Heads Up Hollywood

Although Tang En invested in an animation studio, Sillywood, he never thought that a layman could make a good animation film.

Therefore, his pursuit of the animation industry still focuses on Pixar!

Jobs devoted a lot of effort and money to Pixar animation.

Since Jobs bought the Industrial Light \u0026 Magic animation department from George Lucas and changed its name to Pixar, he has invested heavily in this computer studio!

At that time, Jobs' total assets were only 200 million U.S. dollars, but between the acquisition of Pixar and the release of the first movie, he successively invested more than 70 million U.S. dollars, putting one-third of his family fortune into it.

Thankfully, Pixar really lives up to it!

In 1995, the first fully computer-generated animated feature film in history was born - "Toy Story".

The movie, which cost $65 million, earned $373 million at the box office worldwide, making it the world's box office champion that year!

In the same year, Pixar went public, and Jobs, who owned 70% of Pixar's shares, jumped to more than $1 billion and entered the rich class.

It is precisely because of the success of Pixar that Jobs was given enough financial guarantees to allow him to abandon everything, concentrate on his business, and return to Apple!

At the beginning, in order to please Apple shareholders, Jobs didn't even ask for holding Apple stock, asking for salary, and not asking for options. There was only one requirement, and that was to regain power!

Even NEXT, which had a market value of US$500 million at that time, was acquired by Apple in a "cash + stock" situation of US$150 million, just to return to Apple.

In the end, Jobs's repeated interest concessions finally persuaded the shareholders' meeting to regain control of Apple.

The reason for all this is because Jobs has Pixar's stock protection, he can pay more benefits.

Now, Dunn's goal was directed at Pixar, which naturally aroused Jobs' vigilance.

Seeing Jobs' terrified expression, Tang En smiled, "Steve, you should be clear, in the final analysis, I am a filmmaker, and Hollywood is the circle I pay the most attention to."

Jobs frowned, displeased.

He smelled a threat.

Tang En seemed to be threatening Pixar with Apple.

"what do you want?"

Jobs has a bad temper, but now that he is in a weak position, he should try his best to bear it.

Tang En said with a smile: "If you pay attention to Hollywood news, you should be clear that I originally wanted to buy DreamWorks Animation, but he rejected it. But the animation industry... those old diehards in Hollywood may not see the future of animated films , but I understand."

Jobs looked sullen, and stared into Tang En's eyes, "So you got Pixar's idea?"

"Pixar has the best animation production team in the world, and the several films it has shot are all great. If Pixar can be merged into Dunn Pictures, I believe it will be of great help to the industrial development of Dunn Pictures."

Tang En's eyes were clear and he talked eloquently, but he made no secret of his expectations for Pixar.

"You want to buy Pixar?" Jobs narrowed his eyes.

Tang En said: "If possible, I am willing to initiate a privatization acquisition immediately."

Jobs said in a deep voice, "What if I refuse?"

For him, there is a big difference between Pixar and Apple.

The real power of Apple is in the hands of the shareholders' meeting, and Jobs is only the spokesperson elected by the shareholders' meeting.

As for Pixar, Jobs firmly remembered the lesson that he was blasted away by Apple. Although there have been reductions in recent years, 70% of the total share is still in his hands.

In other words, Jobs is the king of Pixar animation! He can do whatever he wants!

Regardless of how Tang En showed off his financial means in the market, he didn't want to sell, and Tang En couldn't buy it no matter what.

Tang En laughed loudly, and patted him on the shoulder like an elder, "Steve, you are too serious! I came here today to talk about cooperation, not threats."

Jobs curled his mouth slightly, unmoved.

Tang En pointed to the waves under the bridge, "Do you know surfing? Even the best players can't rush up against the waves. When the waves are getting closer, the surfers will adjust the direction of the head of the board and follow the direction of the waves." Paddle. This is a fight against the waves, but every time the players will follow the trend under the impact of the waves, they can also get the thrill of galloping the waves."

Jobs shook his head, ignoring Tang En's metaphor of high school level, and said lightly: "Now it's a stock market crash, and Pixar's stock price has also been greatly impacted. In the past few months, the market value has dropped by 400 million US dollars. Moreover, Pixar The potential of the film is far from that, we have moved into a new office building, and there will be new movies released during Christmas..."

Tang En waved his hand, interrupted quickly, and looked at him in surprise, "Steve, I'm helping you!"

"help me?"

A sneer appeared on Jobs' face.

Tang En took it for granted, "Yes, I can buy them all in cash. At that time, you have enough funds in your hands, and you can buy Apple stocks! With my help, the stock price will not be too high!"

Tang En's current influence is too great, and he is also the largest shareholder of Apple. If he sends out a signal that he wants to sell Apple's stock, it will definitely create a negative momentum, and retail investors will sell crazily.

