America’s Road To Wealth

  Chapter 137 Exclusive interview

   In addition to MGM Movies in the United States, there is also a MGM Phantom Group.

   This MGM Phantom Group was the parent company of MGM Films more than 20 years ago.

   After Kerkorian first sold MGM movies.

  MGM Mirage Group, the relationship with MGM Films was spun off.

   Since then, MGM Films has become independent, and MGM Mirage Group is another company.

  MGM Mirage Group's main business is hotels, real estate and gambling, and its main business is concentrated in Las Vegas, Nevada.

  It is Kerkorian's core corporate industry and the uncrowned king of Las Vegas.

  What Abel bought from Kerkorian this time was just an MGM movie.

  If it is replaced by MGM Mirage Group, it is a giant with more than 200 of the top 500 in the United States. Don't even think about it without more than 10 billion US dollars.

  MGM Mirage in Las Vegas.

  MGM movies, like the other Hollywood Big Eight, are all in Los Angeles.

   October 31st.

  Los Angeles, MGM Movie Headquarters.

   This headquarters building is currently the most valuable property of MGM.

  It is 22 stories high and was built in the 1980s.

  The current associated land value is about 220 million US dollars.

  However, the building has long been mortgaged and used in exchange for loans to maintain the company's development.

  MGM's entire company, except for things like employees that cannot be used as collateral.

  Basically anything of value, including film libraries and copyrights, are mortgaged.

  This is why it has such a high debt ratio.

   After all, if you want to borrow money, you always need some collateral.

   Then take these things as collateral.

   On the top floor of the headquarters building, in the company's largest conference hall.

  The entire MGM executives are gathered here today.

  They received the notification yesterday.

   Abe Smith, who has never appeared since the acquisition of MGM Films for nearly a month.

   Will be here for the first time today, chairing today's meeting.

   Regarding Abel's arrival, the entire management is basically panicked.

  The United States does not have the saying that a new official takes office three fires, but it also has a similar habit.

  With a new boss, the company will never continue to be the same.

   And among the panicked management.

  The calmest,

   Instead, it is the current CEO of MGM, Alex Yemenije.

   Alex Yemenije took over MGM just last year and has been in office for less than a year.

  The reason why he seemed calm was that Alex Yemenije knew that others might not leave.

   But he himself will definitely be fired.

  Because Alex Yemenije is from Kerkorian, or the kind of confidant.

  The company has changed bosses, and he, the confidant of the original boss, cannot stay in the same position.

  Abel and Kerkorian have a private agreement, and they have already arranged for Alex Yemenije.

   Alex Yemenije, the reason why he can continue to serve as CEO after nearly a month has passed.

   This is because Abel needs this guy.

   During this month, maintain and integrate MGM.

  Abel, through Kerkorian, kept Alex Yemenije in office for another month.

   is to let Alex Yemenije be Abel's knife this month.

   Nearly a month's time.

  Alex Yemenije cut down many projects that Abel didn't like, and abolished some bloated departments throughout the company.

  The MGM with 1440 employees has been streamlined to the early 1000s.

  The knife had completed its mission, and Alex Yemenije knew it was time to be thrown away.

   Fortunately, his old boss, Kerkorian, has reassigned him to work at MGM Mirage.

   Alex Yemenije no longer has to worry about the future, and this month's bad guy is very enjoyable.

Of course.

  The cost of laying off company departments and company employees in the United States is very high.

  Alex Yemenije fires employees so cool that squid can be fired.

  That is also a new boss.

  The reason why the new boss is very rich and doesn’t mind spending money to get fired.

   Today Alex Yemenije, at this high-level meeting where Abel will also appear.

  The only thing he wants to know is who will succeed him as the new CEO of MGM Movies.

  At nine o'clock in the morning, the door of the meeting room was pushed open on time.

  The original MGM film executives who came in half an hour earlier.

  They saw a handsome, tall young man and walked in first.

   Abel Smith!

  Everyone immediately recognized the identity of the person in front of them.

