Reborn in America, I'm serious about making money.

"Allen, what is your ideal right now?"

Zhang San lay lazily on the sofa like a corpse, with Allen, Helen, and Jessica next to him. The four of them were the same as before, but their current environment was completely different.

The original sofa was old and worn out, and it was uncomfortable, but now, all four of them were completely immersed in it, as if they had merged with it.

"To be an actor, to come out, my ideal is to be an actor, to be a great actor."

Zhang San sighed, inwardly thinking to himself, "My brother-in-law really hasn't forgotten his roots."

The next morning, Zhang San was picked up by a convoy to complete the final formalities. Robert, the tool and CEO, was also in place. He couldn't be a manager forever; he also had ideals.

When a headhunter approached him and offered him the position of CEO of MCA, he considered it for a while and then agreed. He spent half a month processing his resignation and paid the penalty for breach of contract before they let him leave.

Zhang San paid the hundreds of thousands of dollars in breach of contract fees. After meeting this famous Hollywood celebrity, Zhang San felt that at least the purchase was worthwhile.

"Robert, from now on, MCA will be in your hands." Zhang San is currently setting up an accounting firm to handle the financial matters of the new NT-MS company and MCA. There's no other way around it; he's always felt like an outsider.

There are always treacherous subjects trying to blind me!

This statement truly reflects his inner thoughts, which is why he places particular emphasis on finance and human resources.

"Thank you, Stephen. I will not let you down."

Why did Zhang San choose Robert? Of course, it's because of Robert's past life experiences.

Back then, Michael fought a fierce battle with the Tessney family for control of Tessney. Michael's domineering behavior greatly angered the Tessney family, who felt they had let a wolf into their house. Later, they used various means to get rid of him, but it cost them a lot of money. His successor was Robert.

Unlike Michael's domineering and aggressive nature, Robert is a very gentle person who can mediate conflicts between superiors and subordinates and ensure the smooth operation of the group. He is a skilled man.

"I want to watch the company's movies from now on, and I also want to take a look at the film projects."

Just as he was dealing with his MCA work, another piece of news came: MV Comics was willing to sell for a total of $600 million. At this time, the most valuable copyright held by MV Comics was Spider-Man; the other X-Men copyright was still held by MV. In three years, when MV Comics was extremely poor, they would sell their children.

"Six hundred million is too much, he's not worth it. If Spider-Man were still alive, I'd be willing to offer five hundred million dollars. Now, it's four hundred million dollars."

The price is very attractive. This matter has been handed over to Robert, the CEO of MCA, to lead the acquisition.

"Robert, I'm leaving this to you."

MV Comics is now far behind DC Comics. DC has big backers, while MV Comics' owners are constantly draining its resources, causing MV Comics to fall far behind what it used to be.

Robert's negotiation talent, which was originally expected to be revealed after he took over Tissney, was prematurely unleashed at this moment.

"I'm honored!"

"Robert, you might not know this, but there's another thing. Go contact Steve Jobs of Pixar and ask if he's interested in selling Pixar. If he decides to sell, we'll buy it. If they're not interested, ask if they're interested in collaborating."

Robert wondered if his new boss had some kind of hobby. But since his boss was rich, he was willing to indulge in shopping sprees—who could understand his joy?

Having money and being able to squander it as you please is truly a joyful thing.

What he didn't know was that more than a decade later, Robert, who was now the head of Tissot, contacted Steve Jobs, persuaded him, and eventually acquired Pixar, though it cost billions of dollars.

The fact that the boss entrusted so many things to me shows how much he trusts me.

Zhang San, who is supposed to be a hands-off manager, is not completely uninvolved. He oversees Universal Pictures' production projects and has halted many projects, leaving those who are already filming or preparing to film puzzled.

At the time, some people raised this issue with their superiors, but it was directly rejected with the statement: "This is a resolution of the board of directors."

This is to cut losses. Some projects were halted by him as soon as they were started, otherwise tens of millions of dollars would have been invested in filming.

For some projects, contracts have already been signed with actors. Zhang San terminates the contracts and lets them leave, so the movie is canceled. If it's a full payment, then the contracts can be renewed, a few scenes can be filmed, and then the remaining payments can be settled after the film is released.

There are also some projects that are already halfway through filming. Well... we can only reduce the amount of money invested in post-production. As for whether the producers and directors are willing to do so, then we shouldn't even bother filming them. It's good to reduce the filming budget. These projects may face audits from accounting firms. If we obediently film them well and can reduce the investment, then everyone will be fine.

This alone saved the group nearly $100 million in expenses, including not only the project itself but also future marketing and promotion costs, which are sometimes higher than the cost of filming.

In an extreme case, such as "The Blair Witch Project," the purchase cost was negligible, but the marketing and distribution expenses were in the tens of millions of dollars, which is why it grossed over $100 million at the box office.

However, after PANA acquired MCA, Universal only began to recover two years later. It wasn't until the emergence of the Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1994 that Universal had a turnaround, but the problems were too deep to be reversed.

When Zhang San acquired MCA, he wasn't in a hurry to achieve results. Instead, he streamlined the entire group and made reforms, letting some people leave. This was the best option, as MCA doesn't tolerate idlers, except for the boss.

Robert is a very capable and reserved person who can act as a lubricant. After joining MCA, he gained recognition from both superiors and subordinates in less than a month. He did not make any major moves, except for stopping many projects, which saved the group a lot of money.

"Stephen, things are stable right now, I suggest we hold off on layoffs for the time being."

Zhang San said, "Robert, you're managing this group. If you think it's okay, then there's no problem." Robert was quite relieved by Zhang San's approval; otherwise, he would have felt terrible.

He paused for a moment and said, "My requirements aren't high; I just want to avoid losses in the first year."

Companies or properties bought by island nations rarely make money. After Sony bought Columbia, it kept losing money. Whenever it lost money, it would bring out Spider-Man and make a movie to make their performance look better.

PANA bought MCA, and a few years later, sold 80% of its shares, having been losing money throughout the process.

They bought Rockefeller Center, then sold it back at a discount—this kind of thing happens all the time. They should know that America treats them like traitors, right?