Today, Emanuel has a $10 million home in the Brentwood neighbourhood; a pipeline to the White House through his brother Rahm, its chief of staff; and a sprawling new talent agency of his own design, called William Morris Endeavor Entertainment.

As Hollywood stories go, that is a good start. But it needs a third act.

Emanuel, 48, has emerged in the last six weeks as the pre-eminent power player in a Hollywood that has often bemoaned the sunset of colourful moguls from an older generation, including Michael Ovitz and David Geffen.

As the co-chief executive and principal architect of William Morris Endeavor, formed in late April by the merger of Emanuel’s Endeavor with the venerable William Morris Agency, Emanuel has finally stepped into their shoes — assuming he can hold his venture together. He spent much of the last week in mixers meant to help hundreds of wary colleagues from the newly joined agencies get comfortable with one another. Hollywood, meanwhile, is still struggling to get comfortable with Emanuel and his aspirations — and to figure out exactly what makes him tick.

“It’s about respect,” offered J C Spink, a producer who, with his business partner, has been a protege of Emanuel’s. “With nine out of 10 people, if not more, they tend to be in this business for respect.”

Others queried in the last week mentioned power, money, an itch to surpass the Creative Artists Agency, and, most intriguing, the surge of ambition that came with the return of Emanuel’s brother Rahm. Even hardened observers of Hollywood’s coarse ways were stunned when Emanuel and his colleagues dumped dozens of Morris agents and parted ways with Wiatt, who had since become the Morris chairman, less than a month after the merger was approved.

Even as Wiatt opted out, Emanuel’s temper flared in negotiations with NBC over the drama Medium, which was created by one of his clients, Glenn Gordon Caron. The spat, which broke out when the network balked at financial terms, concluded with Medium moving to CBS and Emanuel threatening Marc Graboff, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, with personal ruin.

“Nobody wants to be on the wrong side of Ari Emanuel, especially now that his brother is running the White House,” said a TV executive, who asked for anonymity to preserve harmony with him.