Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, also known as MGM & Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. Once simply the largest and most glamorous of the film studios, MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California.

On November 3, 2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM emerged from bankruptcy on December 20, 2010, at which time the executives of Spyglass Entertainment, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, became co-Chairs and co-CEOs of the holding company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The studio's official motto, "Ars Gratia Artis", is a Latin phrase meaning "Art for art's sake"; it was chosen by Howard Dietz, the studio's chief publicist. The studio's logo is a roaring lion surrounded by a ring of film inscribed with the studio's motto. The logo, which features Leo the Lion, was created by Dietz in 1916 for Goldwyn Pictures and updated in 1924 for MGM's use. Dietz based the logo on his alma mater's mascot—the Columbia University lion. Loew regarded its use for the consolidated studio as particularly appropriate, since "Löwe" is German for "lion". Originally silent, the sound of Leo the Lion's roar was added to films for the first time in August 1928. In the 1930s and 1940s the studio billed itself as having "more stars than there are in heaven", a reference to the large number of A-list movie stars under contract to the company. This second motto was also coined by Deitz, and was probably first used in 1932.