Chapter 295: A Trillion-Dollar Giant or a Bargain Price?
[TL/N: Last chapter today! Some of you might be wondering why I'm only updating 1-3 chapters now when I was posting 8-15 chapters a day last week. The reason is that I'm not earning enough from this, and to be honest, I haven't made a single dollar from translating this novel. My motivation is dwindling because of this. However, don't worry—I'm not dropping the novel. I will continue updating 1-2 chapters, but if you'd like faster updates, consider supporting me on Patreon and message me to speed things up!] Patreon.com/GodOfReader
"Robert Iger promised you what? Or rather, what did Roy Disney promise you?" Martin continued to press.
Steve Jobs hesitated for a moment. Perhaps he felt there was no need to hide this any longer, so he said, "About 18% of Disney's stock, 12% of which will be exchanged with Pixar, and the remaining 6% will be held privately by me."
"So, not half?" Martin chuckled.
Steve Jobs wasn't embarrassed. In business negotiations, a little exaggeration and white lies were nothing unusual.
"Hmm, not half," he nodded.
"6%? That would still make you Disney's largest shareholder. Michael will never agree to that. Haha, it seems this is all he can offer me."
"With my billion, plus the additional 12% of shares that can be leveraged, he could at least sway Pixar's other executives."
"Ha, dream on." Steve Jobs sneered, "Even though I sold some Pixar shares to buy back Apple stock, I still own 20% of Pixar and am the chairman of the board. Who dares to make deals with Michael behind my back?!"
Martin also sneered inwardly. From his memory of Hua Xia Martin, he knew that after Jobs sold Pixar, not a single executive or even a janitor at Pixar spoke well of him.
This guy, like Michael Eisner, was a tyrant.
Such people could unite others with their decisiveness and authoritative rule when fighting for dominance, but once they were in power, it was inevitable that they would face alienation.
This was exactly what happened when Steve Jobs was ousted by Apple's shareholders, and later when Michael Eisner was pushed out by Disney's shareholders.
Martin had an epiphany.
Could Michael Eisner be so eager to sell the shares because he was under pressure?
Though he had single-handedly brought Disney out of the mire, he was someone who didn't care about selling off the family land. If he sensed that his position was threatened, could he, while still holding power, sell Disney's shares to me?
18% seemed unlikely, but 6% was still a great opportunity!
(PS: Michael Eisner was never stingy with Disney's money. He once brought his friend Michael Ovitz in as Disney's CEO, while he focused on the board. However, within six months, they had a falling out. To force Ovitz out, Eisner gave him a massive $120 million retirement package.
In 2004, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts tried to acquire Disney for $66 billion, but Disney's board rejected the offer. Roberts secretly negotiated with Michael Eisner to use the tyrant to swallow Disney, and Eisner was almost persuaded. He had already sensed that he would be ousted. However, the deal was ultimately blocked by Roy Disney and the board.
It was also Eisner's indecisiveness during this acquisition attempt that convinced Disney's board to push him out.
By 2004, Eisner's allies had mostly been removed by Roy Disney and Robert Iger, leaving Eisner's hold on Disney shaky. But in 2002, Roy Disney and Robert Iger's purge hadn't even begun, and Eisner still held the CEO and Chairman positions with all the power.)
It seemed like there was a real opportunity...
Martin stroked his chin. He could also secretly reach out to Roy Disney and Robert Iger, promising to support them in ousting Michael Eisner if he secured the shares. He could imagine that both would support Jobs in this move.
For someone like Steve Jobs, who had one foot in the entertainment industry, wouldn't someone like Martin, a full Hollywood insider, be a better ally?
As for ousting Michael Eisner, Martin had no moral qualms. The old man was outdated, and Disney's future under Robert Iger indeed experienced greater success.
If Robert Iger could make his shares more valuable, why not support him?
Steve Jobs, unaware of Martin's intentions, continued to try to persuade him to abandon the stock negotiation with Michael Eisner.
"It's useless," Jobs said. "Though Michael is still chairman of Disney, he's losing control of the board. I can tell you, his days are numbered."
"It's laughable that this guy is still negotiating for a higher retirement package—half a billion dollars. Can you imagine? That's driving the board members against him, as this is money taken from their pockets."
"He used to make money for the board, a lot of money, so they tolerated his autocracy and extravagance. But now, things are different. Disney is losing under him, and the stock price is plummeting. Every day, those board members are losing money. They're already unhappy with Michael."
"Behind me is Robert Iger, and behind Robert Iger, there are others. They're a huge force, the anti-Michael faction."
"And I still own 20% of Pixar! My trump card is even bigger. You can't win, Martin. Just give up!"
Mmm, mmm, mmm...
Martin hummed as if he was listening, but his mind was focused on a new idea that was slowly taking shape.
Suddenly, he interrupted Steve Jobs's incessant talk and directly asked, "Steve, if you could get $2 billion, would you be willing to give up your claim to Disney's stock?"
Steve Jobs was stunned. After a moment of thought, he said, "I could accept that offer."
$2 billion for his 20% stake in Pixar was a huge premium, so of course, he could accept it.
After all, Pixar's total market value at the time was just over $2 billion, nowhere near the later peak of $20 billion.
And Steve Jobs wasn't particularly attached to Disney's stock anyway. He hadn't envisioned Disney becoming a trillion-dollar behemoth, the world's number one entertainment company.
Compared to the entertainment industry, Jobs still wanted to focus on Apple. That was his "true child," while everything else was "illegitimate."