel's mentor Ron Burkle started as a grocery bagger and became a billionaire owner of Ralphs grocery stores.
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• Marvel did no test-market screenings for Iron Man, relying entirely on the team's instincts.
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