Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1562 Judas's Expression

Soon, Ron Meyer and Bronfman Jr. completed their first interview. The result seemed good. Although Bronfman Jr. tried to restrain himself, his confident and eager attitude was the pride that the children of wealthy families could hardly conceal.

Ron Meyer's expression was a bit complicated. He had just betrayed his closest friend and partner in the first half of his life, and his expression looked a bit complicated.

Part of it is a profound expectation for the future, part of it is a deliberate righteousness of one's own behavior, and of course there is also a desire for the huge wealth and power that is about to be obtained.

How should I put it? Ronald suddenly felt that Mayer's expression seemed similar to that of Judas in the famous painting "The Last Supper".

"Honestly, Ovitz..."

When Ron Meyer saw Ronald and Richard Lovett beside him, he still had the mentality of Judas after Jesus pointed out his betrayal without naming him. This mentality is often mixed with embarrassment and the feeling that I don't owe him anything when facing someone who knows the truth.

It seems that facing the strong pressure from Ovitz for more than 20 years, even a company veteran like Mayer found it difficult to cope. Once he made a decision, he also needed some catharsis.

Ronald stopped him immediately. Mayer seemed a little emotional. No matter what, now was not the time to talk about this.

"Is the Japanese garden in Ovitz going to be renovated?" Ronald seemed to be talking about something unrelated.

"Yes, I heard that he would build a wine cellar in the basement to store all kinds of fine wines..."

Ron Meyer's attitude changed immediately when he heard the bad words about Ovitz. Ovitz now saw that the Japanese were no longer good, so he stopped trying to please them. He wanted to become the CEO of MCA after it was acquired by Seagram, so he naturally had to actively move closer to the Seagram Group and began to show his identity as a fan of Martell Cognac XO for more than 20 years.

……

Ronald sent everyone away, Richard left for another car, and Ronald got in Little Bud's car with Ron Meyer.

"Do you want the driver to raise the fender?" Ron Meyer's mood had returned to normal.

"No need, Bud has been with me for a long time, he is a family friend." Ronald signaled to little Bud to drive.

"Gentlemen..." Little Bud greeted Ron Meyer in the rearview mirror, then pressed the button to raise the middle soundproof baffle.

The car started silently and glided smoothly. The new version of the Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard Edition uses bulletproof glass and has first-class sound insulation.

"How do you think Ovitz will react if I do this?" Ron Mayer still said this.

Ronald suddenly felt that Mayer was a little bit incapable of handling such a big task. What was done was already done. Was there any point in talking about this now?
"Why do you think so? I remember that you, Ovitz, and several other agents jointly founded CAA..."

Ronald accurately hit Mayer's anger, and some of his apologies to Ovitz as an old friend were wiped out by the memory of Ovitz's bullying of his position as a founding partner at CAA.

Yes, when CAA was founded, it was founded by five young agents who had been treated unfairly at William Morris: Michael Ovitz, Ron Meyer, William Harbour, Roger Birnbaum, and Michael Rosenfield. Each of them had a similar share, and there was no superiority or inferiority.

But gradually, the energetic and ambitious Ovitz used the excuse that he could not keep up with CAA's development to force the last three to withdraw their shares voluntarily. Most of these shares were repurchased by Ovitz.

Later, agents with clients like Rick Niceta joined in and became partners, but the shares they purchased were only a very small amount. In 1987, Ovitz controlled most of CAA's shares and became the real owner.

Among them, the departure of William Harber was the most disappointing to Mayer. He was kicked out by Ovitz in the end just because of some family and health reasons and he did not produce enough results in one year.

The other two set up their own production companies when they left CAA, but William Harbour's shares were bought back at a very low price, and he did not prosper afterwards and became a loser.

If Ovitz had enough sympathy to retain William Harber's shares, he would have fulfilled his friendship with his friend who had fought with him to conquer the world. In addition, the company still retained the three founding partners, so the relationship would be more stable.

