Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1553: The Crisis of Crédit Lyonnais

"Please tell Mr. Ronald Lee that I am very grateful for his guidance. This is the greatest achievement I have ever achieved since I started my art career..."

"Who's calling?" Ronald had just finished taking a shower when he saw Diane answering the phone with a half-smile on her face.

"It's your old acquaintance, Jennifer Tilly..." Diane handed him the phone and scratched his palm, not sure if she was angry or just acting coquettishly.

"Jennifer, I remember I told you that I just admire your attitude of trying your best, and you don't owe me anything in the future." Ronald was a little annoyed. There are no secrets in Hollywood, and Diane had heard about his previous official relationships. When the ex-girlfriend's sister called to thank him, it would always cause bad associations.

"I don't mean anything else, Ronald. I really just called to thank you. Now my agent has even received scripts that I never imagined I would receive before. This is the greatest recognition an actress can get." Jennifer Tilly apologized immediately, clarifying that she had no delusions and that she called just to express her gratitude.

She took advantage of the situation and spent a few hundred dollars to make a PR advertisement for herself in an industry magazine, inviting you to watch Jennifer Tilly's performance in "Bullets Over Broadway". It actually worked and she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Thus, the same movie "Bullets Over Hollywood" had two nominations for Best Supporting Actress, Dianne Wiest and Jennifer Tilly, replicating Ronald's achievement in "Working Girl".

This achievement brought Jennifer Tilly an unexpected surprise and an increase in her net worth, but it brought fear and shock to Harvey Weinstein.

Ronald not only secured several major awards he wanted in important union awards, but also made a move in an unnoticed place. He used some unknown means to make Jennifer Tilly break through his plan, causing an internal dispute over Dianne Wiest's Best Supporting Actress Award.

This move, which was beyond his imagination, made Harvey Weinstein break out in a cold sweat, so much so that when Jennifer Tilly apologized to him in person at the celebration party after the nomination, she could only "gently" say that it was okay and that she had done a good job.

If he still follows his old style, directly scolding Jennifer Tilly and not giving her any resources to win the award, he doesn't know what other hidden tricks Ronald may use. At that time, he will have no choice but to wait for death and be humiliated at the award ceremony. Any move he makes may have a counterproductive effect.

The biggest fear of a person is not knowing where the fear will come from and scare him. Harvey Weinstein thought for a long time and decided not to fight in a battlefield he was not good at. Ronald's ability to win an Oscar was too scary, so he decided to give up the Oscar for one year and only pursue a small award like Best Supporting Actress that would not cause trouble for Ronald. He could use these tricks next year. Anyway, he didn't hear that Ronald's directorial works would be released next year.

After figuring this out, Harvey returned to his original nature and pointed at Jennifer Tilly and said, "But don't do any public relations in private anymore. Dianne West is..."

"I understand, I understand. I won't compete with her. I'm already satisfied with just one nomination." Jennifer Tilly didn't know why the always very strong Harvey Weinstein would be so easy to talk to. She thought about it for a long time and finally understood...

Harvey Weinstein is not easy to talk to, but he is afraid of a big man who is more powerful than him. Therefore, as a recipient of Ronald's great favor, she also felt the need to greet this benefactor and say thank you. Otherwise, she didn't know what kind of character Ronald was. If she was nominated but didn't express her opinion, it would be bad for him to bear a grudge against her.

However, Jennifer Tilly did not have Ronald's direct phone number, so she had to ask her agent to speak up for her and finally get a chance to talk to Ronald directly from Richard. Unexpectedly, she made things worse and made him unhappy. So she apologized hastily on the phone.

"Hahaha, what's wrong with you Jennifer? We don't have any hatred, right? I just got home with my wife Diane. We just went to the Science and Technology Awards ceremony. I'm a little tired. When you called me, I thought you were someone else trying to find a way to get a role."

"Oh my God, I am such a naive woman. When Diane asked me just now, I should have taken the initiative to ask for a role in the new movie. Now there are too many actresses in Hollywood who want to get a small supporting role in her new project."

Jennifer Tilly was a very shrewd woman and immediately understood the consequences of her actions, so she loudly and deliberately said something flattering to Diane.

