CNN BUSINESS | Why Amazon just spent more than $8 billion on MGM

MGM was bolstered by acquiring United Artists in 1981. UA was known for hit brands like James Bond.

New York (CNN Business) – MGM, a classic Hollywood brand synonymous with “The Wizard of Oz” and Leo the roaring lion, was purchased for $8.45 billion on Wednesday by Amazon (AMZN), a company currently valued at nearly $1.7 trillion. Being gobbled up by a tech behemoth is a fitting finale for a studio that has been whittled down over the last century by one technology disruption after another.

“MGM is really the story of Hollywood,” Jonathan Kuntz, a film professor at UCLA School of Theater, Film and TV, told CNN Business. “The studio has gone through all of the cycles of the film business over the last 100 years.”

“In many ways, MGM is the idea of the classic Hollywood studio,” he said. “And it tried to preserve that idea long after it was no longer a viable business strategy.”

Here’s a brief history of MGM, and why Amazon was likely so interested in buying it:  —read more—