  After all, since this month, the number of times he has been out of the country in the media of the United States is too many.

  Behind Abel, Wu pressure followed six or seven people.

   are all high-level executives of MGM movies, unfamiliar faces they don’t know.

  In the oppressive atmosphere, Abel did his part, walked to the main seat in the meeting room, and sat down directly.

   Those who came with him. Standing silently behind him, they were uniformly dressed in black suits, giving these former high-ranking people a sense of oppression.

   "Good morning, everyone."

  After taking their seats, everyone saw Abel smiling and saying:

   "I won't introduce myself. Everyone should know me. Those who don't know me don't need to stay in the company."

  After the somewhat grim opening remarks.

  Abel looked directly at the silent Alex Yemenije on the left.

   "First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Alex Yemenije for his dedication to MGM in the past year."

   "But now I think Mr. Yemenije, he is no longer suitable to continue to be the CEO of our MGM movies."

  Alex Yemenije, who had been mentally prepared for a long time, heard Abel call his name.

  He stands up calmly and with ease:

   "Yes. Due to personal work and personal ability issues, I will no longer continue to serve as the CEO of MGM Films."

   "Okay." Abel nodded in satisfaction, "Mr. Yemenije, you can go out and collect things now. Thank you for your dedication to MGM."

   Alex Yemenije nodded calmly, he turned and left, and walked out of the conference room.

   As a private agreement between Abel and Kerkorian.

  Alex Yemenije, the knife borrowed by Abel.

   Played his last role as a knife, severely deterring those high-level executives from the original MGM movie that remained.

   Let these high-level people realize that the new boss is playing for real today.

  The CEO was fired as soon as he came up, and the CEO didn't even struggle to resist.

   Alex Yemenije is like this, let alone them?

  The uneasy atmosphere in the conference room intensified again.

  Then they heard the voice of the new boss again, making them focus on a man in his fifties.

   This man,

   was one of those suits that came in with Abel.

  This person looks gentle and elegant, and when he smiles at the moment, he even looks a bit like Mickey Mouse.

   "Let me introduce to you, this is Mr. Robert Iger. He was the chairman of Disney Animation before, but next he will become the CEO of MGM."

  Abel's voice was calm and unhurried, and he introduced the elegant and gentle Robert Iger.

   "Now we have Mr. Iger, please introduce yourself."

  Disney's animation chairman, come to be our CEO?

  MGM executives were in shock.

  But Alex Yemenije had just been fired, and the boss sat on it again.

  Robert Iger's entry did not encounter any resistance.

  This person who looks exactly like Mickey Mouse has been the CEO of Disney for fifteen years in a parallel time and space, and he has single-handedly made Disney's elite in Hollywood smile.

  Under Abel's guidance, he stood in front of the seat where Alex Yemenije was sitting just now.

   "Hi everyone, I'm Robert Iger. Maybe many people don't know me, but you should know me now."

   "No mistake, I was the chairman of Disney Animation in the past. But I was moved by the sincerity of Mr. Abel Smith, and he invited me to work here at MGM."

   "I am very happy and hope that in the next time, I can work with you to make MGM more brilliant."

  Robert Iger's voice is also the same as his appearance.

  Gentle and elegant, it doesn't sound aggressive.

  Abel nodded beside him, applauding in his heart that David Jones was able to recruit such a talent.

   Due to the sudden acquisition of MGM this time.

   Now that MGM is in the hands, Abel has not found a suitable candidate to take charge of MGM in his own talent pool.

  He thought about it and found that his side was the most suitable for this job.

   There are only two Michaels, Ovitz and Levine

  But these two Michaels, one is now the president of caa, and it has not been two months since he took office again.

   It is not certain whether it can be done well, after all, Ovitz was working as an intermediary before.

  The other is the president of Isha and ab Smith Entertainment, Michael Levine.

  Isa and AB Smith entertain, it's important to Abe.

  Abel could not find a manager who could replace Michael Levine, who he could trust and be capable of.

