Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 293 Fire Prevention, Theft Prevention, and Ethan Prevention

When Philips was burst into tears by Ethan Jones' sudden attack.

The atmosphere in the Columbia Records conference room was also gloomy.

President and CEO Walter Yetnikoff leaned back in his chair with a look of dejection, staring blankly at his subordinates at the same table, and said in a gloomy tone: "The parent company asked us to immediately conduct a self-examination and write a report. They want to know why we sold Michael Jackson."

"so……"

“Can anyone tell me how to write this report?”

"Who is willing to take responsibility for this matter?"

Yetnikov's words made everyone present look grim.

Everyone smelled the solemn atmosphere in the air.

Because they know that the workplace is so cruel. When a leader does something wrong and may be punished by the boss, in order to protect themselves, those people will definitely push their subordinates to take the blame.

Under normal circumstances, they should have chosen an unlucky person, but this time...

They are not convinced!

“Walter, this matter has nothing to do with us, right?”

A bespectacled Columbia Records executive said: "Initially, when we received the offer from Destiny, we had no intention of selling Michael Jackson. It was the major Hollywood moguls who came together to drag our parent company, Columbia Broadcasting, into the quagmire of the transaction, so we sold Michael Jackson to Destiny."

"Why should CBS hold us accountable in this situation?"

“Why should we pay for their mistakes?”

"Because it is our parent company." Walter Yetnikoff smiled helplessly and said, "If we don't take responsibility, then they have to admit their mistakes."

"And this kind of thing..."

"Will you do it?"

The light rhetorical question left the bespectacled executive speechless.

He sighed deeply and slumped down helplessly.

Yetnikov shrugged.

Just when he thought that his subordinates had reached a consensus and were ready to find someone to take the blame, another person spoke up, "Walter, does Mr. John Buck really want us to take responsibility?"

John Buck is the CEO of CBS.

The big boss of their parent company.

When the name appeared, Yetnikov instantly twisted his neck and shifted his gaze to look at the serious-looking white old man. "Yes, that's what he said."

The affirmative words made the white old man purse his lips and said, "But we all know that he personally gave the order to sell Michael Jackson."

"Or maybe it was Mr. Pelley's idea, instigated by Steve Ross."

“In this case, they want us to take responsibility?”

"Isn't this just telling us in disguise that you can get out now?"

"Because from a factual point of view, no one can hold us accountable."

Although the old man's tone was very calm, the faces of the people at the scene were tense.

Almost at the same time, everyone present cast surprised glances at the old man.

They didn't expect the old man to be so brave! He completely exposed the matter!
As everyone watched, Yetnikov nodded, looked around with a complicated expression, and said in a light tone: "I know that you are dissatisfied, and in fact, I am the same."

"But what can it do?"

“We are just workers.”

“And Steve Ross and Mr. Paley are capitalists.”

“Even if they are the ones behind the whole incident, who can hold them accountable?”

“No one else can do this.”

"So now we are the sacrifices."

"It is a sacrifice that will allow them to get out of this situation completely and satisfy other shareholders..."

Getting a company with independent management rights to sell its assets is not something that can be achieved by a few words from peers or collective compensation.

Previously, Steve Ballmer said that in order to get Columbia Records to sell MJ, major Hollywood companies made a lot of concessions, but these were actually just excuses to fool the public.

The real reason why Columbia Records agreed to the deal was that the Warner boss had connections and found the actual controller of Columbia Broadcasting Corporation, William Paley.

William Paley was a rich second-generation.

By 1920, his father was already a millionaire.

Because his family was wealthy, William Paley was able to do what he liked after graduating from college. When he started his business, he discovered that radio might have great business prospects, so he and his friends founded a radio company consisting of 16 radio stations in Philadelphia.

At the time, he named the company Columbia Phonograph Company.

This was the predecessor of the current Columbia Broadcasting System.

That's right!

William Paley is the founder of the CBS Television Network!

Has maintained a firm control over the Columbia Broadcasting System for over fifty years!
As for how Steve Ross found him...

Outsiders may not know, but people within the Columbia system know it very well. Mr. William Paley's late wife, Barbara Cushing, is the biological mother of Steve Ross's current lover, Amanda Cushing. Because of this, William Paley became Steve Ross's father-in-law.

If that were all, it would not be enough to show how strong the relationship between the two parties is.

After all, Amanda Cushing was only William Paley’s stepdaughter.

Not a biological child.

On weekdays, Amanda Cushing is closer to her biological father.

But ten years ago, when the Columbia Broadcasting Network built a new building, William Paley gave the design rights of the building to Amanda Cushing, asking her to use it as a master's thesis, and then actually built the building according to Amanda Cushing's ideas...

