On the issue of Universal, both Panasonic and Seagram have a very urgent tendency to make a deal. In a few months, the two parties have reached a preliminary agreement. They only need to sort out some final debt information and personnel differences to reach the final deal. trade. ▲∴▲∴,
In the past few months, Michael Eisner has been lobbying Edgar Bronfman, the helm of Seagram, to help him kick Michael Ovitz out of the world. The various misconducts of Universal President during this period.
Michael Ovitz was used to using the aa account to meet his extravagant personal expenses when he was in aa. aa is a private partnership company and does not need to pay attention to financial reporting issues like a listed company. Michael Ovitz As the founder of aa, he also has a very unique position in this brokerage company, so no one dares to question his extravagant behavior. However, after becoming the global president, Michael Ovitz did not have the consciousness to transfer from a private company to a large listed company executive. Expenses for expensive gifts given by Hollywood celebrities should be reimbursed by Universal.
This also created the first point of conflict between him and Michael Eisner. Michael Eisner strongly disagreed with Michael Ovitz's somewhat freewheeling personal way of doing things.
At the same time, Michael Ovitz's strong desire to control in aa also conflicted with Michael Eisner's strong character, which was also the root of the conflict between the two.
In the final analysis, the contradiction between the two still confirms the old saying. One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers.
As Seagram's helm. Edgar Bronfman certainly could not have been unaware of this. Listening to Michael Eisner start to blame Michael Ovitz with the example of the film "Little One" not long after his arrival, Edgar Bronfman also made up his mind to Kick Michael Ovitz out of Universal early.
This is of course the result of Michael Eisner's lobbying, but as the head of a large consortium, Edgar Bronfman thought more about the stability of the company after Seagram acquired Universal. You don't want to buy a movie studio that has a lot of conflict among its top management. Although he is an outsider in Hollywood, Edgar Bronfman also knows that no matter which line he is in. If a company wants to grow and develop, the stability of internal management is a must.
After Eisner finished speaking, Edgar Bronfman said, "Michael, I just want to know one thing, how much will it cost to let Ovitz leave Universal?"
Michael Eisner blushed and coughed twice in embarrassment. If it weren't for the golden parachute agreement he personally instigated at the beginning, it would be easy to kick Michael Ovitz out of the game. In the final analysis, this matter was still his mistake, but Michael Eisner would definitely not Admit it. What's more, he made this decision out of helplessness at the time, and he managed to completely control Universal in his hands. It's not like letting Panasonic intervene in Global's management changes because of heart surgery.
"According to the agreement signed at the beginning, if Ovitz is asked to leave without major decision-making mistakes, Universal needs to compensate him with $50 million in cash and stock options worth another $50 million," Michael Eisner said. Glancing at Bronfman's face, he immediately added: "However, if Ovitz resigns voluntarily, the price Universal will have to pay is that Sony is currently in contact with Ovitz, hoping that he will serve as Columbia's eo. He should It is very likely that he will leave voluntarily. Of course, even if Ovitz is unwilling to voluntarily leave, he can take advantage of the opportunity of this transaction and add Ovitz’s resignation to the transaction contract, so that the Japanese will bear the cost of his resignation.”
After hearing what Michael Eisner said, Edgar Bronfman tapped on the armrest of the seat and pondered for a moment, then said: "Now, please sort out the information about Ovitz that you have said during this period, and I will meet you this afternoon. Submit those materials as evidence that Ovitz is no longer suitable to be the global president to Panasonic's negotiation team, and formally include the terms of Ovitz's resignation in the negotiation conditions."
A look of joy flashed across Michael Eisner's face, he nodded and said, "I'm ready."
…
At the end of 1994, Hollywood became uneasy again. Columbia's internal management began to shake up. Universal Pictures once again faced a change of ownership. Another firefly that starts to glow.
Michael Ovitz put down the "Hollywood Reporter" in his hand, reviewed all the major Hollywood events in the recent period, and was disappointed to find that none of them had much to do with him.
This reminded him involuntarily of a few years ago, when he was still the head of aa, not only did he switch hands among several major film companies, but he also single-handedly led the acquisition of Columbia by Sony and the acquisition of Universal by Panasonic, which involved Billion dollar deals.
