Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 285 The Unspoken Favor

Damn it, when did the capitalists, who never knew what moral integrity was, become so humane?Tang Huan was very puzzled.

The composition of Apple's personnel is relatively complicated. Since the beginning of starting a business in a garage, it has successively had a group of veteran employees with low diplomas, part-time or full-time. These people are the part of Apple that has not been allocated stock benefits after it went public. group.

Most of the employees recruited next are highly educated talents like the current CEO of EA Hawkins. Of course, there are also some people who have dropped out of school but are extremely talented, but there are many of them with special attributes such as secondary school. The characters, because Jobs did not mix with recruitment, and his employment standards are quite unique.

Therefore, as the CEO, Mike Scott is really difficult and laborious in company management. In addition, he also has problems with his health. His temper is sometimes irritable and sometimes eccentric. A strong dose of medicine was given, and Tang Huan planned to treat the mess quickly. Tang Huan could also predict it.

As for Mike Scott being on leave, it is purely a normal state of the company's political struggle.

You should know that although IBM-PC is known as a new generation of 16-bit personal computer, in order to reduce costs, the CPU it uses is a shrunken version of Intel 8086, Intel 8088. The internal registers of both are 16-bit, but the external data of the latter The bus is 8 bits, not a full 16-bit CPU.

The Apple IIe platform, an upgraded version of the Apple II, already has a large number of applications, especially Zheru's business software, and its performance may not be bad.

Therefore, in the actual market competition, IBM-PC did not have the overwhelming advantage as soon as it debuted, as I thought. If you want to make money in this field, you have to do it step by step. For example, you must first let people get started. The Apple IIe, a big hit in the market, misfired.

Obviously, if Apple is bad-mouthed by others and loses its market reputation, Tang Huan's hope that Apple IIe will be entangled with IBM-PC may be greatly affected, which naturally arouses his great attention. Hurry back to Silicon Valley to see what's going on, don't hide any follow-up conspiracy behind your back.

Taking advantage of the release of Apple IIe and the rise in Apple's stock price, Tang Huan sold most of his Apple stock and offered to resign as a director.

But Markkula disagreed. Although Jobs didn't say anything, he tacitly kept him.

In the end, Tang Huan became an independent director, and his relationship with Apple was inextricably linked.

Therefore, he got some inside information. This time, Apple's high-level personnel changes are not as simple as it seems to the outside world.

Scott, who had a good personal relationship with Markkula, even planned a board coup, trying to drive away Jobs, Markkula and other unscrupulous company founders, so that Apple could become what he considered a "normal" company .

Moreover, this action has also received the support of many factions, and there is a tendency to connect with each other.

It has to be said that Scott's resentment seems to be worthy of sympathy.

Markkula belonged to a hedonistic group and neglected corporate affairs; while Jobs was arbitrary, diverting more and more corporate resources to the MAC project team.

In addition, the three founders of Apple, Jobs, Woz, Markkula, and Zheru founder Tang Huan, have established a complex relationship through mutual shareholding, and the right to know about their decisions often excludes Scott. Or ignore his opinion.

Just like this year, Apple exchanged its Zheru shares for Apple IIe. Scott didn't take it seriously. However, the market performance of Apple IIe was very strong, and even Apple's stock price rose a lot, which made him temporarily swallow his anger.

Perhaps because of Woz's fading out of Apple, Scott, who was exhausted but could not get comfort, saw the hope of changing the world, and with some hints and support, he went to war.

However, the status of the founder is extraordinary. Markkula and Jobs joined forces to extinguish Scott's uprising.

And it is said that Jobs was very proud and avenged Scott for agreeing to expel him from the Lisa project team.

Regarding Apple's troubles, Tang Huan was very overwhelmed. He naturally supported Markkula's measures to maintain Apple's stability. With foreign enemies now, what's the use of internal fighting?

"The company is calm now." Markkula handed over a document with a wry smile, "This is the report to be submitted at the special board meeting, take a look."
Tang Huan flipped through it casually, and it turned out to be some content explaining the relationship between Apple and Zheru to shareholders.

For example, the gentlemen's agreement between the two parties to cede the Asian, especially Japanese, market to the first generation of Fangyuan Computer was essentially just a formality. Apple II did not have Hanka technology and could not gain a foothold in this market. It was better to give up decently.

Moreover, to this day, the first-generation Fangyuan computer has not entered the US market through official channels as agreed.

For another example, the Apple IIe exchanged for Zheru's shares in his hand has produced major benefits in terms of market sales, stock market response, company product planning, etc., and is absolutely worth the money.

