Reborn America, this is my time

Philoli Estate is located in Woodside, California.

Covering an area of ​​sixteen acres, it was built in 1915.

Its original owner was William Byrne II, the founder of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and San Francisco's largest water supplier. As a large landowner at the time, he built it very luxuriously.

The Georgian Revival-style mansion is a reflection of wealth, and the Renaissance-style garden has more than 150 different roses, making it the most beautiful manor in the Golden Age.

After the death of William Byrne II, the estate was purchased by William Ross, a trustee of the University of California and another wealthy man in the Bay Area. After several stays and renovations, perhaps for tax avoidance reasons, William Ross donated the estate to the privately funded nonprofit organization, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in 1975. .

At this point, the manor was officially opened to the public.

And then...

The visitors who come here have made it a well-known attraction in the Bay Area.

But even though the scenery here is beautiful and the scenery is good, Ethan has no intention of stopping and admiring it at this moment.

After spending half an hour arriving at Philoli Manor from Palo Alto, he walked into the villa under the guidance of the staff. As soon as he entered the lobby, Ethan saw four 'old men'.

One is his old friend Roy Disney, who once coveted "Snake".

Another man was wearing a suit and tie, standing with his hands behind his back.

There were two others standing in a team. Although they were also wearing formal clothes, their heads were slightly bald.

When outsiders take a look, they will know that they are extremely smart.

Before Ethan arrived, they may have looked different.

But after seeing Ethan, the four of them immediately showed friendly smiles and took the initiative to greet him.

"Oh - Ethan - you are so on time -"

Roy Disney was the first to greet Ethan, and then introduced the people around him to Ethan.

"This one is the CEO of General Tire, Thomas O'Neill."

"His father was William O'Neill, the founder of General Tire and the sole heir to O'Neill's Department Store in Akron."

"Oh - hello, Mr. O'Neill."

Ethan extended his right hand to the guy standing with his hands behind his back.

The other party stretched out his hands, embraced them warmly, and said with a smile: "Mr. Jones, I'm glad you accepted our invitation and took time out of your busy schedule to come to the appointment..."

They parted after a few polite words.

As his eyes changed, Roy Disney also introduced the other two people to Ethan.

But before he could speak, Ethan had already opened his arms to a tall man with a smile.

"Michael Eisner, right? I've seen your picture."

Ethan may not know anyone else in Hollywood, but even if Disney's local emperor turns to ashes, he can claim to be famous. There is no way, who made Michael Eisner very famous in his previous life?

And his words also caused the Cub Tyrant to laugh and stretch out his arms to hug him.

After Lian Dao was honored, the identity of the last person was also revealed.

That was Paramount's chairman, Barry Diller.

Since everyone came with a mission, they did not say much polite words. After briefly recognizing each other, everyone came to the meeting room of the manor to discuss possible cooperation.

"Roy already communicated with me yesterday. I understand the conflicts between your two companies and Universal and Disney. Therefore, we will not talk about those historical issues that waste time today."

Although Ethan is a guest, he has the consciousness of being a host.

After sitting down, he took the lead and said:

"Since the issues we are discussing today are related to cooperation, I hope everyone can focus the discussion on the focus of cooperation, which is the exchange of interests that everyone is concerned about."

"In the cooperation initiated by you, Roy Disney needs to produce internal Disney intelligence to prove that Ron Miller is operating under a disease, and at the same time prove that Universal has serious infringements in the use of King Kong's trademark and content. . And he will get your help, under the impact of infringement lawsuits, and in the name of malicious infringement, kick Ron Miller away from Disney, which is most particular about copyright protection."

"In my opinion, this deal is fair for Roy."

"So he can accept it."

"So……"

"what about others?"

"Let's talk about Paramount first."

"Barry, Michael, what is your Paramount appeal?"

Maybe it’s because Universal’s behavior is too abominable, but it’s also possible that annexing Sega is Barry Diller’s biggest wish. Therefore, even though Ethan’s words were very straightforward, the Paramount duo were not surprised. They looked at each other and answered Ethan's question very frankly.

"Our demand is to annex Sega."

Michael Eisner said.

"How to swallow it?"

Ethan didn't understand.

"Even if you kick Ron Miller out of Disney and let Roy take charge of the overall situation, you can't annex Sega, because even if Roy breaks off cooperation with Sega, Sega can still find other companies, similar to Warner, Philips, MGM, let them help distribute it.”

