Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1578: The Abnormally Greedy Ovitz
"Oh my god, how can this No. 32 player be so awesome? Is he a real person?" After chatting with Bronfman Jr., Sidney Sheinberg also came out to continue watching the game. Suddenly, he was stunned by the center of the visiting Orlando Magic, No. 32 player Shaquille O'Neal.

He blocked the shot of New York Knicks center Ewing in his own half, then quickly made a fast break. After receiving the pass from his own defender Penny Hardaway, he made a dunk, and his huge body hung on the basketball hoop and shook several times.

"Not only that, he also dunked the backboard of the New Jersey Nets' home court. The league later redesigned the basketball hoop. In the previous All-Star Game, he also performed very well, with 22 points and 7 rebounds... What are his current stats?"

Bronfman Jr. had seen O'Neal's crazy performance at the All-Star Game in Phoenix and was curious about his statistics today.

"He has scored 31 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks..." Ronald looked at the broadcast on TV and reported O'Neal's statistics today.

With the sound of a whistle at the scene, the Knicks lost 94-110 to the Orlando Magic at home today.

"It seems that he is better than Ewing of your team. It would be great if New York had this center." Bronfman Jr. commented.

"Who said it wasn't..." Ronald agreed, but he thought to himself, this matter is not that simple. It seems that this rich kid is not particularly reliable. Even if we don't talk about the restrictions of various contracts, he is still the boss of the New York Knicks.

"Hahaha..." Simberg also laughed. He suggested that everyone go eat Japanese food. Although the Japanese people are not very reliable, their food is still good.

The discussion between Sheinberg and Bronfman Jr. was indeed very fruitful. Bronfman Jr. had reached a consensus with him that he would play a certain nominal role in the new MCA Universal, but he would not be completely excluded from major decision-making like the Japanese did. He would be invited to discuss important company management matters.

Although this so-called right is only an honorary one, Bronfman Jr. can manage the company however he wants, and at most he can notify Sheinberg when he is not too busy.

But compared to the Panasonic people who kept Sheinberg in the dark about the sale of Universal Pictures to Seagram when they were managing Universal Pictures, the Bronfman family still felt respected by the Bronfman family.

Coupled with their common Jewish background, such a conversation felt like returning home. Where should they give in, when should they get stuck, and when can they generously agree to the other party's proposal. The training that the Jews have received since childhood makes them feel like they have met their match.

Three points of consensus were reached during this meeting.

First, while Steven Spielberg was making films for DreamWorks, he also did not give up his projects at Universal. The general cooperation model was the same as the previous system of Sheinberg and Spielberg, but the specific terms of remuneration and profit sharing had to be renegotiated between Bronfman and Spielberg.

Second, Sheinberg will use the money from his shares to retire gracefully, but retain a certain honorary position in the new Universal MCA company. After the meeting, he will accept interviews from the news media and say a lot of good things about Bronfman, the Jewish brother.

Third, Sheinberg and Bronfman would attend a family dinner with Bronfman Jr. and meet Bronfman Sr. and his brother, who is also a senior executive at Seagram.

After inviting them to eat the top Japanese food in New York, Ronald also invited the New York Times reporter to interview Sheenberg on the spot.

Bronfman Jr. was also present at the interview, but he didn't say anything. However, Ronald could tell from his expression that he was very happy that Sheinberg was able to praise him in this way.

After all, Edgar Bronfman Jr. was still a young man, and he had to manage such a large enterprise. Although he had his father's secret support behind him, he definitely needed to establish his own authority.

"Hmm?" Just as he was thinking about this, Ronald accidentally heard the last of the three points of consensus that Simberg told the reporter. He remained calm and secretly noted down this discovery that might play an important role in the future actions against Ovitz.

……

Mr. Wasserman and Mr. Sheinberg sold MCA to Panasonic Corp. in 1990, making hundreds of millions of dollars in the process, but in later years they complained that Panasonic treated them poorly, in effect, like subordinate employees.

And after today’s lunch meeting with the Bronfman family, Mr. Sheinberg said: “It went very well.”

“I like him very much,” he said, referring to the younger Mr. Bronfman. Mr. Sheinberg sounded delighted, and his tone seemed to indicate that both he and his old partner, Mr. Wasserman, would remain at the company, though he declined to discuss details of the meeting.

Sure enough, the details of the meeting were reported on the entertainment front page of the New York Times the next day. The reporter also expressed in an analyst's tone why Bronfman Jr. wanted Sheinberg to stay at Universal.

One reason Mr. Bronfman is eager to maintain a close relationship with Mr. Sheinberg is that Steven Spielberg, Hollywood’s biggest moneymaker, is fiercely loyal to Mr. Sheinberg and sees him as a guiding force in Mr. Spielberg’s own career.

So Mr. Spielberg and his partners, David Geffen and Mr. Katzenberg, temporarily set up offices of their new studio, DreamWorks, on the Universal Pictures lot and said they would stay there as long as Mr. Sheinberg was on staff.

Mr. Spielberg wields extraordinary financial clout: Of MCA's $4.8 million in cash flow last year, about $1.5 million to $2 million came from videotape distribution of the movie "Jurassic Park."

Such reports obviously made Ovitz very angry. His partner Ron Meyer went to New York specially to invite Bronfman Jr. to meet and convey Ovitz's latest instructions.

Of course, before meeting Bronfman Jr. the next day, Ron Meyer ran to Ronald to exchange the latest inside information with him.

“He was trying to say two things, first, that Mr. Sheinberg’s departure, and Mr. Ovitz’s eventual appointment — would not necessarily lead to Mr. Spielberg’s departure.

