Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 307: Genius Miller
“What the fuck?”

"Sega and Paramount failed to reach a cooperation agreement, and Atari and MILO joined the agency battle at the same time. Are they both eager to get the North American distribution rights of "Godzilla"?"

When the bald Steve Ballmer pushed the latest issue of the Los Angeles Times in front of Ethan, he was stunned by the strange world depicted in black and white.

Because everything at the moment is different from what he had expected!

After listening to Julis's report, Ethan always felt that Sega and Paramount would naturally form an alliance, and then the howl of "Godzilla" would appear on the North American continent.

Because this kind of cooperation is in the best interests of both parties——

First, this cooperation will ensure that Paramount's long-standing patents will not go to waste;
Even though Paramount did not pay too much when acquiring the patent, using limited resources in exchange for unlimited profits is what a capitalist should do most.

Secondly, the release time and space of the video game "Godzilla" in North America are very limited; when George Lucas set the release date of "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" on May 21 this year, the market environment for video games in North America has been cruel since that day.

As long as the merchants have a little bit of brains, they will not go head-to-head with George Lucas, let alone compete for the market with Ethan Jones who released games at the same time.

Even if there is a Christmas period in the second half of the year, it will not attract real attention from merchants, because no one knows how long the bright future of "Star Wars" sequel will be popular. In addition, the Destiny game has not released an original work this year, so setting the release target at the end of the year is a stupid behavior.

Therefore, if Sega wants to wield "Godzilla" to plunder the North American continent, they can only release the game before May. Now, it is already March, and they only have half a month to prepare. When "stable and fast" is the only option for Sega, cooperating with its good brother is the best solution.

But now, these two half-brothers have broken up?
This is kind of funny!

"Boss, the reason for this situation is very simple..."

Steve Ballmer laid out the details of what happened.

After Ethan learned that Sega and Paramount actually had the intention of merging with each other, he understood why the whole thing would not go according to the script.

He knew even more clearly that the Mifedi faction alliance might have already been in internal strife.

"Oh my god! Are these people so weak?"

"They fell down before I even put any strength on them?"

Although Ethan's face was conflicted, his brows were filled with joy.

Because the collapse of the enemy camp is a good thing for him.

As he closed the newspaper to show that he understood, Steve Ballmer, the big bald man, said, "Boss, although this matter has become good news so far, we can still get involved and make it even more difficult for them..."

The suggestion made Ethan Jones raise his eyebrows.

He understood what Steve Ballmer meant.

When the Mifedi Alliance was fighting over conflicts of interest, they only needed to intervene, quote a price to Sega, and pretend to be competing for distribution, which would make the enemy even more uncomfortable.

Because now that they have fallen out, the emergence of any external enemy will not be able to bring the broken alliance together again. They can only grit their teeth and hold on until the farce is over.

But this kind of disgusting thing...

Ethan was interested, but he couldn't do it.

"Steve, before you came to Destiny, Sega had approached me to obtain the global agency rights for Snake and Pac-Man."

"I didn't choose them at the time, but reached a cooperation with Nintendo. So even if we make an offer now, Sega will not pay attention to us."

"Ah? Is there such a thing? That's really a pity."

Steve Ballmer looked regretful.

"I wanted to make Philip feel even more pain."

"But without us being able to intervene, this is the worst they can do."

Even if an honest person stays around Ethan Jones for a long time, he will start to like making trouble.

Not to mention, Steve Ballmer just has a kind face.

His sighing appearance also made Ethan roll up the newspaper in his hand, knock on the table, and said, "Oh Steve, do you think they can only do this at most?"

"Then you really underestimated them."

"This is a business worth tens of millions. They can't just give it up so easily."

"So, just wait and see."

“They will definitely continue to fight.”

Ethan's words stunned Steve Ballmer.

Then, as if he suddenly understood something, he gave a thumbs-up in a pretentious manner.

"Oh boss, why didn't I think of this?"

"You are really amazing."

Ethan rolled his eyes at the insincere flattery and waved his hand, signaling the guy to get out.

As the bald man left with a laugh, the headquarters of Warner Communications became gloomy.

Steve Ross stared at the fax in his hand with fiery eyes, because it said that Sega was very happy about Atari's attention, but at the same time they could not accept Atari's offer.

If that were all, Steve Ross wouldn't matter at all.

But while expressing regret, Sega also wrote very disgustingly:

'Before the letter was sent, three companies had expressed strong interest in our game, and the company leading the entire transaction was MILOVA, a subsidiary of Philips North America.'

"Milohua has shown us their sincerity, so if your company wants to obtain the North American license for Godzilla, please revise your offer."

'We will respond within one business day of receiving a new quote.'

When the name Philips appeared on the cooperation list with a clear lead, Steve Ross felt an unknown fire burning in his chest.

