Chapter 299
With Jeffrey Katzenberg's departure, The Walt Disney Company suffered a significant internal blow.
And because the issue of Katzenberg's bonus compensation had still not been settled, further negotiations between Disney and Katzenberg were inevitable.
At the same time, after the U.S. government relaxed restrictions on mergers between financial and communications companies, Hollywood's major studios were finally allowed to merge with broadcast television networks.
As a result, Michael Eisner officially began moving forward with his plan to acquire a national broadcast network.
Disney ultimately set its sights on NBC, owned by General Electric.
To pursue the deal personally, Eisner traveled to a vacation estate on Long Island to meet with Jack Welch.
Meanwhile, in Long Beach, inside a seaside villa, Jack Wells sat on the couch flipping through a thick stack of documents, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
"This Bronfman family…" he muttered. "They're really something else."
Sitting across from him was Hollywood's infamous private investigator, Anthony Pellicano, who had long-standing ties to the Wells family.
"Jack, the Bronfmans have enormous influence in Canada," Pellicano explained. "They're one of the most powerful Jewish dynasties in the country, and they maintain close relationships with families like the Rockefellers and Rothschilds."
"Seagram owns 24.3% of DuPont, making them its largest shareholder. Over the past few years, they've used DuPont to build deep political connections throughout the United States."
Pellicano spread his hands helplessly.
"There are limits to what I can dig into. If Dawnlight wants to acquire MCA, there's no shortcut—you'll have to confront Seagram head-on."
"Honestly, you people should probably make a trip to Washington, D.C. and secure as much political backing as possible."
Anthony Pellicano's investigative abilities were legendary, but there were certain upper-level secrets even he refused to touch.
Back during Michael Jackson's child abuse scandal, Pellicano had famously released private audio recordings suggesting the accuser's family had attempted to extort Jackson, flooding the media with the tapes to shape public opinion in Jackson's favor.
Jack Wells clicked his tongue.
"Wouldn't it be better if Seagram just stuck to selling liquor?"
Brands like Chivas Regal and Martell were all part of Seagram's portfolio.
Pellicano laughed.
"The real issue is Edgar Bronfman Jr.. That guy's always been obsessed with the entertainment business."
"He worked with film companies in Britain when he was younger, tried screenwriting, even wrote songs. He's always wanted to break into Hollywood."
As a third-generation heir to the Bronfman fortune, Edgar Bronfman Jr. might not have accomplished much personally despite being in his forties, but the Bronfman family itself was unimaginably wealthy.
Jack Wells shook his head.
"When it comes to running a movie studio, nobody's better than Aaron. Dawnlight's rise speaks for itself."
"The problem is that Seagram's DuPont holdings alone are worth more than eight billion dollars."
"And DuPont is willing to buy those shares back."
"That means Seagram doesn't even need bank financing to pursue MCA."
Dawnlight, however, was in a very different position.
Over the past few years, the company had never stopped expanding—acquiring theater chain, constructing new headquarters towers, purchasing film libraries, and buying into the AMC Networks cable network.
Now, if Dawnlight truly wanted to acquire MCA Inc., it would have to rely heavily on support from banks and investment funds.
"As for Edgar Bronfman Jr.," Jack Wells scoffed, "that useless rich kid isn't even qualified to be compared with Aaron."
"The Bronfmans spent three generations building their empire. Aaron accomplished most of that in just a few years."
And Aaron Anderson was only twenty-four years old.
His future potential was practically limitless.
Meanwhile, at The Beverly Hills Hotel, Aaron sat across from Charles Johnson, chairman of Franklin Templeton Investments.
Charles Johnson lifted his wine glass and took a sip.
"Aaron, have you really made up your mind about acquiring MCA?"
Aaron nodded calmly.
"The most valuable asset inside MCA is Universal Entertainment."
"Film, television, theme parks and resorts, music labels, publishing—those businesses perfectly fill Dawnlight's weaknesses."
"Besides, Universal's performance hasn't been great lately. Panasonic clearly wants to dump the burden."
"The only truly stunning success they've had in recent years was Jurassic Park."
"And now, Steven Spielberg—who's always been closely tied to Universal—has gone off to co-found DreamWorks SKG. Universal just lost one of its greatest guarantees."
Lew Wasserman was already old and far past his prime.
As for Sidney Sheinberg, his greatest value had always been maintaining Universal's relationship with Spielberg.
But now that Spielberg had joined forces with David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg to create a new studio, Sheinberg's importance had naturally diminished as well.
Charles Johnson studied Aaron for a moment.
"Everyone can see Dawnlight's growth trajectory clearly."
"Franklin Templeton is willing to provide one billion dollars in cash support."
"Five hundred million would be structured as a loan."
"The other five hundred million—we'd like converted into Dawnlight preferred shares."
"Agreed," Aaron replied without hesitation.
This acquisition of MCA was a critical move for Dawnlight.
Seagram had virtually unlimited cash reserves, so Aaron needed to accumulate as much capital and ammunition as possible before the real battle began.
"When do you expect to formally submit an offer?" Charles Johnson asked.
He had always been highly interested in Dawnlight. To him, this wasn't only Dawnlight's opportunity—it was Franklin Templeton's as well.
Aaron tapped the table lightly.
"Probably sometime next spring."
By then, Pixar's first fully 3D animated feature, Toy Story, would be released.
A groundbreaking film of that scale would undoubtedly push Dawnlight's valuation even higher.
And beyond that, MCA's asset evaluations and Panasonic's internal board discussions would all take time.
Later that evening, Aaron drove to Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood to attend the celebration party for The Mask.
The movie had become a massive success, with worldwide box office already surpassing $250 million.
Jim Carrey had officially exploded into superstardom.
After the back-to-back success of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask, he still had Dumb and Dumber scheduled for release later that year through New Line Cinema.
And on top of that, Jim Carrey had already completed filming for Batman Forever before preparing to shoot Dawnlight's sequel:
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.
"Another superstar has been born," Dawnlight executive Tom Rothman said with a grin.
"The Mask is performing exceptionally well in Europe. Japan and Australia should deliver strong numbers too."
Aaron took a sip of champagne.
"This is the next king of comedy."
"Once Dumb and Dumber releases at the end of the year, Jim Carrey will have starred in three major hits within a single year."
"He'll instantly rise to the level of stars like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, and Tom Cruise."
Comedy films carried relatively low production costs in the first place, with actor salaries being the primary expense.
It was no wonder Jim Carrey would eventually become the first Hollywood actor to command a $20 million upfront paycheck.
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