Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 380 A Thorn in the Eyes and a Hot Commodity

After Forbes magazine released its annual list of billionaires, many American media outlets reprinted and reported on it.

Because Link is young, famous, and very wealthy, he has become the subject of numerous media reports.

The media and the public have given him many labels, such as "the world's youngest billionaire," "the world's richest director," "the world's richest bachelor," and "the most inspiring American Dream."

Time magazine once again featured him on its cover, detailing his personal story and struggles, explaining how he transformed from a porter into a world-class entrepreneur, top director, bestselling author, and renowned philanthropist. They also devoted thousands of words to his gossip, calling him the world's most famous "playboy."

Link ranked first on People magazine's list of "Sexiest Man Alive," up from fifth place last year.

Other media outlets also reported on Link from various angles, and for a time Link became one of the most popular figures in the global media, a global cultural and wealth icon.

"That bastard knows how to make money."

In his office, Michael Ovitz flipped through the newspaper and said, "In 1993, his net worth was less than $400 million. In 1994, it exceeded $14 billion. Last year, it was more than $3 billion. This year, it has soared to more than $6 billion. His net worth has at least doubled every year. He is probably really the gigolo of the Goddess of Wealth on Earth."

Michael Eisner frowned. "Guess what? The film company's market value is constantly being overvalued, while Disney's has been depreciating. There are already many dissatisfactions from the board, questioning our capabilities. At this point, we should be thinking about how to solve this problem, not worrying about whether Link is someone's lover."

"I know, I know, I'm just guessing. The films from other film companies continue to sell well in the market, while our films are performing poorly. We are a film company, and without good works, even the best management cannot change our current defeat."

"Last time you had a meeting to discuss how to deal with the expansion of Guessing Movies, did anyone come up with any feasible solutions?" Eisner asked.

Ovitz paused, his fingers holding the cigar, hesitating whether to tell him about Harvey's plan to assassinate Link. After a couple of seconds of contemplation, he swallowed his words. This was a risky matter, and he didn't want to get too involved or let more people know that he was involved.

“Those people are all thinking about their own companies and positions, what good ideas can they come up with?” Ovitz shrugged.

Eisner frowned and said, "There are only two ways to deal with Guess Movies: confrontation or cooperation. Given Guess Movies' current strength, Disney's chances of success in confronting them alone are extremely small, and the probability of success in joining forces with the Big Seven is even smaller."

"Currently, the only option is to collaborate with GuessGuessFilm. Last time I mentioned collaborating with GuessGuessFilm, but I haven't seen you take any action since. Have you not let go of your hostility towards Link?"

"no!"

Michael Ovitz quickly denied this, saying that arranging a collaboration between Miramax and Guess Movies would be more convenient for two independent film companies.

“That’s not enough.”

Eisner did not approve of this approach.

The rise of Guess the Movies is now a foregone conclusion, and the seven major film studios will not be able to suppress it in the short term. According to media predictions, one or two of the seven major film studios will be eliminated within the next five years.

Disney's marketing department's conclusions, drawn from data, are similar to those of the media's analysis.

Disney's current job is no longer competing with Guess the Movies for box office revenue, but competing with six other film companies for a chance to survive.

"So we need to be more proactive and invest more money in this matter. If Guess what, our film company establishes a deep partnership with the other six film companies and takes away more box office revenue, we will be at a disadvantage in future competition, do you understand?"

Ovitz nodded. Their previous goal was to compete with Guess Movies for the top spot in total box office, but last year Guess Movies far surpassed its competitors in North American box office, and Disney couldn't catch up.

Therefore, Disney needs to change its focus from competing with Guessing Movies to competing with the other six major film studios.

While Disney may not be as successful as Guess the Movie at the box office, it has a chance to beat the other six studios and become the second-largest film company in Hollywood.

Ovitz understood this point and couldn't help but admire Eisner's insight and mindset in this regard. Compared to him, he himself was not flexible enough in dealing with these issues.

"I understand. I will contact Link again to discuss cooperation."

Michael Ovitz nodded, but his mind was on assassinating Link.

If this succeeds, without Link, relying solely on Michael Leeson and others, I guess the film studio won't last long, and Disney might be able to take advantage of the situation.

But if he succeeds, he will also lose an ally and will never be able to surpass Eisner to become the head of Disney.

Harvey was a little conflicted.
-
"Over 60 billion US dollars! The 18th richest person in the world! This bastard is only 24 years old, how can he earn so much money?"

In his apartment, Quentin Tarantino stared in shock at the numbers in Forbes magazine as he flipped through the pages.

In 1992, he was a millionaire, while Link was working at a fast food restaurant and didn't even have money for food. In order to raise $50,000 to release a movie, he flew all the way from Los Angeles to New York to buy the script from him.

By 1993, Link was worth 300 to 400 million, while he also earned tens of millions from film revenue sharing, so the difference between the two was not significant.

Starting in 94, Link's assets began to expand rapidly, from several hundred million to more than 60 billion. However, after his film investment failed last year, coupled with his gambling and prostitution, his assets were reduced to only a few hundred thousand US dollars.

Link's assets are ten thousand times his.

"Are you envious?"

Robert Rodriguez laughed.

Quentin nodded, then suddenly and awkwardly shook his head left and right twice, turning it into a head shake, as if his neck was cramping. He scoffed, "Who's envious? For us normal people, a few tens of thousands of dollars a year is enough. Anything more is useless; it's all just numbers in stock accounts and bank accounts, meaningless."