Anyone can understand the position of Amanda Cushing in William Paley's heart!

When this relationship existed, a few months ago, executives of Columbia Records suddenly learned that the parent company, Columbia Broadcasting System, had begun to inquire about Michael Jackson's transactions. They all knew that Michael Jackson must be sold.

Because the big boss of the parent company has already mixed his family affairs into the company!
To refuse is a sign of having a broken brain!
Since the current son-in-law of the big boss needed this deal, Columbia Records was too lazy to review Michael Jackson's new album and directly submitted the previous report. Moreover, in order to please the boss, they also deliberately reinforced Epic Records' pessimism about Michael Jackson.

They thought that their understanding would win the appreciation of the biggest boss.

But unexpectedly, everything was messed up.

And when things are beyond redemption, it is inevitable to just accept that you have bad luck.

After all, no matter which company it is, the biggest boss will not pay for his own mistakes.

"So... let's discuss a solution..." Walter Yetnikoff, CEO of Columbia Records, sighed and said, "Should we resign collectively or wait to be laid off?"

"If we resign, we may be able to continue to develop in the industry."

"If we are laid off, we may have to change industries..."

The cruel truth made everyone present feel depressed.

While they were expressing their pain and not wanting to make a decision, Dai Ying also had some fun.

When ACC heard the news from North America, the company's chairman immediately convened an emergency meeting.

"Did Ethan Jones' Destiny Music make us an offer before?"

"He wants to buy ATV?"

"I can't agree to this!"

"From today on, all matters related to ATV need to be reported to me!"

"Since Ethan Jones is very optimistic about it, it means that the value of this company far exceeds their offer, so we must hold on to it!"

"I don't want to be a laughing stock among my peers, and I don't want to be treated as an idiot, okay?"

"Also, the most important thing now is to find out why Ethan Jones bought it."

“Is it really the Beatles’ music rights that he’s interested in?”

“Will there be any major breakthrough in the music industry?”

"Otherwise, why would he suddenly extend his hand to us in Europe?"

"Huh?" To be honest, when the top executives of ACC suddenly received the sales ban order from their boss, they were a little confused. But soon, they felt that there was nothing wrong with the boss's arrangement.

After all, the deal Ethan Jones made was really outrageous!

The just-right calculation made them a little frightened.

And Ethan Jones' past record makes them even more reluctant to gamble.

In this case, it is necessary to be on guard!

When ACC, which was far away in the world, was made nervous by Ethan Jones's layout ability and came up with a deployment to prevent fire, theft and Ethan, Xerox in America became even more worried.

Although the transaction regarding the graphical user interface was reviewed and decided by all the senior executives, at that time they all agreed that the price of 10 million was fair, but now...

After seeing the tragedy that happened to Columbia Records, they suddenly felt that they seemed to have lost out?

You know, a few months ago, when Ethan Jones bought Michael Jackson, the amount he spent was 10 million US dollars! It is exactly the same as the transaction amount of the graphical user interface!
The only difference is that when he bought Michael Jackson, Ethan Jones used cash, and when he bought GUI, Ethan Jones used Apple stock!
And everyone knows that Apple stock is more valuable than cash!

In this case, when Michael Jackson, which Ethan Jones bought for 10 million, has already shown his superb qualities, what kind of energy will the graphical user interface that costs more than 10 million unleash?
Xerox couldn’t even imagine it!
But they know that even if they regret it now, it is too late!
At this point they could only hope that the GUI would be successful, but not too successful.

Because if they are too successful, they will inevitably become the next laughing stock.

As for failure?

That's not OK!

After all, they own Apple stock!
They also hope that Apple can go public and make money!

"hiss……"

"Ethan Jones has made us so conflicted!"

"This guy is such a headache!"

Ethan was actually not aware of the turmoil in the outside world.

Because when Steve Ballmer told him that Michael Jackson's new album attracted countless people's attention as soon as it was released, he, who had been happy about having the graphical user interface, realized belatedly that the graphical user interface was not his counterattack, but Michael Jackson was.

This fact made him feel a little embarrassed. After all, it was he who asked Destiny Music to recruit Michael Jackson, but he himself didn't care about the other party's album release time?

This matter sounds a bit outrageous!
However, he soon adjusted himself. As the boss of a group company, he had a lot of things to do every day. It was normal to not be able to do everything. Only a superman could do everything himself.

When this thought came to his mind, Ethan felt much better.

He smiled at the big bald head in front of him and said, "Michael Jackson is very popular now?"

"Yes."

“How popular?”

