Short answers, pulled from the story.
United Artists was founded on the 5th of February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks. The company was created to allow actors to control their own financial and artistic interests rather than depend on commercial studios.
Chaplin sold his 25% share in 1955 for $1.1 million, and Pickford sold her share a year later for $3 million, both during a period when movie attendance had fallen to its lowest level since 1923. The sales came during a financial crisis in the industry, while Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin were in the process of turning the company around.
Heaven's Gate, directed by Michael Cimino, vastly overran its budget and cost $44 million, producing a major loss that destroyed UA's reputation with its parent company Transamerica. The failure led Transamerica to exit the film business, and Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. purchased United Artists in 1981 for a reported $350 million.
Rain Man, released in 1988, is the highest-grossing United Artists film with a worldwide gross of $354,825,435. GoldenEye from 1995 ranks second at $352,194,034.
For $1 million, United Artists backed Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli's Dr. No in 1963, launching the James Bond franchise. The two producers were expatriate North Americans working in Britain who had acquired the screen rights to Ian Fleming's novels.
United Artists is currently owned by Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon acquired MGM Holdings for $8.45 billion in a deal completed on the 17th of March 2022. On the 26th of July 2024, Amazon MGM Studios announced a revival of the United Artists label through a multi-year first look deal with film producer Scott Stuber.