Ronald had just switched the call to speaker mode, and was drinking tea while talking. Diane, who was about to change clothes and take a shower, heard this, and some misunderstandings disappeared. She gently unzipped her skirt, gave Ronald a look, and went into the bathroom, saying, "Don't use the speaker mode, I don't want to hear about work tonight..."

Ronald picked up the receiver with understanding, and Jennifer Tilly on the other end also laughed, indicating that she would not let her benefactor suffer any unhappiness.

The two talked for a few words and were about to hang up the phone when Jennifer Tilly remembered something important again. She quickly said to Ronald, "I don't want to waste more of your time, but today I want to celebrate my nomination with my sister, and she deliberately revealed something to me.

Jennifer Tilly and her sister Meg have a relationship similar to that of two sisters in the golden age of Hollywood, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. Both of them have actress-level performances, but their attitudes towards each other are average, especially when the other party wins a new award, the other party will never say anything good, but will quietly provide help when the other party has a problem.

So, when Jennifer was nominated and started showing off in front of her sister Meg, her sister would definitely "inadvertently" reveal some of the good parts of her life so that her sister wouldn't be so proud.

The last time was in 1987, when Meg Tilly was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for "Agnes of God". This time it was her sister Jennifer's turn. Meg was very uncomfortable and told her sister about her boyfriend, whom she had successfully met on a blind date and whom she had repeatedly asked not to disclose in advance.

Meg Tilly is now the mother of three children (two with her ex-husband and one with Colin Firth) since her split from him. In Hollywood, this is the end of the world for actresses.

So she accepted her fate and agreed to go on blind dates with some middle-aged widowed Hollywood studio executives. Her efforts paid off last year when a producer 30 years her senior, John Kelly, took a liking to the actress.

When John Kelly was at Warner Bros., he approved the Superman series of films, which became his achievement. In fact, he was able to enter the senior management of the studio because he had a bad relationship with his wife, who was originally a Playboy cover girl, and could only devote himself to work to relieve his stress. The speed of producing 12 films a year can be called a model of hard work.

Of course, this kind of data can only deceive foreign investors, such as the Japanese. In fact, everyone in Hollywood understands that the so-called executive producers are lucky and have a much higher chance of encountering a few hit projects than they do of having any production vision or talent.

After divorcing his wife, he lived with the widow of the famous British director David Lean, as if being closer to the wife of a famous director who was recognized for his box office and artistic qualities could help him become someone like Lean.

After this dream was shattered, he quickly abandoned Ryan's widow and threw himself into the arms of Meg Tilly.

After this Oscar awards ceremony, he will marry Meg Tilly, a woman who is 30 years younger than him, and then accept the invitation of Columbia Pictures to serve as the director there.

After being disappointed with CEOs like Gubel who are known for their vision, the Japanese now want to try someone who suits their taste and is known for his hard work.

After hearing what Jennifer Tilly said, Ronald felt a little complicated. He regarded this Oscar as very important, as it was an affirmation and summary of his directing career, and he didn't like it when someone like Meg Tilly came to mess things up.

In this kind of occasion, he just wanted to be with the one he loved and the one who loved him. However, thinking of this, Ronald hesitated for a while. He thought of Helen who was far away in New York. He hoped that she could also attend this event to honor him.

"Honey..." Diane poked her head out of the bathroom, as if complaining that Ronald was still on the phone.

"I have to hang up, Diane is calling me..." Ronald said, and hung up the phone with Jennifer Tilly. He went into the bathroom with a smile on his face, looking at Diane who was dressed up carefully, and made up his mind to make this award ceremony perfect and not let anything spoil the fun happen.

At his level, intimate relationships are probably the most important thing in Ronald's life. Beauty and wealth have to rank lower on the list.

……

"Ring ring ring ring..."

The next morning, Ronald got out of bed tiredly. Only less than ten people could get through to this number, so it must be something important that was coming to him. He looked at the clock and it was not even five in the morning.

Hey, even after such a wonderful night, I can't sleep in.