"It's already at the top of the Billboard charts, with Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums ranking third." While speaking, the bald man opened the briefcase he was carrying and pulled out a vinyl record.

This cleverness made Ethan laugh.

He wiggled his fingers, signaling Ballmer to do whatever he wanted.

Soon, MJ's singing could be heard in Ethan's office.

To be honest, in his previous life, Ethan was not a huge fan of MJ. He just listened to his songs and added songs like "Beat It" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" to his playlist. But even if he didn't have a big obsession with MJ, he still felt that "Off the Wall" was a great album. As for the reason...

Maybe it’s because the copyright of this album belongs to me?
"Ha ha ha ha--"

The plain thought made Ethan laugh instinctively.

But even though his joy came very suddenly, Steve Ballmer, who was standing by, was not surprised, because he knew what the success of "Off the Wall" meant.

This means that their Game of Destiny became an instant hit in the music industry.

It means more...

His boss, Ethan Jones, was right again.

Just when Steve Ballmer was sighing that his boss was like the chosen one of God and was successful in everything he did, Ethan, who was closing his eyes and enjoying the beautiful song, suddenly spoke.

"If I remember correctly, Columbia did the distribution of Off the Wall?"

"Yes."

"Any unusual behavior on their end?"

"Not at the moment. David Geffen is always watching."

"He's watching?"

“Yeah~” Ballmer nodded and said, “Although Off the Wall is not an album released by us, Michael Jackson is the first artist of our Destiny Music after all.”

"So, we have the right to protect his personal interests."

“Similarly, this is also in our own interests.”

These words made Ethan open his eyes and tilt his head.

"Is that what he said?"

"He said it himself," Ballmer said. "He also said that Columbia Records would release the record according to the process and pay Michael Jackson royalties on time as agreed in the contract."

"If there is a problem, he will report it immediately."

"By then, he hopes you can give him some time."

"Very good, well done."

With a casual compliment, Ethan put the matter behind him.

A few months ago, when Ethan learned that Columbia Records was willing to sell Michael Jackson and the copyright of his songs but wanted to retain the distribution rights of "Off the Wall", he knew that the deal involving Michael Jackson would not be a clean and tidy transaction.

Although Columbia Records felt that Michael Jackson had little potential at that time, Columbia Records, which held the distribution rights, would definitely do something fun after MJ's new album was released.

At that time, Ethan thought that he would sign the person first, and then send company executives to monitor Columbia after the album was released, and immediately counterattack if there was any problem. But now, since David Geffen was very sensible to do this, he didn't need to bother to remind him anymore.

As I said, his energy is limited.

When a company grows bigger, it must delegate power appropriately and let capable people do the right things.

"Is there anything else?"

"Nothing."

"Then leave me alone for a while?"

"Good boss."

With Ballmer's departure, the only sound left in the huge office was MJ's singing.

The lively music made Ethan shake his head involuntarily.

"There's a steam beat~"

"And it's comin' after you~"

“You can take it~”

"If you only let your feelings through~"

Although MJ's new album has nothing to do with victory, when Ethan starts to rock...

He always has a feeling.

At this moment, some people may be very angry.

But what does that have to do with him?

As long as he's happy, right?

"Hehe~"

Note: ① As mentioned in the previous article, Steve Ross’ second wife, Amanda Cushing, was from an oil family, but her mother divorced her biological father when she was two years old and married William Paley when she was four years old.

PS, regarding the issue of MJ, I re-read the information and checked the official website of the Jackson brothers’ historical information.

The Jackson brothers were indeed very popular in the early 1970s, and even broke records during their European tour, but they went downhill after 1974, especially when MJ negotiated a contract with Epic Records before his contract with Motown Records expired. He also got into a lawsuit, which resulted in only five concerts in the Philippines in 1976, which was nothing compared to the more than 40 concerts in the previous year.

Even though their group albums sold very well in 1977 and 1978, MJ canceled many concerts due to personal problems. At that time, the media broke the news that Motown interrupted his concert plans with a lawsuit because of his unauthorized termination of the contract. At the same time, the failure of the movie and his singing style also made him criticized by industry insiders, who felt that he had no future if he wanted to leave the group.

These are the summaries published by CNN in 2015 after his death. At that time, people in and outside the industry were indeed not optimistic about him. Yetnikoff, the president of Columbia Records who witnessed all this, also said in an interview in 2009 that Epic Records did not want MJ to work alone and was not optimistic about his solo career. Even though MJ released "Off the Wall", when they talked about cooperation with many radio stations, the other party still looked down on MJ and thought he would not become a superstar.

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(End of this chapter)