Chapter 443 The Largest Collective Robbery

In the following two weeks, with the assistance of Morgan Stanley's acquisition team, Firefly successfully completed Disney's stock repurchase work. On February 5, 1992, Disney officially announced its privatization and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Firefly Pictures. . 【First Release】

During this period, Universal Pictures, controlled by Japan's Panasonic consortium, signed an agreement with Michael Eisner, who had just left Disney, to appoint Michael Eisner as Universal Pictures, and Sid Xin, the former head of Universal Pictures. Berg was fired.

Sid Simberg has been in control of Universal Pictures for nearly two decades, and his power in Universal Pictures is deeply rooted, and he has discovered a large number of famous filmmakers such as Spielberg. The Japanese Panasonic consortium, like Sony, was concerned about the rebound of the American people. In the two years after the acquisition was completed in 1990, the degree of decentralization was even greater than that of Sony in Colombia. Panasonic basically did not participate in any decision-making of Universal Pictures.

Although Sid Simberg is not like Columbia's Peter Cooper who only cares about his own spending and has no intention of running a film company, as a businessman, the performance of Universal Pictures in the past two years has not only not improved, but has fallen sharply. signs, while Sid Simberg himself made a lot of profits using Universal's resources.

Panasonic executives realized that if this continued, the acquisition of Universal Pictures would become their biggest failure. In order to prevent the situation from worsening, they seized the good opportunity of Michael Eisner's departure from Disney and began to significantly adjust Universal's management. .

Because of Sid Simberg's deep-rooted influence, Michael Eisner's appointment was not easy at all.

"A week after Michael Eisner took office, 14 senior executives at Universal were fired," Eric pushed a newspaper to Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had just walked into the office.

Anyone who knows Katzenberg knows that he is a very arrogant person, but at this time Katzenberg is sitting opposite Eric with a smile, at least on the surface with a respectful look.

Taking the newspaper handed over by Eric and quickly browsing the news on one side, Katzenberg said: "This is necessary. Many high-level executives at Universal have followed Sid Simberg's direct line for more than ten years. If Michael doesn't do this. Then it won't take half a year, he has to leave the world as he goes, and Panasonic has to honestly invite Sid Simberg back."

Eric is holding a pen. As if nothing had happened, he wrote and drew on the manuscript paper in front of him, and asked casually, "Disney now has a lot of direct descendants promoted by Michael. What do you think I should do?"

Although Eric asked very casually, Katzenberg had cheered up for more than half a month. The position of Disney has been vacant, and many people are speculating who will be the next Disney, and rumors are spreading. Some say that Eric will personally serve as Disney, and some say that the successor is the current president of Disney, Frank Wells.

There are even rumors that Firefly will appoint Walt Disney's nephew, Roy Disney, as the new leader.

However, Katzenberg got some hints from Barry Diller early on. During this time, he has been quietly preparing for it, and has not jumped up and down like some people.

The biggest problem Disney is facing right now is the beginning of the acquisition. Disney's management has approved a "golden parachute" plan with a total compensation amount of up to 500 million US dollars, which means that within two years, Firefly is unlikely to make much changes to Disney's top management.

"Eric, Disney's situation is very different from Universal. Universal was run by Sid Simberg for 20 years, and it was completely a piece of iron. At the same time, Sid Simberg was once a major shareholder of Universal. , when Panasonic moved Sid Simberg, it moved the interests of many people around the world. But Disney is different. Michael did personally promote a lot of people. But Disney is not his world alone, plus All Michael's focus now is on Universal, and he won't give Disney too much experience to disrupt. As long as we move forward with Disney's established development track, there will be no problems. I think even if someone can't help but want to Make trouble, Firefly can still get one or two people's resignation compensation, right?"

Eric looked at Katzenberg, who was talking eloquently, and asked with a smile, "You know?"

Katzenberg was stunned for a moment, nodded slightly embarrassedly, and said, "Barry gave me some hints."

"In this case, many things can be said." Eric put down the pen that he had been playing with, leaned on the back of the chair and smiled: "The reason why I am talking to you now is because I I've been a little indecisive, and I don't know if handing Disney to you would turn out to be a disaster."

Katzenberg shook his head confidently: "I promise never."

"Jeffrey, you know, this kind of promise doesn't work, there's nothing wrong with your personal ability to work, and over the years, 9 of the 11 films you've produced have turned a profit, which is an absolute miracle in Hollywood. . And Barry personally recommended you to me, but, well, do you know what's wrong with you?"

Katzenberg's lips moved, but Eric didn't force him to say it himself, and continued: "I heard that you forced the employees of the studio to hold a meeting at seven o'clock on Sunday morning more than once, and many people showed up in pajamas. Protest. Also, you have a terrible relationship with Roy Disney, who is in the Disney family. If you're just in charge of the production department, it's not a big deal, but if you're at Disney, it's hard for me to imagine all the Employees don't like your way of doing things, what terrible consequences will it have?"

"I can change, Eric, give me three months," Katzenberg said without hesitation.

Eric raised his eyebrows and asked, "Three months?"

Katzenberg nodded again: "It only takes three months. If I can't change within three months, then I'll get out of my way."

Eric looked at Katzenberg's expression, and his heart was almost relieved. For a person with extremely strong self-control, since he said such a thing, it might not take three months for Katzenberg to stop. Changes can be made.

Eric stretched out three fingers and said: "Okay, just three months, but I still want to remind you, in addition to Michael's 30 million severance compensation, about the golden parachute agreement. Firefly will not pay another penny, which is also It's a test for you. You need to live in peace with the old man Michael left behind, and you must not affect Disney's business. Otherwise, you will fail."