  In addition, Michael Levine may not be able to be the president of MGM, he was also an intermediary before.

  Besides these two, Abel has no other talents who are suitable to be the head of a film company.

  When you are helpless,

  David Jones suggested to him that he might be able to find someone through a headhunting company.

   This is the best way when there is no one on your side.

   Abel agreed.

   Then David prepared five candidates for Abel through a headhunting company.

  Among the five candidates, Abel picked Robert Iger at a glance.

  This Disney animation chairman who just took office not long ago.

   Mainly he remembered,

  In parallel time and space, the person who later replaced the current Disney president Michael Eisner and became the new Disney president was named Robert Iger.

   Combined with this Robert Iger's experience.

  Abel confirmed that this is Robert Iger.

  Bringing Disney in parallel time and space to the number one position in Hollywood.

  He immediately asked David Jones to contact the other party, and then asked the headhunter to make a move.

  Robert Iger originally didn't want to leave, he had been in Disney for several years.

   It was hard to become a top management, and there are still many shareholders on Disney's side who like him.

  However, Abel has money.

  Abel offered him an annual salary that was twice as generous as his current salary as the chairman of Disney Animation.

   There are better benefits than him at Disney.

   There is also the equity dividend that he cannot get in Disney in the short term.

  MGM can provide it here.

   And Abel also promised,

   MGM lacks the most funds, and it will no longer be lacking in the future.

  Before that, Abel had already waved his hand.

   won James Cameron's latest mega production.

  The budget of 500 million US dollars will be given as it is given.

  Whether it is Hollywood or the American entertainment industry, there has never been a boss who has been so generous.

  Although Abel's behavior was privately ridiculed by those entertainment giants as "people are stupid and rich in money".

   But this kind of person is a boss with a lot of money.

   Isn’t it Robert Iger’s favorite type of professional managers?

  The salary can be doubled immediately, the benefits are good, and there is still the right to dividends in the future.

  The boss is generous in terms of funds and budget.

  Robert Iger hesitated for a week and finally decided to resign.

  After resigning, he immediately came to Abel and took over as the CEO of MGM Films.

  Alex Yemenije was fired by Lightspeed.

  Robert Iger's appointment as MGM's new CEO has been uneventful.

   Wait until Robert Iger takes the position of president of the company.

  Abel started a new appointment.

   Outside the CEO.

  CFO and CHO,

   That is, the chief financial officer and chief personnel officer were also replaced.

   These two positions,

  Abel directly promoted two outstanding employees from Smith Capital by airborne.

   Then the original general manager of Marvel Entertainment was appointed as one of the vice presidents of the company.

  The former general manager of Marvel Pictures, a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, was appointed as the deputy director of the film and television department of MGM.

  Several former high-level executives of Marvel have fully integrated into MGM movies.

  Marvel, with two or three kittens, officially became a subsidiary of MGM Films.

  A series of new appointments, new personnel.

  The original MGM executives naturally had to move their positions.

   Some were fired directly, some changed jobs, and some were demoted.

  Cooperate with Alex Yemenije, who used the knife on the middle and lower levels of the company.

   It can be said that for a while, the entire MGM movie was completely new.

   And when all these personnel appointments were completed, Abel asked the new CEO Robert Iger to speak again.

  Robert Iger is not long-winded, he has long been prepared.

   This one is in a parallel time and space, after 2015.

  The elite manager who has been rated as the number one among the 100 most powerful people in Hollywood many times, has made many MGM executives feel refreshed when he opened his mouth.

  Robert Iger says:

  “.We need to invest most of our time and money into creating high-quality branded content.”

  “.We need to embrace technology to the greatest extent, use technology to create higher-quality products, and then reach more consumers through more advanced and accurate methods.”

  “.We must become a truly global enterprise.”

  “.”

  After Robert Iger finished speaking, Abel came out to make a closing statement.

   “I am different from Robert Iger. I trust him and give him the company.”

   "And what I can do is to support him and MGM."

