 He joined General Mills in Minneapolis in 1960, working as financial controller and director, instigating rapid change, becoming a youth-conscious organization with a growing group of young managers and closing almost half of their mills and diversifying into other businesses such as Parker Brothers and Play-Doh.He had no previous involvement in movie making but he had impressed Edgar Bronfman, Sr. then the major shareholder in MGM.There was opposition to his appointment within MGM but he was elected as a director in December 1968 and named president in January 1969.