# Peter Guber
**Peter Guber** (born 1942) is an American film producer, studio executive, and sports team owner who has served as studio chief of [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures), chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group. Films he produced or executive produced, personally or through his companies, have earned more than $3 billion in worldwide revenue and more than 50 Academy Award nominations, including five nominations for Best Picture and a win for *Rain Man*.[1](https://www.peterguber.com/about/peter/) • [2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/) He is also a long-serving UCLA professor and a co-executive chairman of the [Golden State Warriors](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-state-warriors).[3](https://www.tft.ucla.edu/directory/people/peter-guber/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1942; full name Howard Peter Guber[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/guber-peter-1942) |
| Education | Syracuse University, B.A.; New York University, M.B.A., J.D., and L.L.M.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/guber-peter-1942) |
| Studio posts | Columbia Pictures production executive from 1968, studio chief within three years; chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1989–94[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/guber-peter-1942) |
| Signature films | *Midnight Express*, *Flashdance*, *The Color Purple*, *Rain Man* (Best Picture Oscar winner), *Batman*[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/) • [1](https://www.peterguber.com/about/peter/) |
| Sony record | Domestic box office market share averaging 17 percent over four years; 120 Academy Award nominations, the highest four-year total for a single company[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/) |
| Sports ownership | Co-executive chairman, Golden State Warriors (2015, 2017, 2018 NBA champions); owner, Los Angeles Dodgers; owner and executive chairman, Los Angeles Football Club[1](https://www.peterguber.com/about/peter/) |
| Writing and teaching | *Tell to Win*, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller; UCLA professor for more than 30 years; UCLA Medal, 2017[3](https://www.tft.ucla.edu/directory/people/peter-guber/) • [5](https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/hollywood-producer-executive-peter-guber-honored-with-ucla-medal) |
## Early life and education
Guber's full name is Howard Peter Guber. Reference sources place his birth in Boston, Massachusetts, though some list [Syracuse, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/syracuse-new-york), and he was raised in Boston, where his father, Samuel, ran a junk metal business in nearby Somerville.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/guber-peter-1942) • [6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/guber-howard-peter) He earned a bachelor's degree at [Syracuse University](https://www.edgepedia.org/syracuse-university) and both business and law degrees at New York University, and he was admitted to the New York and California bars.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/guber-peter-1942) • [7](https://www.islandconnections.com/edit/guber.htm)
## Columbia Pictures and Casablanca
Guber joined Columbia Pictures in 1968 while still pursuing an MBA at NYU's Graduate School of Business, in an entry-level executive position.[7](https://www.islandconnections.com/edit/guber.htm) Within three years he had become studio chief, and during his time at the creative helm Columbia released *Shampoo*, *The Last Detail*, *Tommy*, *The Way We Were*, *Taxi Driver*, and *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*.[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/)
He resigned from Columbia in 1976 and co-founded Casablanca Record and Filmworks with Neil Bogart.[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/) The record operation included KISS, Donna Summer, Captain and Tennille, The Village People, and Parliament with George Clinton, and the company produced soundtracks including *Endless Love*, *Flashdance*, and *Midnight Express*.[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/)
**Independent production.** Guber launched his career as an independent film producer with *The Deep*, which became the second highest-grossing film of its year despite his never having produced an independent film before.[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/) • [8](https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-lafc-peter-guber-20171213-story.html) His next film, *Midnight Express* (1978), directed by the novice [Alan Parker](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-parker), earned seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won a Golden Globe for Best Picture; the National Association of Theater Owners named him Producer of the Year.[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/) • [8](https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-lafc-peter-guber-20171213-story.html)
## PolyGram and the Guber-Peters partnership
Guber joined forces with producer [Jon Peters](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-peters) in 1982, forming one of Hollywood's most effective producing teams of the 1980s.