Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an Americanmotion picture production company founded in 1916 by Samuel Gelbfisz in partnership with Broadway producers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn using an amalgamation of both last names to create the name. (The other alternative, Selfish Pictures, was immediately discarded.) Seeing an opportunity, Samuel Gelbfisz then had his name legally changed to Samuel Goldwyn.
Samuel Goldwyn went on to form Samuel Goldwyn Productions in 1923. He would become one of the most respected filmmakers in the industry, but oddly enough never had any tangible connection to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, having been forced out before the merger.