"When you cannot kill Sega's North American sales channels, Sega cannot be easily swallowed up by you. Therefore, I actually don't understand what you can gain from this war."

That's right.

Even though Ethan knew that Ron Miller's interference made Paramount very uncomfortable, he still didn't understand how Paramount could annex Sega after defeating Ron Miller.

In his view, bringing down Ron Miller would not be a real boost to Paramount's takeover of Sega.

Because Warner and Philips are companies with no ethics.

And his doubts also made Michael Eisner change his gaze.

When Michael Eisner looked to the left, the descendant of the O'Neal family immediately spoke and said, "Mr. Jones, I don't know if you have ever seen such a movie."

"It's called King Kong vs. Godzilla."

"It was a movie produced by Neon Company Toho, and the copyright for King Kong was granted by RKO. From that day on, RKO has been cooperating with Toho."

"so……"

"Ron Miller's previous behavior of selling "Godzilla" was actually an infringement."

"The name, trademark and story of "Godzilla" in North America, or the exclusive rights, are all in our hands at RKO. We can file a lawsuit so that Sega will not get a penny."

"King Kong" was born in 1933. After two movies were filmed, the excellent film effects attracted the attention of Neon Toho. Maybe it's because the Neon Man's brain structure is different from other people's. After discovering that King Kong's combat power is similar to Godzilla, Toho wanted them to fight.

Ever since, they communicated with RKO and obtained the authorization to film "King Kong".

Then, in 1962, they created a weird movie——

"King Kong vs. Godzilla."

Since the two parties did not know the price of "King Kong" at the time of the negotiation, and "Godzilla" sold well in North America, RKO, which wanted to introduce "King Kong vs. Godzilla" to North America, exchanged licenses with Dongbao reached a cooperation. Therefore, when this situation occurred, RKO obtained all the rights to Godzilla in North America. in this case……

Sega dares to sell "Godzilla" in North America?

Oh!

This is really a bargain!

In fact, as early as the beginning of this year, when RKO learned that Sega and Walt Disney had teamed up to infringe on their rights, they already wanted to file a lawsuit and bury the two idiots.

If the three major radio and television networks in North America were not watching eagerly from the sidelines, how could they possibly act accordingly? Have you prioritized things and are you ready to take care of them?

According to General Tire's plan, it is to let Sega and Disney be happy for a while, and after he has settled the three major broadcast and television networks in North America, he will then come to these two companies to settle the accounts.

But when Paramount came to the door, hoping that General Tire could use litigation to cut off Sega's cash flow, and General Tire also found that they could use this matter to get on the line with Ethan Jones, they decisively adopted Paramount. Ramon's plan was directly involved...

"I understand what you mean."

"Do you want to eat up Sega's profits in North America through lawsuits and counter-suits?"

"When Roy took over, General Tire immediately filed a lawsuit against Disney, suing them for infringement on the "Godzilla" project, and Roy filed a lawsuit against Sega, accusing them of not providing all the notices during the cooperation. Obligation to directly freeze their income in North America?”

"Then you communicated with Toho and asked them to open fire on Sega under the pretext of seeking accountability?"

"As long as the cash flow of Sega's hot revenue is cut off, Sega's distribution channels in North America are cut off, and they are dragged into the whirlpool of public opinion, Sega's stock price will fluctuate to a certain extent."

"When Sega is in crisis, you Paramount go to negotiate with the parent company..."    "Forcibly annex Sega in the name of controlling channels and solving problems?"

Ethan shook his index finger, tapped the armrest of the seat, and said, "Although there are some loopholes in this plan, such as how to block all Sega's channels in North America, it's not important, right?"

"Since you don't want to tell me, I won't ask further questions."

"Because judging from your plan, this transaction is very profitable."

Michael Eisner and Barry Diller nodded simultaneously.

After getting a bargain, they stopped being nice.

After confirming Paramount's gains, Ethan turned his attention to General Tire and said, "What is your request, is to survive the trial in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals unharmed?"

"of course."

The O'Neill family members laughed very sincerely.

"This is our greatest wish."

"But you should also know that this matter is very difficult to handle."

Ethan stared at O'Neill with a serious face.

"Indeed, I admit that this matter is very difficult to implement, but that doesn't mean it's impossible, right?" O'Neill said pretending to be relaxed.

