Heads Up Hollywood

Dunn could predict that Jobs would make up his mind and break with Michael Eisner completely.

But he really didn't expect that Jobs would sell Pixar to Dunn Films like a shipwreck!

For Pixar, Tang En has long coveted it, and has long wanted to have it in his pocket. This is the top animation studio in the world today!

Not only that, Pixar also has a strong software development department. Many application software of Pixar animation are independently developed. Even the current Mac computer interface and the USDZ format in the AR experience in the future are products of cooperation between Apple and Pixar.

Pixar is especially good at post-processing of videos and beautification of visual effects. It will be a valuable asset when it launches streaming videos in the future. It will complement each other when combined with Netflix.

"Steve, to be honest, your decision is shocking!" Tang En said sincerely.

Jobs looked at Tang En indifferently, "I still say the same thing, the buyout of the contract is not good for me, but I don't want to make it easier for Michael Eisner, so...you can do it for me."

Tang En was both funny and angry.

Unilateral buyout of the contract, even if it complies with legal procedures, will have a bad reputation in the Western culture that generally values ​​integrity.

Jobs had a bad reputation at Apple and was expelled from the board of directors by the shareholder meeting controlled by Wall Street. Now, he was bitten by a snake once and afraid of well ropes for ten years.

Wanting to fight back against Michael Eisner without ruining his reputation, Jobs' sale of Pixar to Dunn was indeed a wishful thinking.

If Pixar was in Tang En's hands, would the distribution agreement between Pixar and Disney still exist?

Jobs wanted to use Dunn's hand to teach Michael Eisner a lesson!

Of course Tang En was happy, "Well, I understand what you mean. I am Pixar's second largest shareholder, owning 15% of the shares. To be honest, sooner or later, I will acquire Pixar, but I didn't expect that this day would It came so fast."

Jobs said: "In the past few days, I have communicated with shareholders, and I told them that I will no longer have any dealings with Disney! Pixar's cartoons will be removed from Disney's list! But they objected my decision."

Tang En smiled and said: "But you are the major shareholder of Pixar, with more than 50% of the shares, and you have absolute control. Their opposition is useless, right? In order to cash out before Pixar's stock price plummets, they will definitely agree to you selling Pixar Thoughts. But in my opinion...Steve, your methods are too weak, you have absolute control, you can do whatever you want in Pixar, they have no right to interfere!"

Jobs shook his head, "I don't want the relationship with investors to become so tense, but I've made up my mind to sell Pixar to Dunn Pictures."

Tang En nodded and smiled slightly, "No problem, at the current price of Pixar's stock price, at a premium of 10%, we will buy it in full!"

The current Pixar has a market value of more than 1.8 billion US dollars. To acquire it at a premium, Tang En Pictures will have to pay at least 2 billion US dollars!

Fortunately, Twain Pictures is rich now, with a book fund of more than 8 billion U.S. dollars!

Spending 2 billion to acquire Pixar, with the remaining 6 billion US dollars, it is difficult to buy Universal Pictures, but it doesn't matter, Tang En Pictures has almost no debt now, and can use debt to buy it.

John Last sat quietly on the sidelines. He could not participate in this kind of topic. He only had less than 3% of the shares in Pixar, and Jobs followed suit.

Looking at Tang En who was sitting in the front right, this young man whose greenness has not even faded, is he about to become his own boss?

John Last shook his head, feeling that this world is truly miraculous.

Jobs said in a deep voice, "About the acquisition... Tang En, you can't acquire it in cash. This method has great obstacles and is not conducive to the stability of the new company."

"Huh?" Tang En raised his brows slightly, "You mean... stocks?"

Jobs said: "The model of cash and share exchange is the most appropriate. Shareholders who want to cash out can take the money and leave, and shareholders who have expectations for the new company can continue to hold shares. Of course, I have high expectations for you. Not even a penny in cash."

Cash transactions are not the main means of large-scale mergers and acquisitions, because shareholders after cashing out have to pay capital gains tax.

This part of the tax can be exempted by stock replacement.

Holding stocks is the largest and safest way to avoid taxes in the United States!

For example, Buffett, the second richest man in the United States, pays only a few million dollars in taxes every year. The most fundamental reason is that his property is all stocks.

No matter how high or how much the stock rises, as long as you don’t cash out, you don’t need to pay capital gains tax. You only need to pay 20%-30% dividend tax when the holding company distributes dividends.

According to Jobs, if Pixar shareholders are not optimistic about the prospects of the new company, they can choose to cash out; if shareholders are optimistic about Tang En's ability, they can choose to hold shares in the new company. (Unlisted companies can also have shares, but the shares are not freely traded on exchanges.)

Tang En's face was a little ugly.

