MTL - Hollywood Lover-Chapter 554 Crazy acquisitions!

  While Disney did not acquire Pixar Animation Studios until 2006, that was in the original time and space, where everything was different.

   "Yes, besides Finding Nemo, I still have many ideas for popular cartoons. I believe it is only a matter of time before Disney is defeated!" Zhang Dongcheng's eyes flashed a bright light, but he was full of confidence in the face of everyone's doubts.

"God, no, you want to challenge Disney? I said, should we make DreamWorks a competitor first? Isn't it too much to list the world's best animation company as the primary enemy all at once? After a while?" Andy kept silent, but he, who has become a world-renowned comedian, still reminded Zhang Dongcheng out of kindness.

  When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but nodded and began to discuss.

   Zhang Dongcheng looked at the unconfident crowd, and he knew that the reaction of the crowd was normal, because Disney's name was so resounding, and what it represented behind it was so powerful.

  Disney is the only major Hollywood company that has not been traded so far. The full name of Disney is TheWaltDisneyCompany, named after its founder Walt Disney. It is a large multinational company headquartered in the United States. In the 1930s and 1940s, it started with Mickey Mouse.

  Today’s Disney is far more than engaged in the animation film industry, including Disney watches, Disney accessories, Disney girls’ clothing, Disney bags, Disney household items, Disney plush toys, Disney electronics and many other industries. Children all over the United States started watching Disney cartoons until they grew up.

  Disney animation, in this era, is the symbol of giants, the only symbol.

  And the DreamWorks mentioned by Andy is another animation film company that has sprung up suddenly.

  DreamWorks Animation (DreamWorksAnimationSKG, Inc.) is an animation studio headquartered in Glendale, California, USA. DreamWorks Animation produces animated films, television shows and short films, including the "Shrek" series, "Madagascar" series, "Kung Fu Panda" series, as well as "How to Train Your Dragon" and "The Wild Ones."

  The box office of the Shrek animated movie is as high as 500 million U.S. dollars, the box office of Madagascar is 530 million U.S. dollars, and the box office of Kung Fu Panda is as high as 630 million U.S. dollars!

   Such an animation company full of vitality and constantly launching new products is still a novice, so it has become Andy's first choice for bullying.

  But no one dares to challenge Disney's monopoly position, even if they are all stars and famous directors.

"Tonight, a mysterious guest will come. Maybe our task of defeating Disney falls on him! Let me wish you luck first! Maybe tomorrow, our Dongcheng Pictures will grow again, and everyone's pockets There will be another eye-catching return data!" Zhang Dongcheng looked at the time, it was almost time, and that important person should also come.

"OK, let's go out first, and hear the good news from Smith later!" Nicholas was the first to stand up and applaud everyone. Anyway, the matter of making money is left to Director Smith and Zhang Da, and he is only responsible for paying the money. Come out and invest in shares, and then wait for dividends, it's that simple!

   Everyone glanced at each other, nodded in agreement, and retreated one by one, but Yang Qi quickly walked in and said to Zhang Dongcheng: "Boss, he is here!"

   "Really? Please come in!" Zhang Dongcheng stood up and adjusted his clothes. This person is not as casual and relaxed as Nicholas and the others. He is a person who will change the world in the future!

   What he has to face is the leader of Pixar Animation Studios, Steve Jobs.

   On February 24, 1955, Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco, USA.

  His birth was obviously not lucky, and he was abandoned by his biological parents just after he was born.

   Fortunately, Paul? Jobs and Clara? Jobs - a well-meaning couple adopted him and gave him the best education.

   On December 12, 1980, Apple's stock went public. In less than an hour, all 4.6 million shares were sold out, and the market closed at $29 per share that day. Based on this closing price, Apple's executives have produced 4 billionaires and more than 40 millionaires. Jobs was number one as company founder.

Since Jobs' business philosophy was different from that of most managers at the time, and IBM launched personal computers and seized a large market, the general manager and directors blamed the failure on Chairman Jobs, and in April 1985, the board of directors resolved to revoke the company. His management power. Jobs left Apple on September 17, 1985 after unsuccessful attempts to regain power several times.

   At that time, Jobs sold all Apple stocks angrily, and declared that Apple would regret it, vowed to do a bigger business than Apple, and then rushed into another field with money without hesitation.

   In 1986, Jobs spent $10 million to acquire Lucasfilm's computer animation effects studio located in Emeryville, California, from George Lucas, and established an independent company, Pixar Animation Studios. After that, the company became a well-known 3D computer animation company, and launched the world's first full 3D stereoscopic animation film "Toy Story" in 1995.

