Biography: David Linde (born February 8, 1960) is the CEO of the Los Angeles, California-based film production company Participant, a position to which he was appointed in October 2015. Prior to his role at Participant, Linde had leading roles at Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Good Machine, and Lava Bear Films, where films released during his tenures collectively earned more than $14 billion globally, with 158 Oscar nominations and 34 wins.