MGM files for bankruptcy protection

Filing comes after leading creditors strike a deal with corporate raider Carl Icahn. He agrees to support a plan under which Spyglass Entertainment executives will run Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer when it exits Chapter 11.

Ben Fritz and Claudia Eller, Los Angeles Times November 4, 2010

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the fabled studio whose origins go back to Hollywood's earliest days, filed for bankruptcy protection, sagging under a mountain of debt.

The filing, made Wednesday morning in New York, came after MGM's leading creditors struck a deal with corporate raider Carl Icahn, who had amassed about 15% of the company's debt and was previously pushing for a merger between MGM and rival studio Lions Gate Entertainment.

Instead, Icahn agreed to support a plan under which the chief executives of film production and finance company Spyglass Entertainment will run MGM when it exits Chapter 11, which could occur as quickly as next month.