  In 1996, Apple's business was in trouble, and its market share fell from 16% at its peak to 4%. Correspondingly, Jobs' company became famous because of "Toy Story", and his personal net worth reached 1 billion US dollars.

If what Jobs said when he left, Apple regretted it, and the intestines of regret were almost green, but Jobs still came back in the midst of Apple's crisis. After returning, Jobs made drastic reforms, stopped unreasonable R&D and production, and ended Years of patent disputes between Microsoft and Apple, and began to develop new products iMac and OSX operating system.

   Later, the frenzy and sales frenzy of iPhones needless to say, Apple, with a market capitalization of more than 600 billion US dollars, surpassed the total value of the Russian stock market!

   Such business miracles were all created by Jobs. He is Zhang Dongcheng in another field, from scratch, from small to large, from ordinary to extraordinary.

   "Hello, Mr. Jobs, I have been waiting for you for a long time!" Zhang Dongcheng stood up, smiled at the man who was striding towards him, and stretched out his hand in advance.

"Hello, my little friend, although I am much older than you, I dare not pretend to be big in front of you. You have a huge number of fans, and I dare not provoke you!" Jobs grabbed Zhang Dongcheng's hand and shook it firmly. This shows his enthusiasm. For the youngest Oscar-winning director, Jobs has already heard of him.

   Zhang Dongcheng looked at Jobs in front of him. Now he is not as thin as in the future, and his hair is not so gray, but his eyes are as startling as in the future consultation, bright and sharp enough to be scary.

   This may be the commonality of visionaries.

   "Please sit down, Mr. Jobs. What would you like to drink?" Zhang Dongcheng warmly greeted Jobs to sit down, and asked courteously.

  In this world, apart from the President of the United States, there are not many people who can make Zhang Dongcheng courteous.

   "Aha, let's have a cup of coffee, I can't live without it!" Jobs said humorously, but it was true as he said, as a technology madman, he had very little sleep time every day and relied on coffee to refresh himself.

   "Although the coffee is good, don't be greedy!" Zhang Dongcheng also joked and asked Yang Qi to make a few cups of coffee.

   Chatted with Jobs broadly, and after a while, Jessica came in with two cups of coffee, and served them to Zhang Dongcheng and Jobs obediently.

  Jobs looked at Jessica and suddenly said, "Oh, God, are you the one who played the murdered girl in the perfume? Jessica Alba?"

  Jessica turned around and smiled when she heard the words: "Yes sir, I'm glad you still remember me."

   "Of course, my God, that is one of the most shocking movies I have ever seen. Mr. Smith's film company is really amazing!" Jobs said in admiration.

   "Try Jessica's coffee, I once said that she is the best coffee-making girl among all the beauties." Zhang Dongcheng laughed, watching Jessica give him a wink, and then backed out.

  Jessica knew that Zhang Dongcheng and Jobs were discussing important matters, so it was natural that as few people were present as possible, she served coffee and left consciously.

   "GOOD! This coffee is good, it's wonderful!" Jobs sipped his coffee, said uncontrollably, and then took another sip.

  Zhang Dongcheng laughed, and suddenly said to Jobs with firm eyes: "Mr. Jobs, I took the liberty to invite you this time because I have something to discuss with you."

   "Oh, what's the matter? Do you also want to buy a share of our Apple stock?" Jobs smiled and took up the conversation.

  The coolest thing in the world is to buy all the money in Apple stock in 2000, and then wait for the rocket to go straight to the sky!

   But for Zhang Dongcheng, such a simple thing is not any fun. What he wants is not Apple, but another company that Jobs has in hand.

  Pixar Animation Studios!

   "It's like this. I heard that you and Disney have been a little unhappy recently..." Zhang Dongcheng also took a sip of his coffee, looked into Jobs' eyes, and said seriously.

Although Pixar and Disney have a cooperative relationship, they are not very compatible. Disney tried to acquire Pixar Animation Studio several times, but all of them failed. It was less than the price Jobs wanted.

In the original time and space, in 2003, seeing that the cooperation between Disney and Pixar animation was so successful, the two parties began to discuss the issue of contract renewal. Disney wanted to continue to release all the animation films produced by Pixar, but in January 2004, the negotiations broke down. The reason was that the CEO of Disney at the time, Michael Eisner (Michael Eisner) and Jobs were at odds, and the two despised each other. Eisner called the characters made by computer animation "very poor", and Jobs called the sequel made by Disney "disgraceful". , the key is that the price has not been negotiated.

In addition, in 2004, after the unprecedented success of "Finding Nemo", Jobs began to feel unbalanced in his heart. He obviously made things by himself, so why did Disney share more money than himself, so he asked to share all the rights of the film with Disney. Also rejected by Disney. So Jobs announced that he would no longer cooperate with Disney after the release of "Cars" in June 2006.

