I’m in Hollywood

Chapter 674

On global issues, both Panasonic and Seagram have a very urgent tendency to trade. In a few months, the two sides have reached a preliminary agreement. It only needs to sort out the final debt information and personnel differences to reach the final deal. trade. ☆→Three☆→Jiang☆→Ge☆→Small☆→Said,

For months, Michael Eisner has been lobbying Seagram's Edgar Bronfman to help him kick Michael Ovitz out of the world, at the expense of Michael Ovitz Various misconduct by Universal President during this time.

Michael Ovitz has been accustomed to using CAA accounts to meet his extravagant personal expenses when he was in CAA. CAA is a private partnership and does not need to pay attention to financial reporting issues like public companies. Michael Ovitz As the founder of CAA, he also has a very unique position in this brokerage company, so no one dares to question his reckless behavior. But after serving as president of Universal, Michael Ovitz did not change from a private company to an executive of a large public company. Instead, he continued to maintain the way of life when he was in CAA. The expenses of Hollywood celebrities giving expensive gifts should be reimbursed by Universal.

This also created the first point of conflict between him and Michael Eisner, who strongly disagreed with Michael Ovitz's somewhat freewheeling personal way of doing things.

At the same time, Michael Ovitz's strong desire for control in CAA also conflicted with Michael Eisner's strong character, which is also the source of the conflict between the two.

In the final analysis, the contradiction between the two still confirms the old saying that one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers.

As Seagram's helm, it's certainly impossible for Edgar Bronfman not to realize this, listening to the example of Michael Eisner starting to hold the little one not long after his own arrival Not to blame Michael Ovitz, Edgar Bronfman also made up his mind to kick Michael Ovitz out of the Globe ahead of the deal.

Of course, there is the result of Michael Eisner's lobbying, but as the head of a large consortium, Edgar Bronfman thinks more, or the stability of the company after Seagram's acquisition of Universal. He didn't want to buy a film company with conflicting top management. Although a Hollywood outsider, Edgar Bronfman also knows that no matter what line of business, a company wants to grow. Stability of internal management is a must.

After Eisner finished speaking, Edgar Bronfman said, Michael, I just want to know one thing, how much would it cost to let Ovitz leave Universal?

Michael Eisner blushed. Embarrassedly, he coughed twice. If it wasn't for the golden parachute agreement that he personally pushed,

It's easy to kick Michael Ovitz out, and it boils down to his mistake, but Michael Eisner certainly wouldn't admit it, let alone making the decision at the time It is also out of helplessness that he managed to fully control Universal in his hands, unlike Panasonic's intervention in Universal's management changes due to heart surgery.

According to the original agreement, if Ovitz is asked to leave without a major decision-making error, Universal will need to compensate him with $50 million in cash and another $50 million in stock options. Michael Eisner said, Glancing at Bronfman's face, he immediately added: However, if Ovitz voluntarily resigns, Universal will have to pay a much smaller price. I heard that Sony is currently in contact with Ovitz, and I hope he As a Colombian, he should probably leave voluntarily. Of course, even if Ovitz is unwilling to leave voluntarily, we can take advantage of this transaction opportunity. Add Ovitz's resignation to the transaction contract and let the Japanese assume him severance costs.”

After listening to Michael Eisner, Edgar Bronfman knocked on the armrest of the seat and pondered for a moment, then said: That's it. You can sort out the information about Ovitz that you said during this time, and I will meet in the afternoon. Submit those documents to Panasonic's negotiating team as evidence that Ovitz is no longer fit to serve as global president, and formally include the terms of Ovitz's departure as negotiating conditions.

A look of joy flashed on Michael Eisner's face, nodded and said, I'll prepare now.

...

At the end of 1994, Hollywood was once again unsettled, Columbia's internal management began to shake, and Universal Pictures was once again facing a change of ownership. The already eye-catching Huahua Pictures lived up to expectations and emerged as a big hit with Mission Impossible, just like another firefly that started to shine.

Michael Ovitz put down the Hollywood Reporter in his hand, went through all the major Hollywood events in the recent period, and was disappointed to find that all this had nothing to do with him.

This reminded him of a few years ago, when he was still the head of CAA. He not only turned around among several major film companies, but also led Sony's acquisition of Columbia and Panasonic's acquisition of Universal. A multi-billion dollar deal.