"Then what are you prepared to pay?" Ethan was too lazy to talk in circles with him.

Looking around, he said: "Everyone, when you have all received satisfactory returns..."

"What can I gain?"

"Or, when you become me, what kind of benefits do you think you need to pay, so that I can stand with you and be the enemy of the three major radio and television networks in North America?"

Ethan’s voice was very calm.

There was a half-smiling smile on his face.

To be honest, he really didn't know what these guys would use to impress themselves!

Or...

Even if he comes today, he doesn't think he can reach a cooperation agreement with these people.

More importantly, it is actually to identify the diversity of human species.

"Oh Ethan - we will definitely show our sincerity -"

Perhaps because the attacks on the three major North American radio and television networks are only related to General Tire, O'Neal is the only one communicating with Ethan now.

After drawing everyone's attention to himself, O'Neill said: "Ethan, the attacks on us by the three major North American radio and television networks have made me understand that in many cases, a company cannot conduct diversified operations in the true sense. , all companies can only specialize in one field and control the upstream and downstream of this field. As for other... if the business leaders have ideas, they can only create another company."

"So, after this incident, I will break up General Tire."

"The rocket production department is one company, the tire production department is one company, the radio and television network is one company, and the film and entertainment department is one company."

"And here, we only have the first three that we have time to take care of."

"As for RKO Pictures..."

"I wonder if Destiny Pictures is interested?"

"If you like them, I'll sell them to you for a dollar."

"how?"

"!" When these words appeared, the other three people present all narrowed their eyes.

Because they know how much RKO Pictures is worth.

Although RKO Pictures has not produced movies for many years, their film library is still very valuable. They have more than 900 movies and nearly 1,100 scripts. The value of these things is at least 25 million. Above, and now...a dollar?

What's the difference between this and click-and-delivery?

However, no matter how wild Thomas O'Neill's price was, everyone present knew that the price was still not enough. After all, the Federal Communications Commission license was priceless.

After losing my license...

General Tire's broadcast business is gone.

That's billions or even tens of billions of business.

No one can just give up.

Just when Roy Disney and others felt that this offer was not enough, Ethan had already shaken his head and said: "Mr. O'Neill, I hope to see your sincerity."

The plain words made Thomas O'Neill laugh and said: "Oh Ethan - can I call you that? I have indeed shown our sincerity, but if you feel it is not enough..."

“We have an eighty-acre resort in Tucson, Arizona.”

“It’s in the pristine Sonoran Desert.”

"There are two hundred and forty-one suites there."

“The annual turnover is around $5 million to $6 million.”

"I heard your Western Design Company is over there?"

"If you're interested, this resort is yours."

"Oh, by the way, its name is Westward Look."

Resorts with an annual turnover of 5 to 6 million generally have transaction prices of more than 50 million.

This can already be regarded as a high-quality asset.

If you add in the RKO film library worth about 25 million.

General Tire is willing to pay $75 million to keep its license.

This is already a very sincere expression, but...

"Mr. O'Neill, you should know that I am not short of money."

Ethan spread his hands slightly and said regretfully: "If you think the communication license can be bought with money, then why don't you just spend money to buy it? It is precisely because it cannot be bought that you want to find me."

"Let me find a way to get in touch with James Wright."

"Let me go against the three major North American broadcast networks and the Federal Communications Commission."

"And this kind of thing..."

"Do you think it can be measured in money?"

The voice fell.

The place was dead silent.

Indeed, if you think about it from his perspective, if they were Ethan, it would be impossible for them to do such a thankless thing. In other words, it is impossible for them to do such a thing for money.

And since it's not about money, then...

Thomas O'Neill thought for a long time and finally said: "Ethan, if there is no problem with my information, then you should be very interested in Walt Disney, right?"

"If you need it, I can bring you at least three percent of Disney stock."

"Of course, the trading price per share may need to be based on the market price."

"But it doesn't matter. I can discount the first two assets and help you pay part of the money."

"This way, you can put at least 3% of Disney stock in your pocket at half the price. How about...are you interested in this deal?"

Thomas O'Neill was quoted with a smile.

Roy Disney listened with a ferocious expression.

When Thomas O'Neill said that he could get at least 3% of Disney's shares, Roy Disney, who was sitting next to him, almost jumped out of his chair!

Because he couldn't figure out how Thomas O'Neill could get Disney stock! (End of chapter)