Katzenberg hesitated for a moment, but nodded quickly.

Eric smiled satisfactorily and said, "As for your treatment, we will talk about it later, now. You can talk about your thoughts. Since Barry has already disclosed the news to you, I think you will definitely do it. Are you ready?"

Katzenberg said succinctly: "I want Pixar."

After the success of "Toy Story", all Hollywood studios basically saw the potential of 3D animated films. Since the release of "Toy Story", Pixar Studios has faced several wave of poaching frenzy, and even John Lasseter has Someone had been in contact, but fortunately Eric took the right measures, and Pixar was not hurt.

Before Toy Story, animated films had been monopolized by Disney. Since Disney was acquired by Firefly, it is normal for Katzenberg to propose this condition in order to maintain the original monopoly.

Eric said: "You don't have to. Starting from the next animated film, all Pixar works will be handed over to Disney for distribution. At the same time, the brand management and derivative development of Pixar animation will be handled by Disney."

"Eric, I read some Pixar materials, don't you think that Pixar's efficiency is too low?"

"One animated film in two years is indeed a bit low, but Pixar is taking the boutique route. Moreover, as the president of Disney Studios, you should know that animated films can't be fast even if you want to."

"But at least one animated film a year should be fine, right? Computer production is much faster than manual production?"

Eric remembered the original time and space. DreamWorks Animation, founded by Katzenberg, is known for its high output, but except for "Shrek", DreamWorks Animation has not produced a few high-quality products, which may be the result of focusing too much on quantity.

"Jeffrey, isn't Disney's animation studio also making animations? The two studios are combined. It can also be said to be an average of one movie per year. By the way, speaking of Disney's animation studio, you must be too. I saw the potential of computer animation, so I liked to take three years of transition and digitize the original hand-drawn way of Disney Animation Studios.”

"You mean, it's fully transferred to 3D animation production, but now Disney has 600 hand-drawn animators. If there is a reform, these people can..."

Eric shrugged: "Jeffrey, if any industry can't follow the trend, it will only face elimination. I have given three years, which is already very generous. They have enough time to receive training. If I adapt, then I can only say sorry."

In the original time and space, the great success of "Toy Story" directly announced the decline of Disney's hand-painted animation. Except for the subsequent "Lion King", Disney has never appeared a 2D hand-painted animation film that has been on the box office charts.

"Okay, I'll make arrangements," Katzenberg agreed with a nod.

After this conversation, Eric soon announced the appointment of Katzenberg. Although this appointment made many people dissatisfied, compared with the hardships of Michael Eisner's appointment to Universal, Disney generally still Calm.

Many people were worried that Katzenberg would act in the same way as before after taking over as Disney, and even prepared to resign in the face of high pressure, but within a week, many people discovered that Katzenberg's management style had changed. A lot, no longer so reckless and go its own way, and even say 'thank you', which is a surprising thing. Because Katzenberg never said 'thank you' to people at work, to explain in his own words, he was not ignorant of manners, but unwilling to waste this time.

After appointing a new one, Eric is finally a little more relaxed, and he doesn't have to put too much energy on Disney. Although the acquisition has been initially completed, it will take at least half a year for the remaining affairs to be handed over and integrated. These things are still It is the responsibility of the Morgan Stanley team. For this professional acquisition team, Eric is not only relieved, but even a little coveted. Unfortunately, Firefly Investments cannot support such a team now.

"Not only can't we afford it, but we don't need these," Chris said while eating dinner in the dining room of the Sharphorn Manor.

After completing this acquisition, Chris will also return to New York. Eric specially practiced for Chris at the Sharphorn Manor. In addition to Chris, Chris' girlfriend Emily Brighton also appeared in Los Angeles because of his business. the scene.

"I just said that although I can't afford it now, I will definitely use it sooner or later," Eric retorted.

Chris smiled and said, "Maybe, Eric, what are you going to do next? We only have less than $1.5 billion in funds, which is not enough to pay off the debt left by Disney, and I don't recommend you do it. Debt repayment. In the process of business operation, an appropriate degree of debt is necessary. Compared with the current market value of Firefly, 2 billion US dollars is only equivalent to a debt ratio of about 25%, which is the lowest among the seven major Hollywood film companies. ."

Eric thought for a while and said, "Actually, I also thought about it. Since I can't pay off the debt, let's make an investment. Hey, it's just a pity. Last year, the Soviet Union disintegrated, and we didn't take the opportunity to make a fortune."

"Don't think about this, the fat meat of the Soviet Union. It's not something we can touch at all. This is a worldwide plunder. In order to prevent the possible annexation of the Soviet Union, the governments of Europe and the United States are behind this incident. ," Chris said, he couldn't help but swallowed, took a sip of the red wine in front of him, and continued: "In just half a year, the ruble has depreciated by 110,000 times, and the Soviet Union has accumulated nearly 28% in 80 years. It's exciting to think about trillions of dollars of wealth being plundered by people using only a few hundred million dollars."

Sitting next to Eric, Jennifer Connelly, who has been quietly acting like a lady, couldn't help but ask, "Hey, what are you talking about, why can't I understand it?"

Chris looked at the beautiful and beautiful woman on the opposite side. Although his girlfriend was by his side, he couldn't help showing off his man's instinct: "I'm talking about the largest mass robbery in human history." (To be continued.)

....easy.see.small.said.