Meet the Israeli Billionaire Who Might Finally Win Leonard DiCaprio an Oscar

Image by Getty Images
The man behind the movie that might finally win Leonardo DiCaprio an oscar for the “The Revenant” just happens to be a billionaire that lists being an Israeli spy as his former occupation.
Meet Arnon Milchan. Even if you’ve never heard of him, having produced , you have definitely seen Milchan’s movies. Some of which include the most memorable films to come out of Hollywood in the last 30 years like “Once Upon a Time in America,” “Pretty Woman,” “L.A. Confidential,” “Fight Club,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Birdman.”
During the January 10th telecast of the Golden Globes, Alejandro Iñárritu, “The Revenant’s” winning director, thanked Milchan for the unwavering support of the team behind the movie. “I want to thank first the hero of this film, which is Arnon Milchan,” Iñárritu said, “the financier and producer, who believe in this film, bravely didn’t flinch one second when we struggle with tough decisions to make.”
Born in Rehovot, Israel, Milchan, 71, inherited his father’s fertilizer company, turning it into a very successful chemical business. He founded New Regency Films in 1982 and is now reportedly worth $5.6 billion. In 2013, Milchan told the Israeli investigative documentary program Uvda (Fact) that he was an intelligence agent for Israel’s nuclear weapon program in the 1970s, telling reporters “Do you know what it’s like to be a twenty-something-year-old kid [and] his country lets him be James Bond?”
Vulture reports that according to a 2011 unauthorized biography of Milchan, “Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan,”by Joseph Gelman and Meir Doron, the producer of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” first introduced Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. And when Pitt’s ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston, found out about Pitt and Jolie’s affair, Milchan opened his Malibu home for Pitt to stay in.
If “The Revenant” goes on to earn an Oscar nomination and a win, as the critics foresee it might, then Milchan will have produced the winning movie for the last three Oscars in a row, making him the brightest star in Hollywood.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.