With a few simple operations, Dunn and Jobs could even privatize Apple.

However, Tang En's thinking was obviously too selfish.

"Twain, you really don't know how to negotiate." Jobs shook his head frequently, laughing angrily, "Pixar's prospects are very bright, you should be aware of this. After one or two more movies are released, Pixar's stock price will not be a problem. But Apple...do you think I'm an idiot?"

Tang En was stunned and a little dumbfounded.

He thought he had shown the greatest sincerity, and even expressed his willingness to sacrifice part of his personal image. The two teamed up and used some financial tricks to control Apple.

But Jobs... He made it clear that he was not optimistic about Apple!

Jobs thought Pixar had better prospects than Apple!

Tang En took a breath, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he really didn't know what to say.

It is true that Pixar's prospects are very good. In five or six years, its market value can quadruple to more than $6 billion.

But how does this compare to Apple?

The current market value of Apple is only 5 billion US dollars. What about 10 years later? $300 billion! 15 years later? $700 billion!

What a world of difference!

It’s just that he didn’t expect that Jobs, who wanted to return to Apple after leaving his family and business, didn’t have enough confidence in Apple, and he wasn’t even willing to exchange Pixar’s stock for Apple’s stock...

Tang En touched his nose, a little speechless, and said in embarrassment: "Well... I thought you had great confidence in Apple."

"Of course I have confidence, but..." Jobs shook his head, "This is the same as investing in movies. Even the best directors will not invest their own money in movies. This is the reason. Directors must be full of confidence in their movies. , but the future is blank, and no one can predict it.”

Tang En laughed and said, "My movies are all invested with my own money."

Jobs' words froze, and he said, "You are an exception!"

Dunn already understood that it was no longer feasible to get Jobs to abandon Pixar and invest heavily in Apple.

"Steve, don't get me wrong. The reason why I bought so many Apple stocks is just to cooperate with you. After all, your focus is on Silicon Valley, and mine is on Hollywood." Dunn took a breath and said seriously, " But don't worry, I don't mean to threaten, I agree with you being in charge of Apple."

Jobs took a deep look at Tang En, and his complexion improved. He pondered for a while, "I'm still a layman when it comes to movies, so Pixar... When the right opportunity comes, I will choose to sell it."

What is the right opportunity?

Naturally, Pixar's market value satisfied Jobs' appetite. Anyway, he is not short of money now, so there is no need to rush to cash out.

Tang En understood what he meant and smiled knowingly, "Okay, as long as you sell it, I'll buy it!"

For cooperation, Twain made a gesture of favor, and Jobs would naturally reciprocate.

In any case, Tang En is now the largest shareholder of Apple, and he has a great voice, which is very important to Jobs.

"By the way, there is one more thing. Pixar and Disney have signed a cooperation agreement for 5 movies, counting the already released "Toy Story", "A Bug's Life" and "Toy Story 2", two future Pixar movies , have to be handed over to Disney for distribution.”

When it comes to Disney, Jobs is a little annoyed. He hates Disney's big boss Michael Eisner. He even made up his mind a long time ago. After completing this contract, he opened his mouth. If Disney doesn't cooperate, then he will cooperate with another film company.

Now that Twain appeared, and he was Disney's opponent, Jobs was happy to see Twain and Disney confront each other.

In this way, Pixar, which is caught in the middle, will gain more benefits.

Tang En frowned, "This is really difficult!"

Generally speaking, the producer can only get profit sharing, while the issuer gets the right to use.

In other words, although the movie is produced by Pixar, Disney has the final say on the copyright authorization of the movie, and it will definitely enter Disneyland and gain more benefits.

Of course, this was not the result Tang En wanted to see.

Pixar is in his pocket, but Pixar's animated characters are attracting tourists for Disney, isn't it a joke in the world?

"No, the distribution rights can no longer be handed over to Disney!"

Tang En gritted his teeth, with a firm expression on his face, beyond doubt.

Jobs looked at him in surprise, "But the contract has been signed."

"Then just buy it out! At worst, I will pay for it!"

If Disney hadn't pulled out those moths before, Twain might have given them some chances, but now...they don't want to make any money from Twain.

This time, Jobs was even more astonished, and looked at Tang En in disbelief.

This young man really has an unusual idea!

Have courage and courage!

Apple and Microsoft are also competitors, and are even fighting copyright lawsuits now. On the other hand, Jobs and Bill Gates have a very good relationship, and the two companies also cooperate in many aspects. Microsoft is also a shareholder of Apple.

Like Tang En, once he challenged him, he would never communicate with each other...

It is even more iron-fisted and domineering than Michael Eisner!