His grandfather established the Fresno Grape Exchange,[2] built a packinghouse that shipped fresh fruits and vegetables to the Great Lakes region, and later founded the Crestview Winery.

He moved up the ranks to become the youngest vice president in the agency's history, and was made Head of the Concert Department for the eleven Western states and the Far East.

Perenchio has said that he got his "MBA at MCA"[5] and learned basic tenets that later informed his Rules of the Road: "take options, never grant them"; "never sell assets – lease them on a very short string"; "stay in the business you understand"; "make the calls and know the territory.

Its roster of clients included Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini, José Feliciano, Glen Campbell, Sergio Mendes, the Kingston Trio, and the Righteous Brothers, among others, many of whom followed Perenchio from MCA.

In March 1971, Perenchio promoted the Fight of the Century at Madison Square Garden that brought together two unbeaten world heavyweight boxing champions, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

Two years later, in September 1973, he promoted the Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs that took place at the Houston Astrodome.

[14] Looking to branch out into television and motion pictures, Perenchio joined Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin in 1973 as a partner at Tandem Productions, and was made president and CEO.

As part of the deal, Perenchio brought with him Alan F. Horn, a young Harvard Business School graduate whom he had recently hired away from Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati.

Horn went on to become a prominent figure in the film industry; he co-founded Castle Rock Entertainment, was president and COO of Warner Brothers and then served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios.

Communications Company – which launched The Jeffersons and One Day at a Time, along with a number of other successful half-hour situation comedies – and later purchased Embassy Pictures in 1982[15] (with Horn as CEO).

He teamed up with Yorkin, separately, to produce the 1982 dystopian science fiction thriller Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford.

Perenchio's most ambitious enterprise was partnering with Mexican media titan Emilio Azcárraga Milmo to purchase the Univision television network in 1992 for $550 million.

In 1986 Perenchio purchased the 42-room former Arnold Kirkeby estate in Bel Air known as Chartwell,[22] famed as the Clampett family mansion in the 1960s The Beverly Hillbillies TV series.