Not long after Starship Technology Company was established, Paul Goodman and Anna Josephine once again met with Kyle to give him a further report on his holdings in Microsoft, Yahoo, and Cisco.
"Let's not talk about anything else for now. I just want to know if Sal Perlmutter and Avi Arad from Marvel are interested in these shares?" Kyle waved his hand, interrupting.
Kyle was determined to acquire Marvel's shares and controlling stake!
Paul Goodman and Anna exchanged glances, a bitter smile on their faces.
"Boss, this is very difficult," Paul Goodman said first.
"Specifically?" Kyle said in a deep voice.
Paul Goodman pondered for a few seconds, then said, "Boss, you should still remember Ronald Perelman, right?"
Kyle, of course, knew him.
"A particularly cunning fellow, and very good at hype," Kyle said dismissively.
Ronald Perelman, the former chairman of Marvel Comics, was a master of capital speculation.
In early 1989, he spent $82.5 million to acquire Marvel, becoming the largest shareholder.
Subsequently, he used cunning marketing tactics, claiming that "Marvel comic books have collection value," prompting many fans to buy large quantities of comic books.
In just two years, he took Marvel public, successfully completing a fundraising maneuver in the stock market.
However... a lie is a lie after all.
The market suddenly changed!
The collection value of comics rapidly declined, and the "comic collection bubble" burst!
The entire comic industry entered a harsh winter!
Marvel Comics bore the brunt, with its stock plummeting and several times on the verge of bankruptcy.
But Ronald Perelman, as the chairman of Marvel Comics, took the opportunity to hollow out Marvel's assets, initiating a frantic sell-off!
In just a few years, he made at least $500 million from Marvel!
In the words of Carl Icahn, Marvel's former second-largest shareholder: "Perelman is like a plumber who comes to fix your pipes—he not only completely ruins your house, he tries to steal it without paying a dime."
"Boss, a capital expert like Perelman was jointly driven out of Marvel by Sal Perlmutter and Avi Arad, and even the former second-largest shareholder, Icahn, also stepped down.
There are too many things involved here," Paul Goodman said with a wry smile.
Kyle suddenly understood.
Anna added, "Boss, you plan to complete the acquisition of Marvel before 'Spider-Man' and Fox's 'X-Men' are released; but Sal Perlmutter and Avi Arad are also waiting for 'Spider-Man' to be released."
Upon hearing this, Kyle immediately burst into laughter.
Kyle was a smart person, but Sal Perlmutter and Avi Arad were not fools either.
On the contrary, they were extremely clever!
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to drive Perelman out of Marvel.
In fact, Sal Perlmutter and Avi Arad had a discussion when they learned that Kyle wanted to acquire Marvel.
"Cannot sell!"
"Even if Marvel has to be sold eventually, it cannot be sold now."
"We must wait until 'Spider-Man' and 'X-Men' are released.
As long as they achieve good results and high box office like 'Blade,' then our Marvel stock price will surely soar.
At that time, whether to sell or not, the initiative will be in our hands."
"Even if Marvel is sold then, it will definitely fetch a high price, far exceeding the current price!"
After their discussion, Sal Perlmutter and Avi Arad set the tone.
What could Kyle do?
There were no good people in Hollywood!
Each of them was a cunning fox, excellent at spinning tales!
"Thump, thump, thump~!"
Kyle pondered, his fingers repeatedly tapping the table.
"Paul Goodman, Anna, I've decided to temporarily abandon the Marvel acquisition plan," Kyle declared.
"Yes, Boss."
Was Kyle truly willing to give up Marvel?
How could that be?!
"Since normal business methods cannot achieve the acquisition goal, I don't mind using capital means to complete it," Kyle thought to himself.
That's right, Kyle still had some confidence in acquiring Marvel.
Marvel owed the bank a considerable amount of debt.
As long as Kyle dealt with the bank, cut off Marvel's capital chain, and obtained Marvel's pledged shares and copyrights from the bank, he could forcibly complete the acquisition.
Of course, this would take time.
It definitely couldn't be accomplished overnight!
…Time slowly passed.
In the blink of an eye, it was already early July.
During this period, Kyle had a lot more free time; the specific work of the company was handled by Victor and others, while Kyle himself wandered around.
He visited the sets of "Spider-Man," "Harry Potter," "Final Destination," and "The Butterfly Effect," having detailed conversations with the directors, producers, and lead actors.
Even with such leisure, Kyle still felt mentally exhausted.
"This is too damn tiring~"
"My companies are so few, and I have so many assistants, yet I'm still so tired.
I can't imagine how utterly miserable the CEOs of those giant corporations must be!"
Waking up earlier than chickens, sleeping later than dogs, working harder than oxen, eating less than mice, never resting all year, exceptionally toilsome, and possibly even dying suddenly midway.
Diligent and conscientious entrepreneurs and capitalists don't have it easy!
Kyle didn't want to be such a person!
It was too damn tiring!
"I actually just want to be a lazy bum!"
But there was one major prerequisite: he needed enough capital and confidence for Kyle to squander!
Therefore, Kyle's career, for now, had to continue moving forward! Forward! Ever forward~!
July 6, 1999, Tuesday.
The weather was clear.
The DV film "The Blair Witch Project," which had been subtly promoted for a long time and had a production cost of only $60,000, quietly opened in 29 theaters across the United States.
"I heard this is a true story of a witch harming people."
"I saw it online.
They say many people have gone missing, but I don't know if it's true or not?"
"It must be true.
They say the locals in Burkittsville all know about it, and even the local police station has many records."
"Do witches really exist?"
"Heh heh, what age is this? You still believe in such things?
What's the use of scientific knowledge!"
"George, it's better to believe it than not to believe it~"
When Kyle purchased the film rights for "The Blair Witch Project," he also bought the related promotional website for the Blair Witch from the director.
The website published numerous historical accounts of "witches" in America and many cases of missing persons.
Although Page Pictures didn't invest much manpower or financial resources before the film's release, some netizens still learned about the screening of this "top-secret file" and "real footage" of "The Blair Witch Project" in theaters.
They were naturally interested!
Thus, on the opening day of "The Blair Witch Project," many people saw this "top-secret file" in the 29 theaters.
However, the attendance rate was not high.
The box office for that day was only $24,000.
Executives at Artisan Entertainment, upon hearing the news, couldn't help but scoff.
"I thought Page Pictures had some capabilities, but it's nothing special after all!"
At the same time.
Harvey Weinstein of Miramax also laughed, "No wonder they didn't dare to release it widely; it turns out the movie is just garbage.
Kyle Page can't be lucky forever."
Barry Meyer, Vice President of Warner Bros.
Pictures, frowned and said, "That shouldn't be right!
From what I know of Kyle Page, he wouldn't do such an unwise thing.
Is there something else involved here?
Could this dizzying 'The Blair Witch Project' actually be a huge hit?"