"I'll go outside and answer it, you continue to sleep..." Ronald comforted Diane, who couldn't even open her eyes, and ran to the small study to answer the phone.

"It's me, Ronald."

"What's going on? So early?"

The person on the other end of the line was Ed Bastian, CEO of DDH. He hadn't slept all night, and it was not until this morning that he got the exact news and called Ronald immediately.

"There is a big problem with Credit Lyonnais. I heard the latest audit results. Last year's loss was 12 billion francs..."

"120 billion francs, that's... two billion dollars?"

Ronald did a rough calculation on his calculator, and the number was far beyond his expectations.

Since the early 1990s, Credit Lyonnais has been making huge losses from its large overseas acquisitions, especially the acquisition of MGM and the purchase of a large amount of assets of the French state-owned financial institution Caisse des Dépts et Consignations (CDC).

In the fiscal year before last, Credit Lyonnais suffered a loss of 69 billion francs. Last year, the French government had to inject 36 billion francs into Credit Lyonnais in order to save Caisse des Dépts et Consignations (CDC), an institution responsible for many local infrastructure and pension investments.

The idea was to sell the toxic asset of MGM and get Credit Lyonnais back on track by selling some profitable assets, such as shares in Germany's Adidas Group.

Unexpectedly, in the following fiscal year, Credit Lyonnais's losses doubled...

This time, they want to continue to force the British government to come to the rescue, and then take advantage of the opportunity of government capital injection to directly become a state-controlled enterprise. The original senior executives can then be transformed into senior executives of state-owned enterprises and no longer have to worry about being held accountable for investment failures by the capital market.

However, the French government is not a pushover. Previously, the left-wing Mitterrand government was relatively tolerant of these things. But this year, France will hold a general election, and the right-wing candidate, former Prime Minister and Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac, is not an easy person to talk to.

So, of course, the rescue of Credit Lyonnais was put on hold before the general election in April and May. Moreover, the relevant departments also passed on the message that unless Credit Lyonnais dealt with the MGM's bad debts before the new president took office, new capital injection would not be possible.

Obviously, if Jacques, the favorite candidate, comes to power, he will not bail out Credit Lyonnais again without making any clear decisions. Unless the left-wing candidate and former prime minister Jospin wins, the big hole left by Credit Lyonnais's acquisition of MGM will have to be filled by someone else.

It has been made very clear that those corrupt executives of Crédit Lyonnais must either find a scapegoat to take over or clean up their mess and go to jail. They must settle the accounts involved in the MGM acquisition.

After all these mergers and acquisitions and lawsuits, everyone in Hollywood knows that MGM has been turned into a bottomless pit by several successive owners. Who still has the courage to jump in?

The two "suckers" who wanted to take over MGM before were an Australian stock scammer and an Italian financial scammer. If they took over MGM, they could have lived happily for a few more years, but if they didn't, they would have been immediately sued by the inspection agency.

In addition, MGM's most valuable assets, the numerous film libraries handed down from the golden age, were sold off piecemeal by his predecessor, Kerkorian, and the studio failed to catch the last train to be acquired by the Japanese and make up for the losses in one go. Now it has really come to a moment of life and death.

At this moment, the people from Credit Lyonnais decided to try their luck and seek help from DDH to see if they would be interested in anything in the remaining assets of MGM. Buying some of them could alleviate the crisis.

"I'll reply to them the same way I always do. I don't want to take over the MGM label. Whoever sold it to them should go and buy it back..."

Ronald knew that Kerkorian had bought MGM from Seagram's old Bronfman in order to use the MGM name to attract customers to his casinos and to empty out the previous assets of MGM Studios.

He didn't believe that Credit Lyonnais, as a bank, didn't even have this little leverage. Now was the time to put pressure on the big liar.

As for the huge pit of MGM, Ronald was not without interest in it. After the failure of Heaven's Gate in 1980, Ronald was still very interested in acquiring United Artists.

After all, this is a studio that has a say in the MPAA ratings agency. He doesn't want the expensive distribution agencies that other big media groups in Hollywood are eyeing. He just wants a say in ratings. I guess there's no need for everyone to fall out with Ronald over this.