But now, although he was very reluctant to admit it, Michael Ovitz still found that after leaving aa, he seemed to suddenly be reduced from a Hollywood trader to a pawn. After running aa for twenty years, Michael Ovitz has accumulated hundreds of millions of net worth, but for someone like him who has been at the pinnacle of Hollywood for a long time, losing power is definitely a hundred times more painful than losing money. Michael Ovitz knew very well that at the moment he sold all the shares in AA, it was impossible to return to the brokerage industry. After the friendship with Michael Eisner broke down, it was meaningless to stay at Universal. Michael Ovitz had to start thinking about his next step. Fortunately, the turmoil in Columbia gave him a chance to make a comeback.
The car drove into the interior of Columbia Studios in Culver City. As soon as Michael Ovitz got out of the car, Nobuyuki Idei had already greeted him with several entourages.
When Sony acquired Columbia a few years ago, Michael Ovitz had already dealt with Nobuyuki Idei, although he felt that Nobuyuki Idei was full of exhaustion and anxiety that could not be concealed. Michael Ovitz still hugged each other warmly.
There are obviously many more oriental faces coming and going in the administrative building of Columbia Studios. Nobuyuki Idei brought Michael Ovitz into Peter Guber's once luxurious office. Except that neither Peter Cooper nor Jon Peters showed up.
After sitting down in the office, after a brief exchange of greetings, Nobuyuki Idei said bluntly: "Mr. Ovitz, you must already know that the current situation in Colombia is very bad, and Sony desperately needs a management that can reverse the current decline." By."
"In Hollywood, any film company will experience ups and downs. Columbia has decades of accumulation. With the support of a large group like Sony, it is definitely only a matter of time before it recovers," Michael Ovitz said eloquently Dao: "Of course, the premise of all this is that this film company needs a qualified manager."
Nobuyuki Idei nodded approvingly, and said, "Then, Mr. Ovitz, since you accepted my invitation today, you must be very interested in the position of Columbia eo, can you talk about how you plan to manage this company first?" ?"
Michael Ovitz thought for a moment. Said: "With all due respect, Mr. Idei. As a film company, there is only one thing for its survival, that is, to be able to produce outstanding blockbuster films and successfully sell dozens of film projects to Hollywood film companies every year. I believe that the entire Hollywood , There are not many people who have more experience in film project operations than me."
Although the three-legged situation of Hollywood brokerage companies has greatly weakened the dominant position of AA, Michael Ovitz's achievements in AA are still obvious to all. The reason why Nobuyuki Idei took a fancy to Michael Ovitz is also mainly Because of his achievements in aa, after listening to Michael Ovitz, Nobuyuki Idei nodded slightly, and said: "Mr. Ovitz, since this is the case, Sony welcomes you to take control of Columbia. What are the requirements for remuneration and other aspects?"
"I don't have high requirements for annual salary, as long as it is the same as..." After a pause, Michael Ovitz realized that Nobuyuki Idei definitely didn't want to hear Peter Guber's name, so he changed his words: "As long as it is equal to the previous one. Yes, but I need to get the due bonuses and dividends after the company's operating conditions improve."
Nobuyuki Idei was very satisfied with Michael Ovitz's conditions, and nodded repeatedly: "Of course, as long as Colombia's business situation can improve, you will definitely get the compensation you deserve. So, is there anything else?"
Michael Ovitz said: "Yes, and the most important point is that I don't want to be constrained by external factors in the operation of the company, so I need to obtain absolute autonomy for Columbia."
Nobuyuki Idei's body visibly shivered when he heard the words 'right to self-management'.
Columbia wouldn't be where it is today if it weren't for the fact that it hadn't handed over the autonomy to two bastards, Peter Cooper and Jon Peters. With the deepening of Columbia's financial audit, Nobuyuki Idei has not had a good night's sleep in recent days. Under Peter Cooper and Jon Peters' squandering and ruining for five years, Columbia's internal operations and financial situation have become shockingly rotten. In order to reduce losses and reduce tax burdens as much as possible, Sony will have to take write-down measures on Colombia’s assets. According to statistics since this period, the amount of asset write-down that Sony will face may reach 2.1 billion U.S. dollars, which will also mean that Sony’s annual financial report will show a sum of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars. Huge losses in dollars.