In addition, Zheru not only helped Apple expand its market share through killer applications and best-selling video games like Tetris, but also authorized patents on mouse control technology and more.

In short, Zheru and Apple have benefited each other for a long time, and there is no question of who takes advantage of the other.

Tang Huan put down the report and smiled knowingly, "It's okay to put it out in the open and talk about it."

"I hope to be more convincing in terms of patent licensing." Markkula looked at Tang Huan eagerly, "The graphical support features of CGrid and WordEasy on the operation interface are very eye-catching, and the Lisa and MAC project teams also As we continue to overcome various difficulties in this field, we will undoubtedly advance the research and development progress if we communicate with each other.”

Tang Huan thought for a moment, and finally nodded, "Yes. However, we need to sign a detailed agreement, so as not to cause disputes in the future and hurt our friendship."

"It seems that successive lawsuits with Universal and IBM have made you more cautious." Markkula shook his head with a smile.

"How to do it, you can arrange someone to find Chambers. I won't attend Apple's board meeting in person, and I still have things to do." After Tang Huan finished speaking, he got up and left.

……

Tang Huan never thought that Huanhuan could settle the debt in one go.He then flew directly to Los Angeles, just to go to United Artists headquarters and test the results—a preview of the upcoming movie.

Andy Albert led his subordinates to welcome the big boss into the office respectfully.

After Lianmei became Tang Huan's toy, it can be said to have received preferential treatment. For example, the previous deficits were not considered, and the company structure remained stable.

This made many people feel a little bit smug, thinking that the boss is a soft persimmon, and they inevitably became arrogant about their talents.

But when they saw what happened to MGM after it fell into Tang Huan's hands, they suddenly became as silent as a cicada.

A special team composed of senior professionals in the fields of consulting, accounting, auditing, etc., directly stationed in the MGM headquarters, began a series of operations that are said to be called "shock therapy".

The closure and transfer, salary adjustment and job rotation have really seriously repaired MGM, and it is not over yet.

If the shareholders are dissatisfied, they will buy your shares. If the employees are dissatisfied, they will ask you to find another job.

Seeing this scene, the original Lianmei employees suddenly realized that they were too naive, how could a billionaire who has climbed so fast be a good man and a faithful woman.

Tang Huan took a glance and found that David Begelman, the CEO and president of MGM——David Begelman also came to join in the fun.

This man was the head of MGM when Kirk Kerkorian was in power, and he still had a professional manager contract for several years, so Tang Huan did not change.

Anyway, the other party caused public outcry during his previous tenure in Colombia due to "misappropriation of public funds" and left a criminal record. If you are not satisfied with his performance at any time, you can easily kick him away.

"The distribution rights of the movie you are looking at have been negotiated." Andy Albert handed over a document.

Seeing Tang Huan start to read, Andy Albert not only smiled wryly in his heart, because several movies on the document were originally distributed by Universal Pictures, and it took a long time to successfully cut off the beard.

This clearly still remembers Universal's hatred, Andy Albert secretly speculated.

Tang Huan re-watched three movies that were supposed to be released by Universal Pictures: "The Four Seasons" - "On Golden Pond" - "Golden Pond", "Conan the Barbarian" - "The Barbarian" Conan", among which "Four Seasons" will be released soon.

The theme of this movie is a romantic comedy, with an investment of 650 million US dollars. The original box office in time and space was more than 5000 million US dollars. How could Tang Huan leave a movie with such a high income to be distributed by Universal Pictures, which had offended him.

"We've already seen the clip of "Conan the Barbarian". I'm afraid the footage is too violent." Andy Albert said anxiously.

"You should find a professional to evaluate it. However, the selling point of "Conan the Barbarian" is violence." Tang Huan said while turning his eyes to the column of the leading actor, who was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger .

"By the way, hand over "Conan the Barbarian" to MGM." Tang Huan glanced at David Bigelman, "MGM can't always be this silent."

David Biegelman nodded in agreement and sighed inwardly. Although MGM was much larger than United Artists, it had done nothing for many years and was no longer qualified to compete for favor in front of the boss.

"According to the plan, "Golden Pond" will not be released until the end of the year, but I believe the quality of this movie will not be a problem." It can be seen that Andy Albert's most watched movie is "Golden Pond".

This is not surprising, you know, the leading actors of "Golden Pond" are Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda, three powerful superstars.

"The samples of the 007 movie "For Your Eyes Only" have also been sent." Andy Albert specifically reminded him. He knew that Tang Huan was very interested in this subject and EA was preparing to launch a video game after the movie was released.