But now, even though he is very reluctant to admit it, Michael Ovitz still finds that, leaving CAA, he seems to have suddenly been reduced from a Hollywood trader to a pawn. In the 20 years of running CAA, Michael Ovitz has accumulated a fortune of billions, but for someone like him who has been at the top of Hollywood for a long time, losing power is definitely a hundred times more painful than losing money. Michael Ovitz knew it was impossible to get back into the brokerage business the moment he sold his entire stake in CAA. After his friendship with Michael Eisner broke down, staying at Universal had no meaning, and Michael Ovitz had to start thinking about his next step. Fortunately, the turmoil in Colombia gave him a chance to make a comeback.

The driver entered the Columbia Studios in Culver City. As soon as Michael Ovitz got out of the car, Nobuyuki Idei came up with a few entourages.

When Sony acquired Colombia a few years ago, Michael Ovitz had already dealt with Nobuyuki Idei. Although he felt that Nobuyuki Idei was filled with an indescribable exhaustion and anxiety at this time, Michael Ovitz still He hugged each other warmly.

There are obviously many more oriental faces coming in and out in the administration building of Columbia Studios, and Nobuyuki Idei even brought Michael Ovitz into Peter Cooper's former luxurious office, but Peter Cooper and John Neither Peters showed up.

Sitting down in the office, after a simple greeting, Nobuyuki Idei said bluntly: Mr. Ovitz, you must already know that Colombia is in a very bad situation. Sony desperately needs a management that can reverse the current decline. By.

In Hollywood, any film company will go through ups and downs. Columbia has decades of accumulation, and it has a big group like Sony behind it. It's definitely only a matter of time before it gets better, Michael Ovitz said eloquently Dao: Of course, the premise of all this is that this film company needs a qualified manager.

Nobuyuki Idei nodded in approval and said, Then. Mr. Ovitz, since you accepted the invitation today, you must be very interested in this location in Columbia. Can you talk about how you plan to manage this company? ?

Michael Ovitz pondered for a moment and said: With all due respect, Mr. Idei, as a film company, there is only one thing for its survival, and that is to be able to make excellent blockbuster films. During my time at CAA, I will tell Hollywood films every year. The company has successfully marketed dozens of film projects. I believe in all of Hollywood, few people have more experience in film project operations than I do.”

Although the three-legged situation of Hollywood brokerage companies has greatly weakened the dominance of the CAA family, the achievements made by Michael Ovitz in CAA are still obvious to all. The reason why Nobuyuki Idei took a fancy to Michael Ovitz Because of his achievements in CAA, after listening to Michael Ovitz, Nobuyuki Idei nodded slightly and said, Mr. Ovitz, in this case, Sony welcomes you to take control of Colombia. I don't know if you are in the annual salary. What are the requirements for treatment, etc.?

I don't have high requirements for the annual salary, as long as it is with... After a pause, Michael Ovitz realized that Nobuyuki Idei definitely didn't want to hear Peter Cooper's name, so he changed his words: As long as it is the same as the previous one That's fine. But I need to get the bonuses and dividends I deserve when the company's business conditions improve.

Nobuyuki Idei was very satisfied with Michael Ovitz's conditions, and nodded again and again: Of course, as long as Colombia's business conditions can improve, you will definitely get your due reward, then. Is there anything else?

Michael Ovitz said: Yes, and the most important point, I don't want to be constrained by external factors in the process of running the company, so I need to obtain absolute autonomy in Colombia.

Nobuyuki Idei's body shuddered when he heard the words 'self-management rights'.

If it weren't for the two bastards, Peter Cooper and Jon Peters, who gave autonomy to the two bastards, Columbia wouldn't have been reduced to where it is now. With the deepening of Colombia's financial audit, Idei Nobuyuki has not had a good sleep at all in recent days. After five years of profligacy and ruin by Peter Cooper and Jon Peters, Colombia's internal operations and financial situation have rotted to an alarming level. In order to reduce losses and reduce tax burdens as much as possible, Sony will have to take write-downs on Colombia’s assets. According to statistics from this period, the amount of asset write-downs that Sony will face may reach 2.1 billion US dollars, which will also mean that Sony’s annual financial report will appear a sum of 2.1 billion US dollars. Huge losses in dollars.