Alternatively, Ovitz could let Mayer buy back William Harber's shares, so that the share ratio between the two would be close to 3:2, which would be a more balanced situation.

Now, after years of dilution, Mayer's shares are only 17%. Many people within the company also believe that Mayer is just a parasite, relying on the hard work of Ovitz and the young Turks, taking huge dividends but not creating any value.

Another company arrangement was also one of the reasons why the young Turks were so rude to Mayer.

When CAA had multiple founders before, the titles on the five people’s business cards were all equal partners, with no distinction between high and low.

But when the three left CAA, Ovitz began to seek some self-affirmation. In 1990, he gave himself the CEO position on the grounds that he needed a title to deal with the big studios in the industry.

Ron Mayer only managed to get the position of president.

In a listed company, the CEO's power is certainly much greater than that of the president. And generally speaking, the president is more like a ceremonial position arranged for an elderly meritorious official and does not have the real authority to manage the company.

As a partner who already holds 80% of the shares, the more appropriate approach for Ovitz would be to take the position of chairman himself and appoint Mayer as CEO.

This not only gave Meyer a good position, but also created a new class between him and those young Turks. It was also a move to avoid intensified conflicts in management.

What's even more interesting is that Mayer, like himself, has an extraordinary desire for success. Moreover, Mayer does not have a high school diploma, and her desire for such recognition of success is even stronger than that of Ovitz, who graduated from UCLA.

"I don't understand why Mayer needs to be afraid of Ovitz?" Ronald looked at Ron Mayer and thought to himself, it seems that Ovitz has some leverage over him?
……

"Mayer had a lot of gambling debts, I don't know how much, but that was definitely one of the reasons why he was very unconfident when facing Ovitz."

Only after arriving at the destination did Richard tell Ronald some possible reasons.

Ron Mayer was a man who loved to gamble, and his gambling debts had always been under control within his financial means.

But after the stock market crash in 1987, Mayer's personal financial situation was obviously greatly affected. A few years later, Mayer had a "friendly and firm" contact with the debt collector inside the company. After the incident was spread, Ovitz seemed to have done something for him, and no one came to the company to discuss gambling debts publicly.

After this, Mayer became even weaker within the company, while Ovitz became stronger day by day.

"This guy……"

Ronald suddenly felt that someone like Mayer might be more suitable to be the second-in-command, because he had been bullied by his former partners for a long time and had to maintain the unity of the entire company. He really did not have something called "killer instinct" and could not make the right decision at critical moments.

"We have to push him a little bit..." Ronald thought that if that was the case, he had to do it to the point where Mayer couldn't turn back. Otherwise, if something changed again, this guy might retreat and become the second in command under Ovitz's wings.

"Hey, Edgar, I saw Meyer. How was your talk? Did he meet your expectations?"

Ronald decided to strike while the iron was hot. Although he arrived at the cafe, he did not get out of the car. Instead, he called Edgar Bronfman Jr. directly in the car.

"He has good business skills and I like him, but he is not my first choice." Bronfman gave Ronald an answer.

"So you're still leaning towards him?" Ronald frowned. Why didn't Mayer's interview seem as good as he thought? If Bronfman Jr. still leaned towards Ovitz, wouldn't he have made a big mistake? Would Ovitz's interview score have improved?
"Yes, I prefer Barry Diller. If he disagrees, I will consider Mayer. But the acquisition is still at a critical moment, and I have to stabilize Ovitz, so I will give him some expectations. Can you help in the media?"

"Of course, no problem for me. Whenever you need me, just call me and I'll arrange an interview..."

Ronald smiled and hung up the phone.

Bronfman Jr.'s train of thought is still very interesting. Barry Diller is the person who competed with Redstone for Paramount Pictures. He is originally a person of the same level as Bronfman Sr., so why would he work for Bronfman Jr., who is like his nephew?

