MGM Studios was the brainchild of Marcus Loew, who created the great studio by teaming up with Samuel Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer. After he passed away, however, his family was not as enthused about remaining in showbiz, so they sold their share of the studio to William Fox, who wanted to combine MGM with his Fox Studio in a hostile takeover.
Louis B. Mayer, however, despised William Fox and his studio. He vowed that the two enterprises would never be combined and put every political contact he had to work against the merger. Mr. Fox had an unfortunate car accident that sidelined his efforts. By the time he recovered, his company was in a shambles due to the stock market crash of 1929. After William Fox was caught trying to bribe his bankruptcy judge, he was sentenced to prison and Louis B. Mayer's nightmare was over. Fox had to sell his MGM stake. In a strange twist of fate, MGM's current home entertainment distributor is Fox.