Tang Huan pondered for a while, "The release time of "For Your Eyes Only" should be carefully planned, so as not to collide head-on with Paramount and Lucas' "Raiders of the Lost Ark", that movie must be invincible this year. "

The "007" series of movies can be regarded as the most famous brand of United Artists. Of course, Tang Huan does not want it to suffer any setbacks. You must know that any failure is a loss of dollars.

"I've also heard about "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Andy Albert smiled wryly, "The best schedules are those few, and it's really hard to adjust."

After listening to the report made by the top management, Tang Huan glanced at David Bigelman, "I am going to release the MGM movie on videotape, and the manufacturer in Japan has already contacted and is preparing for it. Production, you have to do your best to assist."

Speaking of this, Tang Huan's eyes fell on Andy Albert, "United Artists should also follow up. For example, for those movies that failed at the box office, it might be possible to recover some costs through video tapes."

Andy Albert and David Bigelman quickly nodded in agreement, for fear that Tang Huan would remember last year's "Heaven's Gate" ending in nothing.

After the meeting, lunch, and a short rest, everyone went to the screening room to see how the samples looked.

There are two films in total: "Four Seasons" and "For Your Eyes Only" - "007 Top Secret".

After meeting and exchanging pleasantries with their respective producers, directors and others, the screening also started.

……

After seeing the first batch of results of successfully intercepting Hu Huanhuan, Tang Huan was naturally very happy. This is just a small interest, and there is still a follow-up.

However, because Lin Qingxia went to Xiangjiang to film "The Martial Arts Emperor's Flower", and Deng Lijun did not return to Los Angeles, Tang Huan could only leave his joy to himself.

So, Tang Huan stopped procrastinating. After taking a look at his son, he rushed to the east coast.

Goldman Sachs, the best thug, has finalized the acquisition of Radio Shack.

After meeting, the triumphant John Weinberg and John Whitehead even joked, "Don, is there any new goal, we will take it for you."

"It takes time to digest the things I bought, and there are no new acquisition plans for the time being." Tang Huan waved his hand, "Next, you just need to help me get the big thing done."

"That's really a troublesome job." John Weinberg and John Whitehead immediately felt the pressure and lost the mood of joking when they mentioned this.

……

Due to the sudden death of Charles Tandy, Tandy company executives had huge differences in the future direction of their main business.

Although Radio Shack's normal operations have been largely unaffected, confusion and doubts are inevitable.

I am a chain store of electronic goods, and I always follow the boss who is in the leather business. After all, it is not a long-term solution.

So Tang Huan stepped in and took down Radio Shack logically, with an unbelievable ease.

Gein's counterpart believed that this company from Silicon Valley was a professional in software and personal computers, and it was far more reliable than Tandy, which was in the leather business.

Tang Huan appointed John Roach, John Roach, as the director of Radio Shack.

This person's previous contributions to Radio Shack were mainly reflected in the cheap PC TRS-80, which was called garbage, but it was favored by non-professional users.

It can be said that in terms of sales alone, TRS-80 has far surpassed the other two top PCs - Apple and Commodore.

When inspecting Radio Shack, George W. Bush came over with great interest, and Tang Huan naturally guessed his purpose.

Reagan, who was assassinated on March 3, returned to the Oval Office on April 30. White House staff and cabinet members gave him a standing ovation.

On April 4, he made his first public appearance, addressing a joint session of the House and Senate.

Throughout the entire process, Vice President Bush never went too far, which earned him Reagan's trust and respect.

The basis for this kind of proper response is naturally derived from the tacit favor sent by Tang Huan at the scene of the discovery, and Bush Jr. played the role of spreading the word in the middle.

Of course, since it is tacit, it is impossible for everyone to mention this matter intentionally, and this process is enough to call it a matter of confidentiality.

"Don, the scale of your business is getting bigger and bigger." After meeting, Bush Jr. complimented with a smile.

"Just follow the trend." Tang Huan casually said modestly, and greeted the other party warmly.

Radio Shack is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the home of the Bush family's oil business.

After failing to run for the Texas House of Representatives, Bush Jr. is trying to find a breakthrough in business.

Now that he came to the door uninvited, it must be to further strengthen the friendship between each other and show the friendship of the landlord.

Walking in the rivers and lakes, some people rely on their skills, while others rely on their connections.Whether it is Bush Sr. or Bush Jr., it is obvious that they have done extremely well on the latter.

In the original time and space, since assuming the presidency, Bush Jr.'s intelligence level has been the focus of many media and rumors. Some people even think that Bush Jr.'s IQ is too low.

(End of this chapter)