2.1 billion U.S. dollars!
Since Sony was founded half a century ago, there has never been such a large-scale loss.
Nobuyuki Idei has not yet dared to pass the bad news back to Sony headquarters. Chairman Akio Morita had just suffered a stroke a few years ago. Nobuyuki Idei was very worried when he heard the bad news suddenly. Will Akio Morita do anything wrong? .
Right now, hearing the term 'autonomous management rights' from Michael Ovitz again, Idei Nobuyuki even felt a shuddering feeling, shook his head repeatedly and said: "Mr. Ovitz, we can discuss other conditions. , but please don’t bring up the matter of independent management rights. You have also seen that Sony has suffered enough from independent management rights, and we will definitely not let Colombia go to a manager again.”
Michael Ovitz said: "Mr. Idei, you should understand that I am different from Peter Guber. To be honest, I still don't understand why Sony hired such two incompetent guys. I have enough Confidence that Columbia will run well, but I need enough power and trust. If Sony loses full trust in Columbia's successor because of Peter Cooper, I'm sure it will be difficult for Columbia to recover.Hollywood Different from other industries, what Hollywood film companies need is paternalistic management, not the so-called modern enterprise management mode. If you look at the management structure of the seven major film companies, you will know that I am not lying. There is nothing wrong with Cooper's attitude of decentralization, the biggest mistake is that you chose the wrong person."
A look of hesitation appeared on Nobuyuki Idei's face. He knew that Michael Ovitz's point of view was not wrong, but Sony had just been bitten severely by two 'poisonous snakes'. It was impossible not to be afraid of Iwato.
"Well, it's already dinner time, how about..." Nobuyuki Idei was just about to invite Michael Ovitz to have dinner and continue talking in detail. An assistant knocked on the open door and turned to the two who were talking. come over.
"President, I think you need to take a look at this," the assistant said, looking at Michael Ovitz strangely, and handing a faxed document to Nobu Idei.
Nobuyuki Idei opened the folder curiously. He knew that the assistant would not break into the meeting for no reason, and there must be extremely important information in the file.
After reading a few pages hastily, Nobuyuki Idei raised his head and asked the assistant who was still waiting beside him: "Where did the document come from, and this information... is it accurate?"
"This document was circulated today after Panasonic and Seagram's deal negotiations, and now..." The assistant glanced at Michael Ovitz again, with a hint of gloating in his eyes: "Now...the whole of Hollywood is pass."
Nobuyuki Idei nodded slightly, waved his assistant to go out, read the document in his hand carefully, his brows became tighter and tighter, then sighed slightly, and handed the document to Michael O, who was already showing a disturbed expression. Weitz: "Mr. Ovitz, let's talk about the cooperation between us later, I think you should deal with this matter now."
Michael Ovitz took the document, his expression changed after turning over a few pages, he stood up abruptly, 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 trembling slightly, and after the driver drove, he opened the document again. His expression became more and more angry, and the document in his hand listed a lot of 'evidence' that he was not suitable to be the president of the world.
But in Michael Ovitz's view, this document is completely intended to destroy his career in Hollywood.
Just the accusation of spending $2 million to renovate the office, Michael Ovitz felt that his hope of cooperating with Sony had become very slim. But Michael Ovitz feels that he has the strength to enjoy these treatments.
And then, the proposals he made to poach from other record companies to expand Universal Music's business, increase the investment in the TV department, and invite first-line superstars to cooperate with Universal have all become his "great success" for those who concocted these materials. evidence of.
Although the friendship has been broken, Michael Ovitz still did not expect that Michael Eisner would take such drastic measures against him in order to push himself out of Universal.
I'm already planning to leave voluntarily, why do you still treat me like this.
Why do you want to do this!
The more he thought about it, the more angry he became. Michael Ovitz picked up the mobile phone beside him, and tremblingly dialed Michael Eisner's cell phone.
As soon as the connection was made, Michael Ovitz yelled through gritted teeth: "Okay, your goal has been achieved. Let me tell you, Michael, you don't want to drive me out of Universal. I will use an iron chain to hold me firmly." Strapping myself to my desk at Universal.” (To be continued.)