Why did Dolby Laboratories not complete the acquisition for a long time?

It is because Dr. Duby and his son are not satisfied with the all-cash acquisition method, which would pay too much tax, and they hope to sell the company in the form of "cash + stock".

But the problem is... Twain Films is still a private company, Twain is the only shareholder, and it hasn't undergone shareholding reform yet.

Tang En's expectations for Tang En Pictures were so high that he almost invested all his funds in it.

With Tang En Pictures' full efforts in film, TV, animation, etc., the valuation of Tang En Pictures will become higher and higher!

That is to say, the sooner the shares are reformed, the more Twain will pay for taking out the same shares. This is why Tang En has not reorganized the property rights structure for so long.

However, Tang En Pictures has grown to its current scale, and it has become more and more difficult to acquire more companies with high-quality potential if it does not carry out a shareholding reform.

It used to be Dolby Laboratories, and now there is another Pixar studio!

In many cases, equity M\u0026A is more attractive than cash M\u0026A!

Jobs seemed to have seen through Tang En's mind, and said: "The business sector of Tang En Pictures is already very large. To manage such a large company well, there must be corporate cohesion. It is far from enough to have a slogan and a mission. It is true , 'New order, new model, new power, new Hollywood', this is a great goal, but interests can unite everyone!"

Tang En shook his head and looked at him with a half-smile, "Steve, are you sure you want to eat me?"

"I do not understand what you mean."

Jobs looked calm.

Tang En said deeply: "I suddenly feel that you are setting me up? On the surface, you were irritated by Michael Eisner and wanted to teach him a lesson by selling Pixar to Dunn Pictures. But I suddenly thought that ...Your real goal is Twain Pictures! You heard that I was going to acquire Universal Pictures and transferred all the funds to Twain Pictures. You think Twain Pictures has a bigger future than Pixar! So you want to take advantage of the fact that Twain Pictures is not When it goes public, start as soon as possible and exchange Pixar's shares for shares of Tang En Pictures. This is really an amazing investment!"

Jobs laughed loudly, "Twain, you are too confident!"

Tang En stared at him, "You just need to tell me, is this true?"

Jobs did not answer the question, and said to himself: "Whether it is fact or illusion, does it matter? Pixar's future must not exist independently, and must rely on large film companies. All shareholders of Pixar believe that Disney is The best choice, and now... is the opportunity to hand over Pixar to Tang En Pictures."

The two had known each other for a year, and Jobs was amazed by Tang En's knowledge and vision. Even though he was young and had obvious shortcomings, he firmly believed that he could make a career in Hollywood.

If given a choice, Jobs would definitely hand over Pixar to Dunn Pictures, not Disney!

Now that Michael Eisner openly criticized Jobs, it gave him a chance to turn his back on him, and gave him a chance to persuade Pixar's shareholders to sell Pixar to Dunn Pictures.

Tang En pondered for a long time, and then laughed at himself, "Steve, you are sure that I will work for you!"

Jobs was instantly overjoyed.

Tang En's words are very simple, but they contain a lot of content - first, Tang En Pictures will carry out shareholding reform; second, Tang En Pictures agrees to acquire Pixar in the form of "cash + stock"; finally, Jobs will become a shareholder and director of Tang En Pictures!

"It's an exaggeration to work part-time! Compared with Dunn Pictures, the size of Pixar is far behind. It is roughly estimated that my shares will not occupy 8% of the new company! Speaking of part-time jobs, I will work for you. Apple's shares are fully 16.5%!" Jobs was very happy.

Tang En also smiled, "At Apple, you help me make money; at Tang En Pictures, I help you make money, it's fair!"

...

March 8, 2002, International Women's Day.

On this day, Tang En Pictures announced a big news that it will cooperate with the famous Wall Street investment bank Citibank to carry out the transformation of Tang En Pictures' shares and underwrite the company's internal original stock subscription.

According to Citibank's statistics, Tang En has invested a total of 8.5 billion US dollars in the company, with a total share capital of 850 million shares. For this private placement, 50 million shares will be underwritten at US$10 per share, and will be sold in limited quantities to all employees of Dunn Films.

A total of 500 million US dollars will be raised, which is obviously not something that the employees of Tang En Pictures can afford.

For example, Bill McNick, who subscribed the most, reached 6.5 million shares, but can he spend 65 million US dollars in cash to subscribe for 6.5 million shares? Search through the family property, at most half of the subscription!

The same goes for other employees.

500 million US dollars may not be a big deal in Tang En Pictures, but in the economic downturn, it is a huge sum of money in any other company.

It is impossible to complete the underwriting of 50 million shares with Tang En Pictures currently having less than 2,000 employees.

What about the remaining stocks?

Quite simply, today is Women's Day!