"Who says it's meaningless? After Link got rich, he had mansions all over the world, private jets, yachts, and countless luxury cars. He could go on vacation wherever he wanted every year, and buy whatever delicacies he wanted to eat. He was also accompanied by dozens of beautiful women. Is that meaningless?" Robert smacked his lips. Regardless of whether Quentin was envious or not, he was extremely envious. A life like Link's was true living, while everyone else was just making do.

"You have money and then you eat, drink, and have fun, wasting resources? Is that what you call meaningful?" Quentin scoffed.

"Not only that, with money, you can invest in your own movies and not worry about them being badly made or criticized by the production company. With money, we can also focus more on writing scripts and making movies, and find the best filmmakers to work with. It's amazing, I really envy Link."

Soderbergh said, wiping the oily sweat from his bald head.

Quentin scoffed, "Many of the world's greatest works were created under immense economic and psychological pressure. Without pressure, you can't create any good movies."

"Are you saying Link's movies are bad?"

Robert Rodriguez rolled his eyes. "I know you're jealous of Link, and I am too, which is normal. But it's not normal to lie to yourself; that's a sign of psychological distortion."

Quentin pursed his lips and remained silent, continuing to read Forbes magazine. The more he read, the more jealous he became. Suddenly, he threw the magazine aside, jumped up, and walked out.

Steven asked him what he was doing.

Quentin said he's preparing a new movie, and since Link can make hundreds of millions from movies, he believes he can too.

Steven and Robert shook their heads, feeling that Quentin was being driven crazy by Link.
-
"Look, Link is so handsome, I absolutely love him."

Inside the villa, Rosamund Kwan waved a copy of Time magazine and shouted.

On the magazine cover, Link is sitting on a sofa in a gray suit, holding a director's microphone. His handsome face is sculpted with strong, angular features, and his bright, deep black eyes gaze quietly into the distance. He is not only handsome, but also has a lot of masculine charm.

"I heard you, you don't need to shout so loudly."

Vivian Chow sat on the open-air balcony, facing the garden behind the villa. To her side was an easel, and she was sketching on the canvas with a paintbrush. The outline of Link could be vaguely seen, but he was not wearing any clothes.

"How about we go to San Francisco to see Link? I really, really want to mess around with him right now, and I'll enjoy whatever he does."

Rosamund Kwan exclaimed, her cheeks flushed.

“We just went last week; it’s not good to go too often.”

"Why not? Link is also our man, we should try to win his favor more."

I have another idea. Link often stays in Beverly Hills because there are more women there. We only have five people here, and even including Chen Chong, Chen Hong, Wang Yan, and Yu Feihong, that makes nine. We should find some more helpers. As long as we have enough people, Link will come over more often.”

Rosamund Kwan touched her chin with her fingers and blinked her big eyes.

"Stop joking around. Link is very busy with work, and we shouldn't cause him any trouble. Besides, he often comes here when he's not busy, at least two or three times a month. It's just that you were in Hong Kong Island for the past few months and didn't know this. Once Link finishes filming and comes back, you'll be able to see him often."

"Really? If I had known, I wouldn't have gone back to Hong Kong Island. I can see Link here every month, which is much better than being in Hong Kong Island."

"I heard that the Hong Kong media calls you the 'Goddess of Wealth,' and that many big bosses are lining up to meet you. You're always the star of any party, even more popular than the Li family. Isn't that a good thing?"

Vivian Chow smiled and joked.

"It's a lot of fun, but I prefer to stay by Link's side and have him pamper me. That's more important than anything else."

Rosamund Kwan shrugged, walked behind Vivian Chow, looked at her painting, and chuckled, "It's too small. You drew it too small. It should be this big." Rosamund Kwan stretched out her fair wrist and shook it.

Vivian Chow blushed and glared at her, saying, "When drawing figures, you have to pay attention to body coordination, otherwise it will look very strange."

“That wouldn’t be realistic; it wouldn’t capture Link’s imposing and majestic presence at all.”

Rosamund Kwan blinked and smiled, then leaned back on the bench and popped a grape from the fruit plate into her mouth.

Michelle Reis, Carina Lau, and Chingmy Yau returned from shopping.

Rosamund Kwan called three people over and said she was going to visit Link on set in San Francisco, asking them if they wanted to go.
"Minmin, do you want to go?"

Liu Jialing and the other two were somewhat tempted. Although they had just been to San Francisco last week, they could never have too many of these kinds of things. They also wanted to take advantage of their free time to receive more of Link's affection.

"I'll call Fei Hong later and see if Link has enough people and time to spend with us, then I'll go over."

Vivian Chow said.

"Okay! I'll call right now."

Rosamund Kwan jumped up and ran to the living room to find her phone. She called Yu Feihong and asked Lin Ke how much work he had planned for the week and how many women would be visiting the set.

Yu Feihong told them over the phone not to come over for the time being, as there had been a small incident on set and Link was quite busy. In addition, the film was expected to wrap up next week, and it would be easier for them to contact Link after he returned to Los Angeles.

Rosamund Kwan asked, "What happened? How serious is it?"
Yu Feihong said it wasn't serious; it was probably just someone being jealous of how much money Link made last year and deliberately playing a prank on him. She said it wasn't a big problem.

(End of this chapter)