David Geffen

David Geffen is an American music, film, and media mogul who is openly gay and one of the most influential queer figures in modern entertainment history. A co-founder of Asylum Records, founder of Geffen Records, and co-founder of DreamWorks SKG, he helped launch or shape the careers of artists such as Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Donna Summer, Guns N' Roses, and Nirvana, making him a defining architect of late-20th-century pop culture. Geffen dated Cher in the 1970s before coming out publicly as gay in 1992, becoming one of the first openly gay billionaires and a major force in LGBTQ+ philanthropy; he donated to oppose California's Proposition 8 in 2008. His philanthropic legacy includes the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, and major gifts to arts and public-health institutions. Across five decades, Geffen's blend of artistic vision, business power, and unapologetic gay visibility has made him one of the most consequential queer figures in American cultural life.