If we talk about the right person, Barry Diller is not very suitable. After he failed in the bid, his business empire, which was mainly based on the shopping channel QVC, also suffered a serious blow. Wall Street generally believed that he was not capable enough.

Barry Diller is now in a dilemma both internally and externally. The series of financing moves he made to acquire Paramount have now become a shackle around his neck. Coupled with his reputation on Wall Street, it is difficult for him to maintain the QVC empire.

Wouldn't it be even more inappropriate for such a person to manage Universal after Seagram's acquisition? However, Bronfman Jr. only saw Barry Diller's previous success and the fact that he was now in trouble and needed his help to save the company, which in his eyes was a match made in heaven.

By the way, Bronfman Jr. is not the only candidate for the next Seagram Group CEO. Bronfman Sr. has a younger brother...

"Where's your Ronald? Why hasn't he come yet?" Two models, one black and one white, stood next to Claudia Schiffer and teased Christy Turlington.

The cafe was jointly opened by several supermodels. In addition to the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer, local black model Naomi Campbell and white model Linda Evangelista also invested in it.

These two people don't actually have a lot of wealth, and they don't pay attention to financial management. It seems that this cafe is a relatively important investment.

Claudia Schiffer is much richer than them. She is favored by several designers and has some particularly wealthy boyfriends... In addition, European magazines prefer her, and her income from advertising endorsements is far higher than that of the other two models who are listed as the top five supermodels.

Christy Turlington didn't have much money originally, her boyfriend was a multi-millionaire, but he backed off when it came to marriage. After they broke up, she came back to Ronald, and this time his attitude changed. Ronald also took her into the film and television industry, and even talked about some investment stocks. Over the years, Christy Turlington's wealth surpassed the two models, one black and one white, and approached Claudia Schiffer.

Under Ronald's influence, her vision for investment was much better than those two. For example, she knew that this cafe was not an investment that could give a stable return, so she only invested the minimum amount of money. As a result, she was looked down upon by others, who thought that she had spent all her money in the past few years.

"Aren't they coming?" Turlington had already seen Ronald's car. Little Bud had already gotten out and was about to open the door. He even exchanged glances with her.

It was only because Ronald continued to talk on the phone for a long time that the two supermodels had the opportunity to try to inflict some harm on her verbally.

"Christie..." Ronald came down and hugged Turlington, then kissed him on the cheek.

"Is this Director Ronald Lee?" Claudia Schiffer had a keen eye and could tell at a glance that Ronald and Turlington had a much closer relationship than the two idiots thought, so she immediately came over to talk to them.

"It's me. I'm glad that my name has also been known to Miss Claudia Schiffer..."

Ronald was of course very polite. All the people who came to the opening ceremony of such a cafe were celebrities, but directors and wealthy people like him were relatively less well-known among the stars.

"I wonder how much I can get paid in Hollywood if I act in a movie. Is it possible to get more than Cindy?"

Claudia Schiffer moved quickly, got ahead of Turlington, and took Ronald's arm, talking to him as they walked. Although her face was cute and playful, the questions she asked were quite meaningless.

"Cindy has acted in many movies before, so she was able to get the leading role. If Miss Claudia Schiffer can also give Hollywood more time, then it is not impossible for her to get the lead actor's salary."

Ronald found it very interesting that although Cindy Crawford did not come, she was still the focus of jealousy among her peers. Cindy Crawford did not invest in this cafe, and it was obvious that her status in the entertainment industry had surpassed the scope of a supermodel and was not on the same level as these people.

Claudia Schiffer's conversation became increasingly meaningless, so Ronald found an opportunity to leave and go talk to Turlington.

As his status and wealth increased, Ronald became more cautious about such things. He would not date those actors who had just entered the industry easily. He only saw a few beauties with whom he had maintained close relationships in the past and who had a certain social status. Because they also had their own reputations to maintain, they would not casually expose their relationships.

Claudia Schiffer was too eager, and since she was European, the scandal might not be entirely a bad thing for her, so Ronald declined.