How did Harvey Weinstein get so powerful?

Harvey Weinstein is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. Harvey Weinstein was a powerful Hollywood figure.

The volume of films produced by Weinstein’s two companies, Miramax and The Weinstein Company, reflects his power in Hollywood. Many of those films helped launch the careers of actors.

An examination of Academy Award acceptance speeches from 1966 to 2016 revealed that Weinstein was thanked or praised 34 times—more than God and second only to Steven Spielberg (with 43 mentions).

Miramax was founded in 1979 by Weinstein and his brother Bob, and it was sold to the Walt Disney Company in 1993 for $80 million.

The men remained at the company until 2005 when they left to form The Weinstein Company.

Weinstein took an indefinite leave from The Weinstein Company after reports of misconduct against him surfaced in October 2017, and he was later fired. In 2018, the company declared bankruptcy.

Harvey Weinstein was arrested and charged with rape in New York in May 2018, and was found guilty of two of five felonies in February 2020.

Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison and began serving his sentence at Wende Correctional Facility