The SEC investigation seeks to determine whether DreamWorks made illegal payments to Chinese officials in order to obtain the right to produce and distribute their films in the country.
President Obama’s record $15 million fundraiser tonight at the home of actor George Clooney is being co-hosted by DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. In addition to being the largest single donor to the pro-Obama Super PAC Priorities USA at $2 million, Katzenberg’s company is currently under investigation by the SEC for allegedly bribing Chinese officials.
The SEC investigation comes just weeks after Katzenberg announced this February that DreamWorks had struck a $2 billion deal to open a studio in Shanghai under the Oriental Dreamworks brand. The China deal was inked in a ceremony that featured Katzenberg alongside Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who stopped off in Los Angeles in February on his way back to China after a series of high-level meetings at the White House, including meetings with Obama.
Katzenberg joined Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Chinese vice president for a meeting that led to the DreamWorks deal. In an interview with the Financial Times, Katzenberg said the deal required Xi’s personal approval in order to move forward.
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