Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1531 Eisner's Ambition
Ronald's stock exchange agreement was completed quickly with the help of Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs earned a commission and helped submit various documents to the SEC to complete the compliance procedures. Ronald also had to spend another sum of money to be responsible for the tax treatment after the exchange, as the IRS has been very strict on the taxation of securities transactions recently.

This is in part due to the sugar-coated trap of director Ronald. When this movie about legal tax avoidance came out, the IRS took the opportunity to do some publicity. They received some criticism, but also some public support. The president passed the balanced budget bill, Congress increased the budget and personnel, and they are greatly increasing law enforcement efforts.

Ronald shot himself in the foot to some extent. However, tax filing is much more convenient now than before. The IRS is experimenting with an electronic tax system. His accountant and lawyer charge the same amount of money, but there is less work to do.

That day, he came to Disney's headquarters to meet with Chairman Michael Eisner. The two chatted about the past and then turned the topic to Ronald's new stock.

"That's how Redstone is. I knew it when I dealt with him before." Eisner poured Ronald a glass of brandy, said some bad things about Redstone, and said that he was the kind of chairman who was very friendly to small shareholders, and they could discuss anything together.

"He is a control freak. I really don't want to own shares in that company. In fact, as long as I vote on the side of the chairman every time, what difference does it make whether the chairman owns the shares? Redstone is still an old-fashioned businessman who must hold the main control."

Ronald also echoed the comments. In the industry, Ray Stone was known for his tyranny. When he acquired Blockbuster and Paramount, he kicked the original heads of the two companies out of the decision-making core.

"In comparison, Disney is a typical public company, so every shareholders' meeting is very lively..." Eisner narrowed his eyes. His desire for control is no weaker than that of Redstone.

However, after the death of Disney's founder, his descendants fought among themselves and brought in other investors to fight against each other. After many changes in equity and the introduction of strategic investors, the equity is now very dispersed, and there is actually no real controller of the company.

This gave Eisner the opportunity to take control of the company. Now every major decision can be made according to Eisner's wishes, but this is also a rule based on a fragile balance.

Except for the Bass family who only care about investment returns and not management, most of the other small and medium shareholders are scattered investors who own about 1% of the company like Ronald. Today, Disney's market value is about 176 billion US dollars...

Eisner mainly received support from the Buss family, but facing the stocks held by Walt Disney's nephew and some other company veterans, his advantage was relatively weak. He also had to take responsibility for the Buss family's investment and maintain a relatively high rate of appreciation in order to gain ironclad dominance.

Now, some of the key stocks have come to Ronald...

"I'm not interested. You know me. Now I just want to make the movies I want to make, invest in other people's movies that I see, and spend more time with my family. I don't want to miss every important moment of my children's growth..."

Ronald passed on the important information and said he would let Chairman Eisner take over his voting rights. He would then have the voting rights for his shares at the next board meeting or shareholders' meeting.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

With his worries at ease, Eisner showed his friendliness like the uncle next door again. He put his arm around Ronald's shoulders, said a lot of nice things, and even invited Ronald to play golf with him.

"To be honest, I really need a capable person to help me, not a traitor like Katzenberg. Won't you consider it?" Eisner began to ask Ronald half-tentatively again.

"I signed the proxy voting agreement because I don't want to be disturbed by such trivial matters. You still have to find someone with great ambition to manage it, such as..." Ronald refused again. He had to exchange this stock because Viacom's stock could not be sold on the open market. Disney's operating performance is much better. Maybe he can sell it in a year or two.

"I feel like you have a candidate?" Eisner couldn't help but become curious when he saw that Ronald didn't say the name of his candidate.

"I can't think of it. This is the chairman's question. It's not for a small shareholder like me to think about it. Hahaha..."

A candidate suddenly popped up in Ronald's mind, which surprised him... He still needed time to think about it, and Eisner was very suspicious, so the candidate he proposed might be rejected by him.

"I really admire you. Are you viewing Disney's stock purely as an investment now?" Eisner raised his glass with a smile. If Ronald really talked about the candidates, he would start to doubt Ronald's real purpose.

It can be said that the SEC and Disney's board of directors at the time were careless in their work. There were no special provisions in the company's articles of association, so it had to comply with the SEC's general rules. Shareholders' proxy voting rights must be signed annually and will expire after the next meeting.

These people relied on the one-year agency agreement to threaten or assess his performance every year, which made him very comfortable as a chairman. Fortunately, Eisner had a plan to change the situation where a shareholder controlled the board of directors and make himself the real decision-maker.

"To be honest, I'm not a very ambitious person, and my DDH doesn't have the performance requirements that those shareholders have..." Ronald answered with a smile. This touched Eisner's heart a little.

Ronald is a typical first-generation entrepreneur, just like Walt Disney back then. He can control the entire company based on his prestige and holds the majority of the shares, so those investors cannot make any waves at all.

Eisner is a chairman who transformed himself from an employee. Whether it was Paramount in the past or Disney now, the founders had passed away long ago and family members no longer had much influence.

"You are the real rich man. The most expensive thing is time. I haven't seen my three children for a long time..." Eisner answered half proudly and half with emotion.

"That's different. My company is just a regional media company. It can't be compared with a big ship like Disney. Only someone like you who never stops, is full of competitive spirit and has great ambitions can manage such a company..."

Ronald once again emphasized the word ambition.

