Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
As co-CEO of talent agency WME, Patrick Whitesell is one of Hollywood's top power players.
Along with his co-CEO, Ari Emanuel, Whitesell represents actors, musicians, and comedians that include Michelle Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jude Law, John Krasinski, Whoopi Goldberg, Conan O'Brien, and Amy Schumer.
Whitesell has been married to ex-TV anchor and pilot Lauren Sanchez since 2005, but they reportedly separated in the fall of 2018. Sanchez is now reportedly dating Amazon CEO and world's richest person Jeff Bezos, who announced his divorce from his wife, MacKenzie, on Wednesday.
WME is based in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, but Whitesell and Sanchez bought a six-bedroom, $6.2 million house in Mercer Island, Washington, in late 2016, according to the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.
Whitesell is one of Hollywood's top talent agents, having gained a reputation early on for representing younger stars including Drew Barrymore, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Jennifer Aniston.
... Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Michelle Williams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Whoopi Goldberg, Adam Sandler, Aziz Ansari, Kate McKinnon, and John Krasinski, star of Amazon's "Jack Ryan" series.
Whitesell was reportedly so blown away by Damon's 1992 performance in "School Ties" that he tracked him down through the Harvard University directory — where Damon was studying at the time — and called him up at his dorm to convince him to be his client.
He started his career in the mailroom of InterTalent in the 1990s, then went on to become an agent at United Talent Agency (UTA). He worked his way up to being head of the talent department at Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
Whitesell left CAA to become a partner at Endeavor Talent Agency in 2001, and later played a key role in Endeavor's merger with the William Morris Agency, which became today's William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME).
Whitesell brought a flock of clients with him when he joined Endeavor, including Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Jon Bon Jovi, Kate Hudson, Alan Rickman, and Jon Voight.
