Strategy: How Harvey Weinstein built the $150 million Hollywood empire that just fired him

Harvey Weinstein, film producer and cofounder of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company, built an empire from scratch out of Buffalo, New York.

Harvey Weinstein has been ousted from his own company after a bombshell New York Times report detailed nearly three decades of inappropriate behavior towards women in Hollywood.

After the Times' report, The New Yorker published an article in which three women accused Weinstein of rape. Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow also came foward and said Weinstein sexually harassed them in the past, detailing their experiences in The Times.

The film producer and cofounder of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company built an empire from scratch out of Buffalo, New York.

A behemoth in the media industry, he became a major fundraiser to the Democratic party, positioning himself as a liberal lion and champion of feminism.

But these ideals have come up against the reports he harassed women for years, roiling public opinion and leading to his firing Sunday.

Here's a look at Weinstein's career over the past 30 years.

Weinstein was born in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens in 1952 to parents Miriam and Max.

He and his brother Bob grew up in small two-bedroom apartment in "a lower-middle-class housing development called Elechester," Bob wrote in Vanity Fair.

Both Harvey and Bob had a passion for the movie business that started when they were kids in Queens going to the Mayfair movie theater to see foreign films.

Weinstein left Queens to attend college at the University of Buffalo. He stuck around in Buffalo to start a concert promotion business called Harvey and Corky Productions.

He bought the Century Theater in downtown Buffalo, and began showing movies when the theater wasn't being used for concerts.

His younger brother, Bob, moved to Buffalo to join him.

Together, in 1979, they created the small independent film distribution company Miramax, a portmanteau of their parent's names: Miriam and Max.

"Miramax virtually created the art house boom in the 1990s by turning offbeat and inexpensive movies like 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Shakespeare in Love' into mainstream hits," wrote the New York Times.

Miramax began growing its successful business in the 1980s.

The 1988 release of "The Thin Blue Line" raised its public recognition. The documentary focused on a man named Randall Adams who was a wrongfully convicted inmate sentenced to the death penalty. After the movie came out, the resulting press helped Adams secure his release.

In 1989, with the release of Steven Soderbergh's "Sex, Lies, and Videotape," Miramax became the most successful independent studio in America.

In 1993 Disney bought Miramax for about $60 million. The Weinsteins continued to run the company and cemented numerous successful launches.

"The first movie I green-lighted after Disney was "Pulp Fiction. I think that turned the corner on the business," Harvey Weinstein told New York Magazine.

Movies that came out of Miramax had substantial critical acclaim, including Clerks, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting, and Shakespeare in Love.

Weinstein also won Tony awards for plays and musicals like The Producers and Billy Elliot the Musical.

Weinstein became known as the public face of Miramax. "Harvey tapped into his inner showman and became the voice these small jewels needed to win the recognition they deserved," his brother Bob wrote in Vanity Fair.

Source: Vanity Fair

Harvey and Bob began choosing and marketing their films separately, Harvey under the Miramax banner and Bob under the Dimension banner.

Dimension contained the company's more commercial movies, like the Scream trilogy.

In 2005, the Weinstein brothers announced they would leave Miramax to form their own production company called The Weinstein Company.

But money problems have followed the company since 2009.

The Weinstein Company was in financial crisis in 2009, but avoided bankruptcy with a "painful debt and asset restructuring," according to the New York Times.

Then, in 2010, The Walt Disney Company agreed to sell Miramax Films to an investor group for $660 million. The Weinsteins had attempted to regain control of Miramax, but were unsuccessful, The Times reported.

The Weinsteins have built storied careers on the movie scene. They've received 303 Oscar nominations and won 75 Academy Awards at Miramax and The Weinstein Company, according to the company's site.

The Weinstein Company's net worth is estimated at about $150 million, according to a 2015 report by Forbes.

But while Weinstein accumulated successes at his company, he allegedly sexually harassed women around him and promised career advancements in return for sexual favors, The New York Times reported.

The Times investigation reported that Weinstein had reached at least eight settlements with women over the years. Ashley Judd told the Times that while she was shooting "Kiss the Girls" in 1998 he tried to get her into his hotel for a meeting and force her to watch him shower.

"How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?" she recalled thinking in an interview with the Times.

Weinstein issued a statement to The Times saying: "I appreciate the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I'm trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go. That is my commitment. My journey now will be to learn about myself and conquer my demons."

Since the Time investigation, three women have come forawrd and alleged Weinstein raped them, and Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow also came foward and said Weinstein sexually harrased them in the past, detailing their expereinces in The Times.

After The Times published its report and amid intense public scrutiny, The Weinstein Company's board fired him on October 8, 2017.

Harvey Weinstein, film producer and cofounder of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company, built an empire from scratch out of Buffalo, New York. Read Full Story