Vol 5 Chapter 961: opponent
Burbank, northeast of Los Angeles, California, USA.
The night is getting dark, and the board of directors initiated by Michael Eisner in the Disney headquarters building is still in progress.
Regarding the question he raised, the board members are still at odds.
Some people support his idea that Disney really should not miss Marvel.
But more, they still hold objections.
They mainly believe that Marvel is really not a suitable acquisition target.
Yes, although everyone knows that there are many heroes in Marvel's comics, how many are truly worthy of Disney's launch of a global publishing and marketing platform and ultimately profits?
Don’t just see the success of Spider-Man, where Sony bought the copyright.
More importantly, we should see the fact that other superhero movies released at the same time as Spider-Man, whether it is "Dareful" or "The Punisher", have caused the production company to suffer a huge loss.
If someone is willing to buy, then let him buy it. Disney just needs to prepare its own blessings.
Secondly, everyone also expressed high doubts about the possible development of Feng Yiping described in the documents provided by Michael Eisner after the acquisition of Marvel.
Disney has been founded for more than 80 years before it has achieved its current achievements. No matter who is leading it, it is not so easy to establish a media company...
That is, the current opinion of the board of directors still does not support Eisner's proposal.
Eisner stared at the oldest director on the board.
The one who didn't care about his vision, continued to freely exchange views with the people beside him.
That one is Roy Disney, the son of the eldest brother of the two Disney brothers, the founder of Disney.
It is because of Roy Disney, who was kicked out of the board by Eisner and returned to the board not long ago, Eisner has lost control of the board.
It is precisely because of this guy that Eisner had to announce that he would retire at the end of his term in September 2006, and last month announced that he would retire one year early.
And all of this can be said to originate from the action that Roy carefully planned at the annual board meeting in March last year.
That is an action that will definitely be included in the history of the development of American companies.
At that shareholder meeting, Roy and another former director, also Stanley Gold, who was also expelled from the board of directors by Eisner, united 43% of the shareholders and counted Eisner’s three sins. : Improper employment; careless use of money; illegal use of power.
After that, he naturally requested the removal of Eisner from all positions.
Originally, Eisner had recovered part of the adverse effects through his own explanation. After all, his achievements during the 20 years of Disney's cultivation are remarkable.
The market value of Disney has grown from US$2 billion when he took over to more than US$70 billion today.
However, Gold’s remarks more powerfully captured the hearts of shareholders: In the past 20 years, Eisner’s total revenue exceeded US$1 billion, which is equivalent to US$1 million per week for 1,000 consecutive weeks. .
However, the value of shareholders’ assets is falling.
Nothing is more convincing than this comparison. That time, it has always been strong, not only did not put Steve Jobs in the eyes, but also very unceremoniously assaulted the company’s former partners, including Spielberg and George Lucas. Eisner lost in the end.
He resigned as chairman on the spot, and had to not announce it, and resigned when his term of office expired in 2006.
Last month, also because of his pressure, Eisner had to advance his retirement age by another year.
This short-sighted guy, looking at Roy Disney, Eisner said in his heart that he couldn’t help but think of his good partner Wells again. If he hadn’t died because of a plane crash, neither himself nor Disney would be better It's much better now.
Of course, Eisner at this time naturally chose to forget another thing. The Roy Disney who he hated at this time was actually the Bole who knew the hero with insight.
It was Roy Disney who dug him from Paramount in 1984 to take up the role of Disney's ceo, which made Eisner a brilliant career.
Roy invited Eisner to Disney, and Roy successfully drove Eisner out of Disney.
It was Roy who made Eisner, and it was Roy who made Eisner have to end his glorious career in a less decent way...
The good partners who cherished each other in the past have turned against each other now. The so-called impermanence, but so.
Eisner knocked down the table, "This is the company's board of directors. It is a board of directors that considers the interests of shareholders. It should not be an occasion for opposition purely for opposition.
His words were one of the many recent criticisms of Roy and Gold against him, and returned them in its entirety.
But after Roy heard what he said, he just smiled, and smiled like a winner.
Eisner's most uncomfortable thing is this.
He was about to stand up, and the same victor Gold spoke, "Iger, I noticed that you haven't spoken, I think everyone would be happy to hear your opinion,"
What he said seemed to be a chance for the other party to speak, but the person concerned didn't think so.
Director Iger, that is, Robert Iger, the current chief operating officer of Disney, smiled at this time, but he felt a beep in his heart.
I have been immersed in taking notes, just hope that you will not affect us, why should I avoid it?
He nodded to Eisner, who was looking sharply at him because of Gold's words, and then smiled and thanked Gold, "Thank you Gold,"
My heart is actually greeting his mother sincerely.
After Eisner determined the date for his departure, the company's nomination committee has already proposed several candidates for succession, and Iger is the only executive from within Disney on that list.
He naturally wanted to succeed Eisner and become the helm of Disney's entertainment aircraft carrier.
But from the COO to the CEO, it seems that although there is only one step away, he knows very well that this step is really difficult to cross, especially in the current situation of such divisions within the company and constant struggle. under.
On the one hand, he must strive for the support of the board of directors. On the other hand, he must continue to maintain his relationship with Eisner.