   "Here I announce that I will inject another 500 million US dollars into MGM later!"

   "Well, that's it. That's the end of the meeting, please work hard."

   By this time, in the conference room.

   For the first time, there was sincere applause.

  500 million USD funding

   None of the parent companies of Hollywood's Big Eight have ever been so generous!

   But Abel did.

  Five hundred million U.S. dollars has been injected in front to invest in Cameron's new film and the development of new technology for film shooting.

   Now another $500 million has been injected, two injections, more than a billion dollars.

  Such a generous, rich and rich boss.

  Don’t talk about MGM before.

  In the entire Hollywood or the entire American entertainment industry, there is no second one.

   Such a "stupid and rich" boss, which worker doesn't like it?

End of the meeting,

  Robert Iger started working without stopping.

  He led the senior management to another place for another small meeting.

  That is the main dish of MGM today, and will determine the work of MGM in the next period of time.

  For example, which movie to shoot, which TV series, which company to cooperate with, and so on.

  Abel's side, he didn't leave.

   After everyone had left, David Jones walked in.

   "BOSS. The New York Observer reporter is waiting outside."

   "Oh?" Abel was taken aback for a moment, then remembered this incident.

   That is, he intends to let the "New York Observer" weekly magazine conduct an exclusive interview with himself.

  At the same time, this is also his first formal interview with the media since his head was reborn.

In fact, before this, several of the largest newspapers in the United States, including but not limited to "Wall Street Journal", "New York Times", "Los Angeles Times", "USA Today", "Washington Post", etc., have initiated interviews with him invite.

   "Forbes", "Fortune", "Times" and other current affairs, financial weekly and monthly magazines also invited him for interviews.

   Even fashion magazines like "Vogue" have similar invitations.

  Basically, it can be said that due to the existence of Smith Storm.

   Nearly half a month.

  All famous and unknown newspapers, magazines, and TV stations in the United States.

   have sent him an interview invitation.

   But these invitations were all declined by him.

   Just kidding, he has his own magazine and newspaper.

   This first time,

  Do not keep your own magazines and newspapers to enhance the popularity of these magazines and newspapers.

   Is it cheaper than other competitors?

  The "American Sun" received him a wave of enthusiasm, coupled with the temptation of bonuses.

   Gained fame in a very short period of time, increasing daily sales to 800,000-900,000 copies per day.

   Even among these sales, maybe half of the people bought it without watching it, just to join in the fun and get bonuses.

   But it was successful enough. Didn’t you see imitators already appearing in the market?

   Someone imitated the American Sun newspaper bonus and came up with something similar.

   The bonus is as high as 10 million US dollars a month, which is ten times more than that of the "American Sun".

   It's just that the other party doesn't have Abel's popularity, and there are a lot of imitators, so the popularity has been robbed a lot.

  There is not much movement at present.

   Not like the American Sun because Abel is the boss.

  Everyone is very friendly to his character design, and they want to see what makes his newspaper different.

  This is why the popularity is so high, and the sales volume is so high.

  The newspaper bonus can only be regarded as the icing on the cake.

   Without his enthusiasm, just engage in this kind of marketing. If it was useful, smart capitalists would have used it long ago.

   Don't wait until Abel invents it.

   To have the popularity of Abel first, and then carry out this kind of marketing, there will be the popularity of the "American Sun".

   The American Sun is up

   Of course, Abel can't favor one person over another.

  The "New York Observer" has been waiting for food for a long time, and the entire editorial department came to kneel and beg the boss.

   It’s just that Abel felt that the timing was inappropriate, so he never agreed.

  This time he felt that the timing was right, and he let go.

   already dispatched the most elite team of reporters.

  The "New York Observer", which had been waiting by the boss's side, naturally ran over.

   "Then let's interview here." Abel said:

   "There is no need to change to other places. I will take a cover photo later, and I can also take pictures of the MGM logo on the back to add a little more heat."

  David Jones nodded: "Okay, I'll let them in."

  (end of this chapter)