Chapter 907 The Plan Is Completed

Century City, Relativity Building.

"At the first board meeting after the Disney shareholder meeting, bickering was the only theme."

Robert Iger told Ronan about the latest situation, "I never thought that Disney's kindest Dick Cook would fall to Ryan Kavanaugh and David Ellison."

Ronan was also a little surprised, saying, "Ryan Kavanaugh and David Ellison are very attractive."

Having said that, when wealth accumulates to a certain stage, people will always exude all kinds of incredible charms.

Robert Iger said, "Dick Cook's change of position has given Michael Eisner a strong dissenting voice on the board."

Ronan said directly, "Let's go to war as much as we want, and hope this war can last for a few more years." He then said, "Is the deal settled on Wall Street?"

Wall Street is shorting Disney, but the considerable initiative is in the hands of Relativity Entertainment, and the horn of attack can only be sounded by Relativity Entertainment.

The two sides are united because of their interests. Although Ronan did not participate, he still has to strive for the greatest possible benefits for Theory of Relativity Entertainment.

Robert Iger said, "It's settled. They have gained a lot this time, and our conditions are far from reaching the bottom line, so the negotiation is relatively easy.

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He added that “these firms, led by Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, have provided the PIF with a one-time investment of a total of US$1 billion at a fixed rate of return of four percent per annum for a period of four years.”

Ronan said, "The average family is less than 150 million US dollars, which is not bad."

"Such a rate of return is too low in the eyes of Wall Street." Robert Iger said, "They would rather play a Ponzi scheme than a stable fixed income."

He also said, "With this amount of funds and the completion of the acquisition of Pixar Studios, Relativity Entertainment can still maintain a very healthy financial chain."

Ronan nodded and asked "When will we announce?"

"Tomorrow." Robert Iger said, "They're ready."

A few days before Christmas in 2005, Robert Iger, the CEO of Relativity Entertainment, announced through Netflix’s official Netflix sharing account that due to huge irreconcilable differences in the negotiations, Relativity Entertainment had completely suspended the agreement with Walt Disney's cooperation negotiations.

A team of Relativity Entertainment, which had been visiting Disney headquarters in Burbank every day for talks, also withdrew to the Relativity Building.

A day later, Steve Jobs also announced through the Netflix sharing account that Pixar Studios unilaterally terminated the acquisition negotiations with Walt Disney because they could not reach an agreement on the production concept. After the distribution contract expires, all cooperation with Walt Disney will be terminated.

Not only shared through Netflix, Steve Jobs also stood up and accepted interviews with the media, claiming that he could no longer stand Michael Eisner, an autocratic megalomaniac.

After years of being squeezed by Walt Disney, Pixar and Steve Jobs finally let it out.

The ten-year love-hate relationship between Pixar Studios and Walt Disney is also completely over.

After losing Pixar Studios, Disney Animation Studios' production team headed by Chris Buck and Byrne Howard officially handed in their resignation to Disney and announced their departure.

Michael Eisner didn’t want to see Disney Animation Studios in recent years, coupled with the internal turmoil of power and profit after the shareholder meeting, after the liquidated damages were paid in place, he did not retain the animation production team headed by Chris Buck and Byrne Howard at all. the meaning of.

Although Disney Animation Studio has more than one animation production team, it has lost the most Disney-inherited production force.

Pixar Studio has completely ended its cooperation with Disney, Chris Buck and Byrne Howard's team has left to join Sandsea Entertainment, and the revival of Disney animation will become far away.

For the time being, no one at the top of Walt Disney paid attention to these things. As Disney's stock price fluctuated violently, it caused a series of problems.

These Ronan no longer pay attention, no matter who can control Disney in the end, they will face a huge mess.

After Christmas, Ronan paid due attention to Ang Lee and "Brokeback Mountain"'s Oscar competition.

On the announced list of nominations for the Golden Globe Awards, "Brokeback Mountain" has been nominated for seven awards including Best Director and Best Dramatic Film.

At the same time, the film has also won key nominations in several of the most critical weather vane awards.

Ang Lee was nominated for Best Film Director at the Directors Guild Awards, "Brokeback Mountain" was nominated for Best Film at the Producers Union Awards, and so on.

The Directors Guild's choice of the best director of the year has always been one of the best indicators for the Oscars. In the nearly 70 years of history, only six winners of the Directors Guild Award failed to finally win the Oscar Director Award.

On December 31, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began to distribute ballots to nearly 6,000 judges distributed all over the world, and the Oscar competition entered the sprint stage.

Also on this day, the distribution contract between Pixar Studios and Walt Disney officially expired.