After all, Eisner still has to be in charge of Disney for more than half a year. Although it seems that it is not realistic for him to hold out a successor of his own, he will destroy it with his wrist, resources, and prestige. A possible successor, such as myself, is nothing but a flip.
So at the beginning of the meeting, as soon as Eisner's proposal was heard, Iger became a quail.
Whether such a proposal is beneficial or harmful to the company, Roy and Gold will naturally oppose it.
The reason is simple. The acquisition of Marvel is not a small move. How could Roy and Gold tolerate Eisner, who is about to leave, and add another halo to his head?
However, the more he hid, the more things came to him. He still fell into the situation he didn't want to fall into. On both sides, Roy, Gold, and Eisner were not dealing with.
But the two parties who didn't deal with it, they couldn't offend them.
How difficult is life!
But Iger is also not a soft persimmon who can be kneaded at will.
He started as a weather announcer at a local station, joined abc, and finally became the ceo of abc. Under his leadership, he was acquired by Disney in 1996, and then he became Disney’s coo..., on the whole, This is also a counter-attack story, a portrayal of the American dream.
Of course, the huge loss brought by the acquisition of abc was also a main reason for Roy and the others to attack Eisner last year.
From this point of view, Eisner absolutely has an opinion on him.
"I have been thinking about a question. Why can't the cartoons we have produced independently over the years copy or surpass the successes of "The Lion King", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Little Mermaid", etc.?"
His words successfully resonated with everyone.
Yes, originally, Disney has always been the best animated feature film producer in the world, which is also the biggest pride of Disney people, but now, alas, it’s not worth mentioning.
Other than that, in the field of animation production, how can they be ashamed to compare with Pixar? In fact, just talk about the performance in recent years, let alone Pixar, even DreamWorks can't compare.
If Pixar’s cartoons have not been released all the time, they will probably be forgotten by people in the field of animated feature films.
"I think that now is indeed the time to solve this problem, it is indeed the time to change,"
As the representative of the Disney family, Roy Disney can naturally hope to revive Disney's glory, and Eger's remarks, he agrees.
At the same time, the acquisition of Marvel is naturally a change. His words can also be regarded as support for Eisner.
Therefore, Iger just asked a question and successfully removed himself from the dilemma.
Moreover, his words also pointed out another possibility for everyone to change.
Over the years, although the cooperation with the company has been bumping up, but judging from the results, after all, Pixar is still a successful cooperation, seems to be a more suitable acquisition target?
When Iger said this, he originally wanted to draw some people's thinking here.
Moreover, since he was nominated by the nomination committee of the board of directors as Eisner's successor, he has begun to prepare for this aspect.
Those directors who were aware of this choice looked at Eisner one after another with complicated eyes.
The main reason why Disney and Pixar have not cooperated smoothly recently is in Eisner.
It was because he and Jobs couldn't get along, that led to this situation.
As for the incidental result, whether Iger was one of the purposes of what I said, we don't know.
But objectively speaking, to consolidate Eisner's resignation and eliminate possible variables is undoubtedly beneficial to the possible successor of Aiger.
At this time, Eisner was on the board of directors, and it was rare to get the support of a director who was also a management team like Iger. Even if it was vague support, he naturally wanted to take the opportunity to further elaborate his views.
"Everyone knows that Mr. Feng, who has cooperated with us, does not mention other aspects. His vision is absolutely top-notch." In order to allow everyone to support himself, Eisner did not hesitate to praise him on the board. Gao Feng Yiping.
"Those who were once dismissive of his decision can't find a place to take regret medicine now,"
"Let’s take a look again. He and McDonald’s are cooperating to run redbox, he acquired Netflix, and he also launched ~www.wuxiaspot.com~. Everyone can see that he will soon produce film and television dramas by himself. His acquisition of Marvel is undoubtedly even more powerful."
"If we don't take any measures, we will quickly discover that a strong competitor has emerged,"
"Please think again, if we can successfully acquire Marvel, how much will the characters in our paradise increase? How much related sales will it drive?"
Objectively speaking, I hope Disney can disrupt Feng Yiping's pace and also buy Marvel. Eisner is indeed out of public interest and is really considering the company.
Of course, this should not exclude Roy Disney and the others, as Eisner, who is about to call the curtain, also hopes to add another dazzling halo to his head.
"For so many years, we haven't seen a consistently correct person, right? Eisner?" Gold said.
Naturally, he meant something. From last year to the present, he has not said much about the bad decisions Eisner made.
"So, who can guarantee that the decision that Mr. Feng made was not the beginning of his bad decision?"
But this time, his close comrade Roy did not agree, who was looking at Iger.
Ugh! Iger sighed again, and you forced me to speak up again.
"I think we can refer to another company in the city, Time Warner, for this question," he said.
Time Warner acquired another animation company, dc, which is equally famous in the United States and Marvel.
After hearing what he said, Roy Disney immediately said to Eisner without any hesitation, "Okay, I support your decision."
"Thank you," Eisner didn't expect to reverse so quickly, he could get his direct support.
"But I hope Iger will be responsible for this plan," Roy continued.