[7](https://www.islandconnections.com/edit/guber.htm) He founded PolyGram Entertainment and served as its chairman of the board and CEO, producing hits that included *Rain Man*, *Batman*, *The Color Purple*, *Gorillas in the Mist*, *Missing*, *The Witches of Eastwick*, *Flashdance*, *Tango & Cash*, and *An American Werewolf in London*.[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/) *Rain Man* won the Best Picture Academy Award.[1](https://www.peterguber.com/about/peter/) His company and Columbia Pictures were both acquired by Sony in 1989: Sony acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment on November 1, 1989, and The Guber-Peters Entertainment Company on November 7, 1989.[9](https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/IR/library/ar/8ido18000005flzv-att/1990-E.pdf) • [7](https://www.islandconnections.com/edit/guber.htm)
## Sony Pictures Entertainment
As chairman of the board and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment from 1989, Guber led the studio through a period of commercial success and mounting cost. SPE's Motion Picture Group achieved an industry-best domestic box office market share averaging 17 percent over four years, and Sony led all competitors with 120 Academy Award nominations in that period, the highest four-year total ever recorded for a single company; releases included *City Slickers*, *Awakenings*, *Misery*, *Terminator 2*, *Boyz n the Hood*, *Basic Instinct*, *A League of Their Own*, *A Few Good Men*, *Sleepless in Seattle*, *In the Line of Fire*, *Groundhog Day*, *Cliffhanger*, and *Philadelphia*.[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/)
At the same time, spending drew criticism. Under Guber's management the studio paid large sums for scripts and talent, undertook a roughly $100 million renovation of its lot, and released expensive films that underperformed, including *Geronimo* and *Last Action Hero*.[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1995/12/17/sonys-reign-of-error/c14929d7-f85b-41eb-b085-0a17049ccb91/) Jon Peters resigned in 1991, and Guber continued to deliver hits such as *Terminator 2* and *Groundhog Day*.[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/guber-howard-peter) Guber was ousted as chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1994, and soon after his departure Sony acknowledged that its Hollywood ventures had caused a loss of $3.2 billion, one of the biggest in Japanese corporate history.[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1995/12/17/sonys-reign-of-error/c14929d7-f85b-41eb-b085-0a17049ccb91/)
## Mandalay Entertainment
Guber founded Mandalay Entertainment Group in 1995, a multimedia venture in motion pictures and television that expanded into professional sports, sports entertainment, and digital media.[2](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/) • [11](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0345542/bio/) The company was built initially with funding from Sony, a decision that contributed to the ouster that December of Mickey Schulhof, the head of Sony's American operations.[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1995/12/17/sonys-reign-of-error/c14929d7-f85b-41eb-b085-0a17049ccb91/) Guber has said the brand name comes from the [Rudyard Kipling](https://www.edgepedia.org/rudyard-kipling) poem "Mandalay," about what is now Myanmar, which his mother read to him as a child.[12](https://www.peterguber.com/companies/mandalay-entertainment/)
Mandalay Pictures produced box office hits including *Donnie Brasco*, *Wild Things*, *I Know What You Did Last Summer*, *Sleepy Hollow*, *Enemy at the Gates*, *The Score*, *The Kids Are All Right*, *Soul Surfer*, and *The Birth of a Nation*, along with Netflix films such as *Burning Sands* and *Uncorked*.[11](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0345542/bio/) • [12](https://www.peterguber.com/companies/mandalay-entertainment/) In 2020, the 10-part documentary *The Last Dance*, produced in partnership with Netflix, premiered on ESPN and chronicled [Michael Jordan](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jordan) and the 1990s [Chicago Bulls](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-bulls) dynasty.[12](https://www.peterguber.com/companies/mandalay-entertainment/)