According to a person close to DreamWorks who wished to remain anonymous, the company's founder Spielberg had no problem working with Ovitz and staying at Universal, as long as there was a suitable financial arrangement. Spielberg and his partners were also attracted by Time Warner, Viacom and Sony. "Mayer first told Ronald about Ovitz's instructions and discussed the next countermeasures.

"Ovitz is really a master negotiator." Ronald couldn't help but smile when he heard this. In a specific context, this statement seemed to be very favorable to Ovitz. It seemed that he had everything under control.

He also told Bronfman Jr. and Sheinberg that his own status was not much inferior to Sheinberg's in terms of keeping Spielberg at Universal.

But if you put aside the idea that Ovitz wants to put in the readers' heads and look carefully at his statement from the text, you will find that it seems to say nothing. Any new person in charge of Universal MCA can say something similar without causing any problems.

How to process the facts or hide some of the facts to turn public opinion in a direction that is beneficial to oneself? Ovitz is very familiar with doing this kind of thing. In addition, Bronfman now wants Ovitz to be the CEO of Universal, and the momentum of this matter is indeed on Ovitz's side.

"Second, he wanted to express that he himself was not looking for a job. The reporter learned this from him telling a friend. But at the same time, Mr. Bronfman Jr. might be looking for Mr. Ovitz to take a position." When Mayer said this, he pointed to himself, indicating that the friend was himself.

"As expected..."

As the most skilled negotiator in Hollywood, Ovitz is very good at bargaining. His statement means that he is not in a hurry to sell himself, but Bronfman is in a hurry to invite him. So in the upcoming salary and treatment negotiations between the two, Ovitz should have the upper hand.

After this third consecutive report was published in the New York Times, Ovitz would undoubtedly return to the active position. If Bronfman Jr. had a one-on-one negotiation with him like this, he would probably not be in a good mood.

Perhaps before officially hiring Ovitz as CEO, Bronfman Jr. would first get a taste of how Ovitz dealt with the top executives of the seven major studios.

"By the way, Ovitz has another request. He wants 5% of the options of Global MCA..."

"What did you say he wanted? Did I not hear clearly? Was this clause included in his first request? Did he raise the price again, or did I not hear clearly?"

"It's Ovitz who's raising the price..."

"Oh my god, he's still the same."

Ronald laughed when he heard this request. It was a typical Ovitz way of doing things: "get the job done first, then ask for a high price."

Unlike most industries where you have to negotiate terms before doing business, in the entertainment industry, every project is actually a new small entrepreneurial project.

In fact, there are no precedents to refer to for various terms and conditions. Once the business conditions are determined, it is not like selling Coca-Cola, which can be adjusted slowly in the future.

Almost all of them are one-time transactions. The hidden risk is that since it is a one-time transaction, both parties may not complete the transaction.

Ovitz was well aware of the rules of the industry, and he always worked first and collected money later. After facilitating Seagram's acquisition of Panasonic's Universal shares, he had plenty of time to slowly negotiate his own remuneration with Seagram.

If the acquisition was not concluded, he would not be able to collect the money. However, if he had negotiated various conditions with Seagram first, Bronfman Jr. might not have used Ovitz as an intermediary and consultant for the negotiation.

As for why Ovitz was confident that he could negotiate again after the deal was done and still receive the amount of money he wanted?

This is of course because he is the boss of CAA. Projects are one-offs, but in the entertainment industry, you will encounter him repeatedly.

If you don't give him the conditions he wants, then when Universal Pictures wants to shoot a big production in the future, if Orvis' CAA is not 100% supportive of the project, there may be big problems. Especially since Spielberg, the pillar of Universal Pictures, is a contracted client of CAA.

"In fact, from a certain perspective, this clause is quite reasonable. If Ovitz really becomes the CEO of Universal MCA, then he must give up his equity in CAA for legal reasons.

Today, CAA is valued at $3.5 million. In the $66 billion acquisition, a 3% option is about $3000 million. With this money, he can pay me and other partners in CAA for their equity.

And Ovitz said he was confident that he could develop Universal MCA into a large enterprise with a market value several times its current value. By that time, the value of his 5% stake would see a very large increase. This is a win-win situation. "

Ron Mayer seemed to approve of Ovitz's calculation, and there was a sense of happiness in his tone. If Ovitz got this option, then Mayer could also get the corresponding option, and then everyone would make a fortune, which did not seem to be an unacceptable outcome.

"It's an interesting calculus. But it works in only one case. That's if Ovitz really doesn't want to leave CAA, and Bronfman really, really wants him there and sees him as the only candidate."

Ronald smiled and pointed out the biggest flaw in this calculation method. In America, in Hollywood, no one is irreplaceable. Ovitz can ask for any number he wants. Bronfman Jr., if he particularly appreciates Ovitz, can also agree. But based on what Ronald knew from the dinner between Sheinberg and the Bronfman family, Bronfman Jr.'s father and uncle...

"Oh... I also think this number is too much. If all of the 540 million Disney stock options held by Disney's Michael Eisner are cashed out, it will only account for 1% of the total share capital..."

"That sounds like a reasonable number. I think if you become the CEO and have these options, you will become a billionaire who has crossed the 100 million yuan threshold."

Ronald smiled. If the options were redeemed, Eisner's net worth would exceed $3 million. And as far as he knew, during all these years of management, Eisner had awarded him additional options exceeding the original 540 million shares signed when he signed the contract. If all were taken into account, his net worth would be even higher. But if Eisner knew that Ovitz wanted to surpass him in net worth as soon as he joined Universal MCA...

"Yeah, that sounds quite reasonable." Ron Meyer's thoughts began to shift in another direction. Ovitz's wishful thinking was probably not going to work, so if he replaced him, he could live a very good life for the rest of his life if he wasn't so greedy. And his children would also have a good life.