"Katzenberg is ambitious, but he's a traitor... Humph..." Eisner thought of the old subordinate who betrayed him and ignored his desire to advance in his career. When such a person considers things, he always thinks that he is the one who is right...

"Well, I'm the same way. When I see those people who worked for me when the company was still small, I have more trust in them. As for those employees who came after the company became bigger or even went public, I always wonder if they will cheat me out of my money. Do you think I'm naive, Michael?"

Ronald sent over another hint. If Hollywood directors have any special skill in life, it is the art of speaking, allowing the obedient other party to accept various hints, and then "figure out" the ideas you want to instill in them.

Especially for actors with low IQ and limited education, it works very well. It also seems to be effective against the chairman of a listed Hollywood studio.

"You have a point, Ronald. But my first job was as an assistant director at the national media ABC. I didn't have a companion like you who had worked together in a small company..." Eisner was still laughing at Ronald's poor ability to employ people, but he also felt a little sad when he thought that he didn't have a loyal subordinate like him.

"Really? Your first job was at ABC?" Ronald was surprised. Eisner came from a good family. His mother's family was the inventor of safety razor blades, and his father was a regional director of the Department of Housing Development. He could enter the entertainment industry just by giving his parents a nod.

"Yes, how about you?"

"Me? I'm reviewing a script for Roger Corman's New World..."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Eisner and Ronald both laughed. Roger Corman was a well-known stingy person in the industry, and he understood what Ronald meant.

Ronald did some public relations for his old company, hoping that Eisner would agree to give Roger Corman a special Oscar. Although it was very difficult, it was not impossible if the bosses of several major studios proposed it to the Academy.

"I didn't know that you have always worked for major national media and big film studios. It seems that if you want to find a general manager you can trust, you can only look for people like me who have worked their way up from the bottom and have received your favor." Ronald began to hint wildly again.

"Hmm..." Eisner looked at Ronald. From his expression and tone, he couldn't tell what he thought of recommending someone. It seemed that he might have just said it casually. However, this casual remark touched his heart.

……

"Ronald, Jeffrey asked me to ask you if you have any cooperation with Eisner recently? He wants to know if his relationship with Eisner will affect the cooperation between DreamWorks and you."

The news that Ronald became a new shareholder of Disney spread in the industry. Although it was only a small report in the Wall Street Journal, and Ronald's name did not appear, and the public did not pay much attention to a small shareholder of Disney, it was big news in the industry.

In addition to DDH Media, which he founded, Ronald has now extended his reach to the seven ancient knights.

So Spielberg also came on behalf of DreamWorks to find out Ronald's thoughts.

"Don't mention it. I was forced to do this. My company invested in some Blockbuster stocks because of Wall Street's advice, hoping to get a better valuation. Who knew that I would passively become a shareholder of Viacom? As a result, the stock price fell for a whole year. It was not easy to find a shareholder who was willing to exchange..."

Ronald told Spielberg about his "unlucky" experience, which was recognized by the artist. Although his partners David Geffen and Katzenberg may not believe this, it is enough for Spielberg to recognize it.

"Oh, you stumped me. I'm not very good at investing myself. I just follow the advice of my investment advisor... Then I'll talk to Jeffrey and ask him to contact you."

"Oh, okay. I just happen to have something to ask him. I saw a brand new kind of animation at Disney. I don't know if the current technology can support animated feature films."

Ronald was talking about the new film "Toy Story" that Disney is still working on. This animated feature is different from the traditional painting "Pocahontas" they produced at the same time. All the characters and scenes are drawn using computer 3D.

At that time, it took a lot of effort to get a few seconds of shot of Ronald in the polar bear drinking Coke commercial. In just a few years, technology has advanced to the point where we can make a 90-minute feature film?

So, is it true that Steve, the founder who was kicked out of Apple, was actually quite capable? That production company was the animation department separated from George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic. After being acquired by Steve, it is now called Pixar.

"You knew about this, too? They had already started planning for it in 1992, before I left. This is the first 3D animated feature film they released."

A few days later, Katzenberg met Ronald who came to his house, and showed him a demonstration of several tens of seconds that Pixar had shown to Disney when it came to them. It was a short film of a desk lamp performing various funny movements like a human.

Even now, Ronald still thinks Pixar is very strong. This demonstration took a lot of tricks, such as no textures, just a white shape modeled by an animator, but the agile feeling was not weakened at all by this trick to reduce rendering power.

"Yeah, they got Tom Hanks to voice the main character."

Ronald smacked his lips. This movie tells the story of a world where toys come back to life after their owners leave. It turns out that the cowboy Woody, Andy's favorite toy, is challenged by the new astronaut toy Buzz Lightyear.

Ronald heard from Tom Hanks that the animation was of very good quality and it was also a very appealing theme. He could imagine how many toys Woody and Buzz Lightyear could sell in the Disney system, and how many family tourists the Disney parks in Paris, Tokyo and around the world could attract.

This time, I might have picked up a great bargain on Disney’s stock.

I don't know why the Bass family would give him shares? Have they made enough money in the past ten years?

“What are you thinking about, Ronald?” Katzenberg asked.

"I wonder why the Buss family agreed to sell the shares to me," Ronald expressed his doubts.

"You know, Ronald, there is a trend among media companies right now, which is the combination of movie studios, record companies, and national television networks..."

"Oh?" Ronald thought to himself, is Eisner planning to acquire a national TV network? That's a big acquisition on the level of Viacom... Which other national TV network can be acquired now?