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"He's here, in the small lounge next door. But he didn't come alone; he brought Jerribas with him."

"Really?" Ernst wasn't surprised at all. The two had been friends for many years, so close they were practically inseparable.

It's no secret in upper-class American society that Hugh Hefner frequently hosts pajama parties with only the two of them.

Jerome Buss acquired the Lakers in 1979, and the Lakers established a dynasty in the 1980s. To really believe that it was because of Jerome Buss' business acumen and love for basketball, as written in biographies, is utter nonsense.

In the season when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was unexpectedly injured and Magic Johnson transformed into an all-around warrior to lead the team to the championship, Jerry Buss sent a private car to take Jason to the luxurious Playboy Estate as a reward.

According to the magician's later account, there were over a hundred bikini-clad women waiting there, while there were fewer than ten men present that day.

They ate lavish meals, watched movies, and played unspeakable games at the manor.

Ernst believes that Hugh Hefner was the biggest contributor to the Los Angeles Lakers' dynasty in the 1980s.

Ernst glanced casually across the banquet hall and his face lit up when he saw Tom Jacobson, the president of Paramount.

"Is there any progress on the large ship project?"

Egger followed Ernst's gaze and met Tom Jacobson's eyes. The two nodded politely to each other.

"20th Century Fox was hesitant, but Paramount, when it invested, agreed to cover all the remaining costs and directly transferred $65 million."

"But the $6500 is just enough to finish making the movie. Post-production and marketing will require about $60 million. Tom has already told Paramount that he will not spend another penny."

"Twentieth Century Fox is now in a dilemma. If the movie wants to be released, they need to raise at least $6000 million for post-production and marketing. I heard that the proposal has been rejected internally."

"But now that we've entered the scene, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse."

Ernst looked at him strangely. "It's not because of me, is it?"

Iger nodded and raised an eyebrow. "The success of 'The Man from Earth' made 20th Century Fox think that the Big Ship project seemed like a gamble, but there were major internal disagreements and they had no intention of negotiating with us."

Ernst was speechless, wondering when he had developed the potential to be Jesus.

However, MGM did not reveal any information related to Ernst regarding their project with the large ship. There are no secrets in Hollywood; the internal workings of the major giants are as transparent as sieves.

"Someone leaked the information."

Ernst's face turned ashen; only those people in the conference room knew that he was very optimistic about the large ship.

"There's nothing we can do about it. No one can guarantee they'll work for one company for life. Everyone needs to have a backup plan."

Aiger was clearly used to this kind of thing. "It's no use finding out. It'll be the same if someone else takes over."

That's why there's a saying in Hollywood: profit is the most important thing, loyalty only exists in dogs.

In Hollywood, ability is the least useful thing; whoever can bring in profits is the most suitable candidate.

Loyalty? Hollywood doesn't have that word.

Even couples who swear oaths before Jesus know perfectly well that they're each doing their own thing, so don't expect anything else.

"What about Paramount?" Iger needed to resolve the administrative issues, and Ernst didn't want to get too involved. He was more concerned about the shipwreck of the century.

Paramount is interested in the Titanic project, but they are asking for $7000 million.

Ernst laughed angrily, "Are you still asleep? I'm not Japanese, you idiot."

In Hollywood, the Japanese are synonymous with being taken advantage of, and the root of all this is Columbia Pictures.

When Sony acquired Columbia, Coca-Cola offered $35 per share, valuing the company at over four billion dollars. Keep in mind that their own shares were only $12 per share, with a market capitalization of just over two billion dollars.

But who could have imagined that after some haggling, Sony would finally agree to the acquisition for a total price of $35 billion, and also assume $16 billion in debt, spending a total of more than $5 billion.

At the time, the entire Hollywood was shocked; dislocated jaws were commonplace.

We've all seen plenty of suckers, especially in Hollywood. But this is the first time someone's been ripped off like this.

And the next move, spending over five billion US dollars to acquire Columbia, is nothing.

In an effort to appease American public opinion, Sony hired two incredibly incompetent Americans to take the helm of Columbia Pictures.

In Sony's eyes, the two are well-known Hollywood producers, but in fact, Jon Peters, the number one troublemaker, was originally a hairdresser and reportedly didn't even graduate from junior high school.

When he was the producer of Superman, he demanded that Superman not wear the iconic costume or fly, and that he fight with the giant spider, which drove the director crazy.

Peter Guber, the second culprit, is a college graduate, but his reputation in the industry isn't great either.

When producing Spielberg's films, the renowned director insisted that the contract stipulate that he could be the producer, but he could not set foot on set.

Sony was unaware of all this. Not only did it spend $200 million to acquire the two men's loss-making company, but it also spent $800 million to help them sever ties with Warner. The two men had caused Sony to lose $32 billion during their five years at Columbia.

Sony, a company that can even ruin its own operations, actually took a liking to these two.

Since then, Columbia Pictures has been synonymous with being a sucker, and it's still being ridiculed.

A project that most commentators would definitely lose money on, now that someone has taken it over, it's good enough if they don't lose money. Paramount actually wants to make a fortune off Ernst, do they really think he's Japanese?

"At $7000, did Paramount think the Titanic was a diamond-encrusted model ship?"

Iger's expression was strange. He paused for a moment and then said, "Tom Jacobson said that the lead actress, Kate Winslet, can talk to you."

Ernst laughed in exasperation, loosening his tie. "That little bitch isn't worth ten million dollars, not even if she's studded with diamonds."

Having acquired Paramount's large ship stake, Ms. Rose is now like meat on a chopping block, completely at their mercy.

Ernst saw Tom Jacobson's behavior as nothing more than making a fool of himself.

"Tell them it's $60 million, payable in four installments, and MGM won't pay a penny more."

Ernst felt utterly nauseous at the old man who kept watching them, smiling and raising his glass in greeting.

"Do you want to meet with him? He came here today specifically to finalize this deal."

He downed the brown liquid in his glass and casually handed it to a waiter who happened to be passing by. "I'd better pass. I'm afraid if I saw that face, I wouldn't be able to resist throwing a punch."

Ernst, a well-known playboy in Hollywood, never imagined that one day he would be taken for a virgin.