On the first day of the new year, Ronan welcomed the top executives of Pixar studios such as Steve Jobs, Idel Kammel, John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton at the Relativity Building.

Witnessed by all parties, Ronan, on behalf of Relativity Entertainment, signed a formal acquisition agreement with Steve Jobs, representing Pixar Studios.

Relativity Entertainment acquired Pixar Studios in a cash and equity exchange, and Pixar Studios became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Relativity Entertainment.

In the press hall, when Ronan shook hands with Steve Jobs, the media reporters who had already been waiting in the audience pressed the shutter of their cameras to record this moment.

Executives at Relativity Entertainment and Pixar Studios applauded, including a big hug from Robert Lee and John Lasseter, who had initially represented Relativity Entertainment and Pixar Studios.

Both parties are very satisfied with this transaction.

Relativity Entertainment has acquired Hollywood's leading animation content producer and the world's most outstanding animation technology provider.

Pixar Studios has a stable marketing channel and sufficient sources of funding.

Jobs pulled Ronan to stand in front of the media reporters to take pictures together, with a rare bright smile on his face.

Considering Jobs' recent physical condition, the signing ceremony did not arrange an interview session, and Ronan accompanied him back to the lounge at the back, throwing the work of dealing with media reporters to Robert Iger and Edel Kamuel.

Back in the lounge, sitting on the spacious single sofa, Steve Jobs said, "Ronan, I can't imagine that the day when we become real partners will arrive so soon."

Ronan casually replied, "We have always been close partners."

Of course, Jobs had another purpose when he said these words, saying, "I will help you enter Apple's board of directors, and I hope you can support me."

Ronan said solemnly, "As long as you are still sitting in the position of Apple manager, I will be your strongest partner."

Based on previous experience, supporting Steve Jobs is completely in line with his interests in investing in Apple.

Jobs rarely said "Thank you."

Ronan nodded slightly, "You're welcome."

In fact, Jobs has never lacked opponents within Apple, especially the smartphone project, which has been strongly resisted by the personal computer business faction.

There are contradictions within large companies. If they want to develop normally, they must be suppressed to a certain extent, otherwise Walt Disney will be the sign of the past.

Ronan asked, "When will Apple's first-generation smartphone be available?"

Jobs thought for a while and said, "Aim for this year, but the test hasn't been completed yet, so we can't be sure now."

Ronan said directly, "Steve, come out for a trial prototype, remember to give me one."

Jobs said "Yes."

The topic of the two never mentioned Pixar Studio again. With the conclusion of the deal, Steve Jobs no longer has the equity of Pixar Studio in his hands, and Pixar Studio has been owned by Relativity Entertainment.

Ronan and Jobs didn't chat for long, when Laurene Jobs came in and reminded Jobs that it was time to go back and rest.

Since Jobs passed out in India last time, his physical condition has not been very satisfactory. Fortunately, he stayed in North America and did not go to India to receive super treatment from his third brother.

Sending off Steve Jobs, Ronan breathed a sigh of relief. With the acquisition of Pixar Studio, not only the number one animation studio in the industry and the copyright of all its works belong to Relativity Entertainment, but also the crucial animation studio. crafting techniques.

Most computer animation productions in Hollywood today use equipment and techniques developed by Pixar Studios.

Of course, Relativity Entertainment also offered a lot of money for this deal.

Relativity Entertainment acquired Pixar Studios for a total price of 6.3 billion US dollars. The transaction was completed in two ways: cash payment and stock exchange.

Among them, in terms of cash, the Pacific Investment Foundation and the Bank of America provided Relativity Entertainment with US$1.5 billion and US$800 million in investment and loans, respectively. Relativity Entertainment used US$1.7 billion in cash reserves accumulated over the years, a total of 4 billion Dollar.

For the remaining 2.3 billion US dollars, under the condition that Steve Jobs insisted on not giving in, Relativity Entertainment could only exchange the equity of Netflix Network in accordance with Jobs' request.

Steve Jobs got a 4.1% stake in Netflix, becoming the third largest shareholder after Ronan and Goldman Sachs.

However, Ronan still holds 73% of the shares of Netflix Network through Relativity Entertainment, and is still the absolute controlling party of Netflix Network.

A transaction like this to acquire a high-quality company must adopt a premium acquisition method, and Relativity Entertainment is no exception.

As Pixar Studios officially belonged to Relativity Entertainment, the animation production team headed by Chris Barker also joined Sandhai Entertainment and established an independent animation production department-Princess Animation Studio.

So far, the Disney project that Ronan and Robert Iger have planned and operated for several years has been completed.