$2.1 billion!

In the half century since its establishment, Sony has never experienced such a large-scale loss.

Nobuyuki Idei has not yet dared to send this bad news back to Sony headquarters. Chairman Akio Morita had just experienced a stroke a few years ago. Nobuyuki Idei was worried that he would hear this bad news suddenly, would Akio Morita do anything wrong? .

Now, hearing the term 'self-management right' from Michael Ovitz once again, Nobuyuki Idei even had a shuddering feeling, shook his head and said, Mr. Ovitz, we can negotiate other conditions. , but please don’t bring up the issue of self-management rights. You can also see that Sony has suffered enough from self-management rights, and we will definitely not let Colombia go to a manager again.”

Michael Ovitz said: Mr. Idei, you should understand that I'm different from Peter Cooper. Seriously, I still don't understand why Sony hired such two incompetent guys in the first place. I have enough I have the confidence to run Columbia well, but I need enough power and trust. If Sony loses full confidence in Columbia's successor because of Peter Cooper, I'm sure Columbia will have a hard time recovering. Hollywood Unlike other industries, Hollywood studios need a paternalistic management style, not a so-called modern corporate management model. If you look at the management structure of the seven major studios, you will know that I am not lying. There is nothing wrong with Cooper's delegating attitude, the biggest mistake is that you chose the wrong person.

A hesitant look appeared on Idei Nobuyuki's face. He knew that Michael Ovitz's point of view was not wrong, but Sony had just been bitten by two venomous snakes, and it was impossible not to be afraid of the rope.

Well, it's already dinner time, why don't you... Nobuyuki Idei was about to invite Michael Ovitz for dinner and continued to talk in detail when an assistant knocked on the open door and turned to the two who were discussing things. People came over.

President, I think you need to take a look at this, the assistant said, looking at Michael Ovitz strangely, and handing a fax to Nobuyuki Idei.

Nobuyuki Idei opened the folder curiously. He knew that the assistant would not barge into this meeting for no reason. The file must contain extremely important information.

After hurriedly reading a few pages, Nobuyuki Idei raised his head and asked the waiting assistant, Where did the document come from, and this information...is it accurate?

This document came out after the deal talks between Panasonic and Seagram today, and now... The assistant glanced at Michael Ovitz again, with a hint of schadenfreude in his eyes: Now... the whole of Hollywood It's spreading.

Nobuyuki Idei nodded lightly, waved his assistant to go out, carefully read the document in his hand, frowned more and more tightly, then sighed softly, and handed the document to Michael O, who was already showing an uneasy look. Weitz: Mr. Ovitz, we should talk about our cooperation later. I think you should deal with this now.

Michael Ovitz took over the document, just turned a few pages before his face changed greatly, stood up suddenly, and said to Nobuyuki Idei: Mr. Idei, I'm sorry, I think I need to leave.

Hurrying out of the office, Michael Ovitz got into his car with a trembling body, and after the drivers drove, he opened the document again. The expression became more and more angry, and the document in his hand listed a lot of 'evidence' that he was unfit to be the president of Universal.

But in Michael Ovitz's view, the document was all about ruining his Hollywood career.

Just because of the accusation of spending $2 million to renovate the office, Michael Ovitz feels that his hopes of working with Sony have become very slim. But Michael Ovitz feels that he has the strength to enjoy these treatments.

Afterwards, poaching from other record companies to expand Universal's music business, increasing investment in the TV department, and inviting first-line superstars to cooperate with Universal, all the suggestions he once put forward have become his 'good luck' to those who concocted these materials. evidence of.

Although the friendship has broken down, Michael Ovitz still did not expect that in order to squeeze himself out of the world, Michael Eisner would take such drastic measures against him.

I have already planned to leave voluntarily, why are you still doing this to me?

Why do this!

The more he thought about it, the more angry he became, Michael Ovitz picked up the mobile phone beside him and dialed Michael Eisner's phone tremblingly.

As soon as the connection was connected, Michael Ovitz gritted his teeth and shouted: Okay, your goal has been achieved, I tell you, Michael, you can't drive me out of the world, I will use an iron chain to hold me firmly. I tied myself to my desk at Universal. (To be continued.) SJGSF0916 Baidu search to read the latest and most complete novel!