America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 56, Section 57: Judging Others by One's Own Judgment (Please add to your favorites and continue reading)

Inside a luxury hotel in Rhode Island, a threesome is taking place.

Sergei Hasenfield is enjoying his exercise; he loves it and, even though he's almost forty, he works out every week.

The wife at home has long lost her affection for him. As she gets older, there are more and more frictions on one side and fewer and fewer on the other.

Everyone is doing their own thing now. Cooperation benefits both sides, while conflict harms both. As long as we don't bring it home and cause a complete falling out, it's fine.

bell.

Just as I was getting into the game, the phone suddenly rang.

Sergei frowned. Who the hell called in the middle of the night? What could be wrong? Couldn't they have talked about it in the morning? They have no sense at all.

However, when he glanced at his phone screen, he immediately kicked the woman at his feet away, picked up the phone, and quickly answered the call.

"Uncle, what brings you here so late?"

The aged voice of Hasbro CEO Alan Hasenfeld came through the phone: "Sergey, what's going on? Tell me what's going on?"

"What? What uncle are you talking about?"

"Just now, MGM announced the director for 'Transformers'!"

"Huh? Shouldn't this have been announced a long time ago? They must have hired a big-name director—Spearman? George Lucas? Or Ridley Scott?"

"You idiot, what are you dreaming about? It's Eric Cooper!"

Sergei Hasenfeld paused, then said, "Who? I've never heard of this director. Wait... you mean Eric Cooper?"

"Who else could it be but him?"

"You've got it wrong, Uncle. How could he be a director? We've talked. He graduated from UCLA, but that school doesn't have a film program. He studied finance."

The person on the other end of the phone was clearly losing patience: "Sergei, do you think I'd stay up all night joking with you?"

Sweating profusely from the yelling, Sergei hurriedly said, "Uncle, please don't be angry. I'll contact MGM right away and tell them this was an extremely stupid decision."

"I will persuade them to change their decision. This is Transformers, not some little movie for rich kids to mess around in."

"It's too late. You can't reach the Coopers, because even I can't reach them. I need you to fly to Los Angeles immediately and change this decision by any means necessary, and quickly, or Hasbro's stock price will plummet."

"Don't worry, Uncle, I'll go right now!"

"Sigh, I hope this is just a misunderstanding."

Allen Hasenfield's concerns are not unfounded, because the stock market is always unpredictable; it can surge or plummet on the same piece of news.

This is especially evident when stock prices are linked to the film industry. Hasbro's stock price can rise because of "Transformers," but it can also fall back to its original level because of "Transformers."

The deciding factor in all of this is the quality of the film. And a 22-year-old, a rich second-generation in the eyes of the public, who has never been exposed to film-related knowledge, is going to direct a $1.5 million blockbuster.

In the eyes of the public, this is as absurd as letting a pig fly a spaceship.

There are genius directors, but those who become famous overnight have often put in more than a decade of hard work behind the scenes.

What do you, Eric Cooper, have?

You only have one good dad!

Moreover, just a few months ago, the stock market bubble brought about by the Internet had just burst, and the overall environment had just begun to improve, which was precisely when our ability to withstand risks was at its weakest.

In this perilous environment, the slightest disturbance will surely cause those shareholders to flee en masse.

After announcing this "good news," the Cooper father and son went to rest, and of course, their phones were switched off. At this point, they wouldn't care even if the King of Heaven himself came.

Early the next morning, Eric boarded a flight to Park City, Utah, for the opening day of the Sundance Film Festival.

Going to check might yield some unexpected gains, but more importantly, it's about avoiding trouble.

As for my dad, he's a seasoned veteran, he'll have his own methods.

The New York Stock Exchange, ranked first among the world's stock exchanges in 2003, has a market capitalization of over $10 trillion and is one of the world's financial centers.

At 9:30 a.m., as the market opened, a lot of attention was focused on the S&P 500 index.

The S&P 500 is a stock index that tracks the 500 publicly traded companies in the United States, encompassing various industries and sectors, and Hasbro is among them.

The stock market crash has only just ended, and almost all stocks are now in a slow recovery phase. Growth is not significant, but the overall trend is positive, as market confidence needs time to recover.

Amidst a market where almost everything was down, only a few companies had their line charts showing a red trend, and Hasbro's was the one with the reddest line.

Since that press conference, Hasbro's stock has been rising steadily, and tens of thousands of investors are watching MGM and Hasbro closely, hoping to capitalize on this wave of profits.

But the news in the early hours of the morning completely stunned the market. MGM must have gone mad to let a 22-year-old rich second-generation with no experience in the film industry direct a film.

Many investors, scarred by the stock market crash and lacking resolve, have begun selling off their shares.

In fact, these retail investors have a very simple mentality. Hasbro's stock price has been rising for some time, and they have made a small profit. Now they want to sell at a high price so that they can at least make a profit without losing money.

If we wait until the situation deteriorates to the point of a complete collapse, then there will be no one left to cry about, and the army of homeless people will grow even larger.

However, those selling now are mostly timid; most people are still in the wait-and-see phase. The general public's mentality is that MGM sent the wrong message and will surely correct it soon.

In Beverly Hills, the Cooper family received an uninvited guest early in the morning: Sergei Hasenfield arrived.

Sergei ran all the way to the villa's door and, slightly out of breath, pressed the doorbell.

After waiting for a while, the nanny opened the door.

Is Mr. Cooper home?

"Excuse me, sir, who are you?"

"I am Sergey Hasenfield, CEO of Hasbro. I need to see Charlie Cooper. It's very important."

The nanny shook her head: "I'm sorry, sir, Mr. Cooper fell ill and was rushed to the hospital last night."

"What!"

Sergei looked completely bewildered: "Which hospital?"

"I don't know, maybe you should call him yourself."

boom!

The villa gate was closed.

Sergei was dumbfounded. If I could contact someone, would I be blocking the door?

The phone rang.

Sergei answered the call with trembling hands, and a furious roar immediately came from the other end: "Have you found him? How did the talks go?"

"I'm sorry, Uncle, Charlie Cooper has fallen ill. I think it might be because he's upset with his son. I suspect there's a lot of turmoil inside MGM right now."

"Throughout the entire conversation, it was Eric Cooper who spoke to us. Charlie Cooper only showed up at the final signing ceremony. I think this might involve a power struggle between the father and son."

The person on the other end of the phone continued their furious rant: "Don't use your stupid brain to speculate! I want the facts! I want the facts! Find Harry Cooper within a day and make him change this decision! The stock price has already started to fall."

"Okay, okay, I will, don't worry, Uncle!"

"Shit!"

After hanging up the phone, Sergei angrily slammed it to the ground. "I've run my legs off, and all you do is yell at me, you old bastard!"

I've worked like a slave for you all these years and made so much money. What's wrong with making one mistake? What in this world is without risk?

However, after venting his anger with a few curses, Sergei could only continue to think of solutions, as his previous speculation was entirely based on his own experience.

Judging others by one's own standards, who would want an old guy to be living under their roof forever?

Dear readers, I'm begging... I'm begging for anything, thank you!

I'll continue driving these next few days, so remember to keep reading! (⊙o⊙) Wow!

(End of this chapter)