**Sports and new ventures.** Building on his exhibition-business experience at Loews, Guber expanded Mandalay into sports through Mandalay Sports Entertainment and Mandalay Baseball LLC, which owned numerous minor league baseball franchises and venues.[12](https://www.peterguber.com/companies/mandalay-entertainment/) In a joint venture with the [Los Angeles Dodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-angeles-dodgers)' ownership, Mandalay Baseball co-owns the Dodgers' Triple-A franchise in [Oklahoma City](https://www.edgepedia.org/oklahoma-city), which won the Bob Freitas Award in 2018.[12](https://www.peterguber.com/companies/mandalay-entertainment/) His own entry into major league ownership came slowly: it took five tries to acquire even a slice of a major league team, including an abandoned run with investment banker Gary Winnick at the [Miami Heat](https://www.edgepedia.org/miami-heat) before he left Sony.[13](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2015/01/05/Franchises/Guber/?issueId=TCHC36IRMGEO7CP4UR3I6HIRKE)
Guber is co-owner and co-executive chairman of the Golden State Warriors, who won NBA championships in 2015, 2017, and 2018; an owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers; and an owner and executive chairman of [Major League Soccer](https://www.edgepedia.org/major-league-soccer)'s Los Angeles Football Club.[1](https://www.peterguber.com/about/peter/) • [3](https://www.tft.ucla.edu/directory/people/peter-guber/) In seven seasons under that ownership, the value of the Warriors investment grew to an estimated $2 billion, more than quadruple the purchase level.[8](https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-lafc-peter-guber-20171213-story.html) For LAFC he insisted the club's new 22,000-seat home, at $350 million the most expensive soccer-specific stadium in the United States, be built in Exposition Park rather than a suburban location.[8](https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-lafc-peter-guber-20171213-story.html) He is also an owner of [Dick Clark Productions](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-clark-productions) and co-chairman of the esports and gaming company aXiomatic.[3](https://www.tft.ucla.edu/directory/people/peter-guber/) • [1](https://www.peterguber.com/about/peter/)
## Teaching and writing
Guber has taught at UCLA for more than three decades, holding posts at both the School of Theater, Film and [Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/television) and the Anderson School of Management; among his courses is "Navigating a Narrative World," which treats story as an emotional-connection tool.[5](https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/hollywood-producer-executive-peter-guber-honored-with-ucla-medal) • [14](https://www.peterguber.com/leadership/professorship/) UCLA gave him the UCLA Medal, its highest honor, in 2017, and Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed him that year to a 12-year term on the University of California Board of Regents.[5](https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/hollywood-producer-executive-peter-guber-honored-with-ucla-medal) • [1](https://www.peterguber.com/about/peter/)
His books include *Shoot Out: Surviving Fame and (Mis)Fortune in Hollywood*, which became a seven-year AMC television series that he hosted, and *Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story*, an instant No. 1 New York Times bestseller; he also wrote the Harvard Business Review cover article "The Four Truths of the Storyteller."[3](https://www.tft.ucla.edu/directory/people/peter-guber/) • [1](https://www.peterguber.com/about/peter/)
## References
1. [About Peter Guber, The Official Website of Peter Guber](https://www.peterguber.com/about/peter/)
2. [Peter Guber Career History, The Official Website of Peter Guber](https://www.peterguber.com/about/career-history/)
3. [Peter Guber, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television directory](https://www.tft.ucla.edu/directory/people/peter-guber/)
4. [Guber, Peter 1942–, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/guber-peter-1942)
5. [Producer, executive and professor Peter Guber honored with UCLA Medal, UCLA Newsroom](https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/hollywood-producer-executive-peter-guber-honored-with-ucla-medal)
6. [Guber, (Howard) Peter, Encyclopaedia Judaica via Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/guber-howard-peter)
7. [Peter Guber: Mandalay's Top Film Executive, Island Connections](https://www.islandconnections.com/edit/guber.htm)
8. [Peter Guber is taking what he's learned from the Warriors and Dodgers and applying it to the new Los Angeles Football Club, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-lafc-peter-guber-20171213-story.html)
9. [Sony Annual Report 1990, Sony Corporation](https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/IR/library/ar/8ido18000005flzv-att/1990-E.pdf)
10. [Sony's Reign of Error, The Washington Post (December 17, 1995)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1995/12/17/sonys-reign-of-error/c14929d7-f85b-41eb-b085-0a17049ccb91/)
11. [Peter Guber Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0345542/bio/)
12. [Mandalay Entertainment, The Official Website of Peter Guber](https://www.peterguber.com/companies/mandalay-entertainment/)
13. [A Hollywood story: Peter Guber, Sports Business Journal](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2015/01/05/Franchises/Guber/?issueId=TCHC36IRMGEO7CP4UR3I6HIRKE)
14. [Peter Guber UCLA Professorship, The Official Website of Peter Guber](https://www.peterguber.com/leadership/professorship/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen production organizations › Production companies and industry people › Production founders and executives › American production company founders*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license