He is record company executive born in Brooklyn, New York, who studied at the New York College of Arts and Science and Harvard Law School.
He went into practice in a law firm and progressed to work for Columbia Records’ legal department. He worked his way up through Columbia and its parent company CBS and eventually became the CBS president. He was responsible for signing many of the labels successful acts in the late 1960s and early 1970s which included Pink Floyd, Earth, Wind and Fire, Chicago and Billy Joel.
He was sacked by CBS and hired by Columbia Pictures, assuming the presidency after he had worked as a consultant for record and music operations. He would ultimately form the Arista record label which has been the company that has brought success to many stars such as Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Air Supply, TLC and Patti Smith. His character was parodied in the film This is Spinal Tap by the actor Patrick MacNee.
He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997 and in 2000 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2003 he became the head of RCA Records and in 2004 he was made chairman of BMG. He has appeared as a guest judge on American Idol and is also involved with X-Factor .
The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music is now a part of New York University.
In 2013 he published his autobiography The Soundtrack of My Life.
Source: