Ten days ago, Zane Blackwood arrived at the headquarters of AOL, the giant internet company. He was there to meet the big boss, Steve Case.
"Mr. Blackwood, welcome," Steve Case said, standing up to greet him. "Even though we've never met, I know your name very well."
"I'm so pleased to meet you too, Mr. Case!" Zane said, shaking his hand with a big, excited smile.
Now, Zane was acting a little bit. And Steve Case was wondering, Why is this movie guy here to see me?
After some polite talk, Zane got straight to the point.
"To be honest, I've come to you for help," Zane said seriously.
"Oh?" Steve asked.
"My company has a new movie coming out," Zane explained. "But Warner Bros. is using all their newspapers and TV channels to say bad things about it. It's really hurting us. So... I need your media power to help me fight back."
"Haha!" Steve Case laughed and shook his head. "Mr. Blackwood, you know Time Warner is the biggest media company in the world. Why would I want to make them mad just to help you? That sounds like a lot of trouble for nothing."
Zane wasn't surprised.
He knew Steve would say no.
"What if..." Zane said quietly, "I told you I could help you?"
"Help me?"
"What if I could convince Triford David and Francis Anke—two of your biggest shareholders—to support your plan to buy Time Warner?"
Buy Time Warner?
Steve Case was shocked. He had been secretly planning to buy Time Warner and create a giant media monster. He called it "The Grand Plan."
But... many of his own shareholders were against it. Especially Triford David (a rich former farmer) and Francis Anke (a smart Wall Street investor). They were afraid the deal would hurt their profits.
"You can do that?" Steve asked, amazed.
"Of course," Zane said with a confident smile. "In fact... I've already convinced them. They agreed."
"Name your price," Steve said immediately. He didn't care how Zane did it. He just wanted the result.
Zane smiled. "My price is simple. Help me with my movie. Fight Warner Bros. for me. Besides, if you're going to buy them anyway, this is a perfect chance to show them how strong you are. It's a win-win!"
Steve thought about it. Zane was right. Showing Warner his muscles before he tried to buy them was a smart move.
"I agree!" Steve said decisively.
Zane beamed.
How did Zane convince the two shareholders? He promised them something valuable: the first chance to invest in his company, LinkedIn, when it opened up to new investors.
It was just a promise, but to them, it was a golden ticket.
(Zane also had a secret, clever thought: In a year or two, when the internet bubble bursts, AOL will lose a ton of money. Those two guys probably won't have any money left to invest in LinkedIn anyway! I'm really quite smart.)
Back to February 22nd...
After setting up the overseas release for My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Zane got a call from Kevin Feige.
"Boss!" Kevin said, his voice full of excitement. "Everything is ready for Spider-Man. We have the money, we have the actors, and the crew is ready to go. We can start shooting!"
Everyone knew Kevin was a huge comic book fan. He was so happy to finally be making a superhero movie.
Zane nodded. "Good. You and director Sam Raimi come see me right now. I want to see the plan."
"Yes, boss!" Kevin said.
The biggest movie in Wald Pictures' history was about to begin.
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