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George Harrison and his business partner Denis O’Brien met in the 1970s and formed a long-lasting partnership. Though they were very different, they worked well together and became good friends. Their partnership did not end well, but it began with mutual admiration. O’Brien said that he was struck by how powerful Harrison was when they first met. He left their first meeting thinking he would do anything for the former Beatle. 

A black and white picture of Denis O'Brien and George Harrison smiling at the camera.
George Harrison and Denis O’Brien | PA Images via Getty Images

George Harrison hired his business partner Denis O’Brien in the 1970s

Harrison fired his manager, Allen Klein, in 1973. Klein had been The Beatles’ manager in their final months as a band, and he represented the former members on their solo ventures. 

When Harrison chose not to renew his contract with Klein, the latter sued him for roughly $270,000, which he said Harrison had borrowed from his company. They settled the suit in 1975.

Harrison met O’Brien through Peter Sellers, who employed him as his business adviser, agent, and lawyer. Sellers praised O’Brien to Harrison and asserted his belief that they would work well together. Harrison agreed. 

“In 20 minutes, he gets more from a budget sheet than most people do in 20 hours,” Harrison said, per the book George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door by Graeme Thomson.

Denis O’Brien said that the musician was a very powerful person

Per the book Very Naught Boys by Robert Sellers, O’Brien was an American accountant, business adviser, and lawyer. He was a “very intelligent man, almost a Wall Street banker type” who “knew his way around the financial and legal communities on both sides of the Atlantic.” 

On the surface, Harrison was very different from O’Brien. He’d been famous since he was a teenager and was navigating life outside The Beatles. At this time, he was also focused on cultivating his spirituality. According to Robert Sellers, the two men had “contrasting personalities — O’Brien decisive and forceful, Harrison vague and retiring.” Despite this, they got along immediately.

“George is an absolutely extraordinary individual,” O’Brien said in 1988. “When we met, some kind of synergy occurred between two opposites. George was very centered and I walked away from that meeting thinking, This is the most powerful person I’ve met in my life. I’d do anything for this guy.”

George Harrison’s relationship with his business partner ended badly

Despite their instant connection, Harrison and O’Brien’s relationship did not come to an amicable end. They started the production company HandMade Films together. After an accountant looked into the company’s finances, Harrison learned that he and O’Brien were not equal partners. Instead, Harrison had unknowingly been fully financially responsible for the company’s debts. 

“He hated [O’Brien] with an intensity that was quite rare for George,” actor Eric Idle said. “It took him a long time to get over all that.”

A court eventually awarded Harrison $11 million in a 1995 lawsuit, but he still felt “bitter, betrayed, angry and let down” by his business partner and friend.

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