Because a few days ago, when Cornelis called to complain, he had already appeased this guy with emotion and reason! When he had already offered Warner Music's overseas distribution rights to help this guy keep his position in the company, this guy actually dared to take the initiative to jump out and make an offer to Sega at this moment?
This is this...

This is simply not taking his teachings to heart!

Just when his eyes were spitting fire, thinking that Cornelis was a traitor and that a rubbish worker dared to go against his will, the subordinate who came to report also moved his lips slightly.

Said carefully:
"Boss, after receiving a response from Sega, we have already launched an investigation into Philips, and we found that their chairman's behavior in the past few days has been very abnormal."

"?" These words made Steve Ross look up suddenly.

The terrifying gaze was like a sharp sword, as if it could pierce through people.

The terrifying look made the subordinate swallow his saliva.

He prayed to God, hoping to get his blessing, and said with a slight smile, "According to the information we received, a few days ago, Disney's president Ron Miller met with Philips' CEO Cornelis van der Krucht at Disney World in Orlando..."

"MFxxk!"

"Ron Miller!!"

"You beast!!!"

The sudden news made Steve Ross stand up instantly!
Although his subordinates did not report anything else, it didn't matter anymore!
Because Ron Miller and Cornelis' meeting proved everything!
More importantly, the meeting between these two guys took place on Walt Disney's territory, which means that if nothing unexpected happens, it was Ron Miller who took the initiative to make an appointment with Cornelis!

This is the thing Steve Ross can't stand the most!
Because that means Ron Miller is poaching his players!

Stealing his man!

If Philips, like Disney, were the kind of company that could be united but also used and discarded, Steve Ross would not have cared about the union of the two losers.

But when Philips is still of great use and they can snipe Ethan Jones from multiple dimensions such as CDs, home consoles, music, etc., Ron Miller's poaching will be the end of him!
This will ruin his plans!

It will make the already fragile alliance fall apart even further!
When Steve Ross thought that the platform he had carefully built might collapse because of Ron Miller's shovel, he wanted to smother the beast into the ground with a hammer!
But at the same time, he also understood that this was not the time to be angry.

He had to find out how far Cornelis and Ron Miller had come.

To understand this kind of thing...

Steve Ross took a few deep breaths, picked up the receiver, and dialed Cornelis' number. After a busy tone, he took the initiative to speak: "Cornelis? This is Steve Ross."

"I want to know how Philips' Mirowa made an offer to Sega?"

"Didn't I tell you before that now is not the best time to get Godzilla?"

The straightforward question made Cornelis, who was leaning back in his boss's chair, curl his lips.

Even though they didn't talk face to face, Cornelis could still see the anxiety and madness on Steve Ross's ugly face across the space.

This situation made him feel very comfortable.

Although he could say that he let Milova go to Los Angeles after seeing Atari's offer, kicking the ball to Steve Ross, but...

This behavior did not make him feel relieved. So he pretended to be dumb and said, "Steve, what did you say? Did our Milova make an offer to Sega? When did this happen? How come I didn't know about it?"

The unhesitating question coupled with the surprised innocence made Steve Ross clench his fists.

At this moment, he wanted to roar! He wanted to expose Cornelis's lies!

But he didn't have the courage to turn against her!
He waved his fist irritably, then forced a smile and said, "Really?"

"Then I think you need to contact Mi Luohua."

"They may have already escaped your control and are doing something very dangerous..."

Steve Ross wanted to emphasize his dissatisfaction by 'implying' it.

But before he could finish his words, Cornelis interrupted and said, "Oh Steve, my secretary suddenly told me that there is some urgent work that needs my attention, so I have to hang up first."

"I'll call you back as soon as I'm done. Sorry."

As soon as he finished speaking, a busy tone came from the receiver of the landline phone.

This situation left Steve Ross stunned.

The next second, his eyes were bloodshot.

"Fxxk! Fxxk!! Fxxk!!!"

"Cornelis! You beast!!!"

"Ron Miller! You will die!!!"

He cursed loudly.

While Steve Ross was expressing his pain, Cornelis couldn't wait to contact Ron Miller. When Walt Disney's son-in-law heard the description of the Philips CEO, he burst into laughter. "Oh - Cornelis! You actually hung up on Steve Ross?"

"Oh my god! This is so cool!"

"To be honest, I really, really, really like what you did, because that's what I want to do, but at the same time, I also want to say that you're a little impulsive."

"Oh! Ron! Sanity and happiness never go together! Do they?"

Cornelis knew what Ron Miller meant, but he didn't care.

"I know what you mean. Now I should continue to communicate with Steve Ross with a hypocritical attitude, but at the same time, this hypocrisy will make him teach me a lesson like a dog!"

"I don't like that feeling! I can even say I hate it!"

"Before, he used a condescending tone to communicate with me, and I couldn't refute him because he controlled a large number of personal connections and various resources. But now that he has shamelessly tried to seize my interests, why should he let me face him with a pious tone?"

"and……"

"Even if I hung up on him, he would have to endure it, right?"