  However, Jobs did not immediately find another new love after his talks with Disney collapsed, but waited to see the appointment and performance of Disney's next CEO. The smart Jobs knew that Disney could not do without Pixar, without Pixar Disney would suffer heavy losses, and the new CEO would definitely sit at the negotiating table and negotiate terms with himself. Later it turned out that everything was as Jobs expected.

  Although Disney plays an important role in the field of animation production, its strength lies in the traditional two-dimensional hand-drawn animation, and it does not have much advantage in the market where 3D or computer animation is rampant. With the rise of computer animation newcomers such as DreamWorks, Disney's big brother status in the animation arena has been shaken unprecedentedly. Since "The Lion King" in 1994, Disney has never been able to independently create a classic animated film. After choosing to cooperate with Pixar, the films were all hits, giving Disney a taste of the sweetness of computer 3D animation. Now, Jobs, who failed to renegotiate the conditions, announced that he would terminate the cooperation after the expiration of the term in order to threaten Disney. Disney didn't believe it for a while and left Zhang Butcher, but also ate long-haired pigs, and decided to copy Pixar's success, be independent and self-reliant.

   In November 2005, Disney launched its first computer animation film "ChickenLittle" (ChickenLittle). While its $279 million global box office performance was solid, it was still far behind even Pixar's lowest-grossing "A Bug's Life," which grossed $363 million worldwide, Pixar's highest. "Finding Nemo" even reached a global box office of 864 million US dollars. Disney suddenly lost confidence in its ability to replicate Pixar's success.

And the animation department is very important to the entire Disney Group. All of Disney’s businesses—movies, television, theme parks, and consumer products—are all driven by the animation business. The business unit's earnings grew globally. Disney's new CEO, Robert Iger, who took office in October 2005, was very clear about this point, so when he took office, he declared that reviving Disney's animation strength would be his top priority, and on the fourth day of November At the quarterly financial meeting, he vowed: "Animation is still and will be the heart and soul of Disney."

  Since copying is not possible, and Pixar is inseparable from the cash cow, according to Merrill Lynch statistics, half of Disney’s profits from the film business in recent years have come from Pixar’s contribution. The most direct and once-and-for-all method is to acquire. Owning 100 percent of Pixar would be a boon for Disney's resurgence, especially for sequels to Pixar's "Finding Moment" franchise, which are expected to add $1-2 billion to the company's revenue over five to six years.

Therefore, Robert Iger, who had just taken office for a few months, proposed to the board of directors a plan to acquire Pixar. After continuous and in-depth discussions, on January 24, 2006, Disney’s board of directors passed a resolution to acquire Pixar for US$7.4 billion. And on May 5, 2006, hours after Pixar shareholders agreed to be acquired by Disney, the acquisition was officially completed. The acquisition is Disney's biggest deal since it bought ABC 10 years ago.

Like Disney, which must be bought, if Zhang Dongcheng wants Dongcheng Films to enter the animation market, he must grab Pixar Animation Studios before Disney. First, it can strengthen itself, and second, it will completely sink Disney. The dilemma of cartoon launch.

  The contradiction between Disney and Pixar has existed since the beginning of the cooperation.

   Hearing Zhang Dongcheng's words, Jobs was also a little surprised. These quarrels are only behind the scenes and have not spread to the outside. Why is this Dongcheng as clear as a spy buried in the two companies?

   "Pixar and Disney are not happy, but those are small things." Jobs said calmly, obviously very experienced in business negotiations.

"Dongcheng Pictures needs an animation department. We need an animation company that has the potential to overturn the super warship Disney. Dongcheng Pictures wants to acquire Pixar. Well, Mr. Jobs, let's make a price!" Zhang Dongcheng seemed Knowing that Jobs was not only a technical madman, but also a super genius in business, he didn't leave any room for him, so he just came up with his own ideas.

   Jobs was really taken aback. This young Smith Zhang, who was only 26 years old, was as domineering and free as he was when he shot a movie, and he didn’t even have any concept of money.

   This multi-billion-dollar acquisition case, didn’t you have to go back and forth for more than a dozen rounds, and then squeeze each other until the last minute before the deal was completed? Why is it as simple and straightforward as buying instant noodles in a mall?

  This Smith Zhang is really crazy!

"Are you really going to buy Pixar Animation Studios?" Although Jobs, who was called the leader of Joe's gang by later generations, had seen everything in the business world, he couldn't help being suspicious when faced with Zhang Dongcheng's arrogance. He really wondered if his ears were broken.