"Like you said, we at Philips are not the same as you at Disney."

“Steve Ross now doesn’t dare to abandon Philips!”

"He doesn't even dare to force me away!"

"Because he doesn't know whether my successor will still join the alliance!"

Ron Miller laughed out loud at the domineering words.

Cornelis' awakening made him very happy.

"So what are you going to do next?"

After laughing, he asked again.

“I want to take down Godzilla.”

Cornelis replied bluntly.

"But I want it too."

Ron Miller did not hide anything and directly expressed his true thoughts.

"Cone, I actually have the offer ready. All I have to do is send it to Sega."

Although Ron Miller's actions were not in line with league rules, Cornelis didn't care.

We are all adults, and everyone knows that real interests cannot be shared with allies.

So, when the two found that obtaining the agency rights for Sega games would benefit both parties...

"Then let's compete." Cornelis said with a smile.

"Good." Ron Miller admired Cornelis's openness.

As the consensus was reached, Sega also received an offer from Disney that afternoon.

When Ron Miller stated that they were willing to pay a 15% commission for the North American distribution rights of Neon Sega's "Godzilla", the Walt Disney Group instantly became the first in the entire transaction because Magnus and Atari offered 18% and 20% respectively.

Of course, the commission figures for these three transactions all include the promotion and marketing costs when the game is launched.

Ron Miller emphasized that "Godzilla" was only a small part of all their pursuits. They hoped to reach a long-term agency agreement with Sega and wanted to obtain Sega's North American game distribution rights for the next ten years. They were willing to give up 3% of their profits for this and reduce the distribution commission including publicity and promotion costs to 12%. At the same time, they also hoped that Sega could bring Disney's excellent games to Japan. After all the conditions were swapped, the Walt Disney Group instantly stood out from the normal transactions!

Because 12 percent including issuance costs is equal to 7 percent excluding issuance costs!
When the bank deposit and loan interest rates in this era are high...

What Disney earns is all hard-earned money!
Not to mention, Ron Miller was willing to bring out the Disney game!
Even though Sega can only extract 12% of the distribution fee, the costs in Japan are very different from those in North America! The rising exchange rate alone can make them gain a lot!
This fact made Sega ecstatic, and it immediately held a joint press conference with Disney, stating that the two parties had reached a consensus on cooperation and the next step of promotion would start immediately.

Similarly, this fact also made Paramount, Warner and Philips twitch their lips.

Barry Diller never expected that when Paramount and Sega were at loggerheads, Ron Miller would actually offer such a low price to compete for the agency?

This is simply a representative example of losing money to gain publicity!
Steve Ross gritted his teeth. To be honest, he had not expected that a small-time figure like Ron Miller, who had no real power, would dare to snipe him in a way that would hurt the enemy by a thousand and hurt himself by eight hundred.

And Philips CEO Cornelis...

Although Ron Miller took all the credit for maintaining his position, he didn't care, because as long as Steve Ross didn't get the Sega agency, it was good news for him.

As for how to explain to the parent company?
This kind of thing is much simpler, right?

He directly passed the agency quotation that Milova sent to Sega to the parent company's board of directors!

He said that when he had already reduced the profit of the entire transaction to 10%, Sega still did not choose them, which meant that it was not that he did not try hard, but that Disney was too crazy.

He has already done this, if the parent company still wants to hold him accountable...

Then we'll all perish together!
And when Ron Miller eliminated Paramount, Philips and Warner in less than eight hours, the decisiveness behind the thunderous momentum impressed Steve Ballmer, who was paying attention to the matter.

Although Ballmer knew that the negotiations related to "Godzilla" would not be concluded simply, he did not expect that the negotiations would end so quickly.

I didn’t expect that the company that won the rights to represent Godzilla was not Paramount, Philips, or Warner Communications, but the long-dormant Walt Disney…

Not only that, this result also made him feel a little emotional——

"Oh, the boss is the boss, what he said is right..."

"Ron Miller's personal ability is indeed stronger than Roy Disney's."

"If Roy Disney were asked to fight for a company, he could spend a whole year, but Ron Miller only took one day to get the agency rights. This gap is really..."

"too big!"

Although Steve Ballmer's metaphor was somewhat inappropriate, no one would care if no one knew about it. When the bald man finished watching the live broadcast and wanted to pack up and leave work, the phone on the table suddenly rang. He picked up the phone and...

Ethan's serious voice penetrated his ears.

"Steve, I have a task for you."

"Send someone to New York to start watching the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow morning."

"What?" The sudden order made Ballmer frown instinctively.

But the next second, his expression changed drastically and he understood what Ethan meant.

"Oh! Sxxt!"

He cursed—

"This guy Ron Miller is a fucking genius!"

Note: ① Disney’s distribution company in Asia was established in 1997 as a joint venture with Sony. Prior to that, their films were distributed through agents.

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(End of this chapter)