[Chapter 906: The God Overwhelmed by Dollars]
"Don't think about it, Warren. The fools below are confused, and the bosses aren't dumb."
"Ah, what a pity. They're all bad people anyway; feel free to fight it out."
The opening price of 35 dollars surged quickly, and within a short while, Pixar's stock price approached the 40-dollar mark.
For a company that had only made one film, achieving a market value of 1.5 billion was astonishing. The entire Nasdaq and Wall Street were engulfed in a kind of inexplicable frenzy.
"Larry, I did it," Steve Jobs exclaimed excitedly, although he wasn't exactly popular. At that moment, the only person he had to share his joy with was Larry Ellison.
"Congratulations, Steve. You've stood at the pinnacle of an era once again."
"Hahaha, I bet the expressions on those guys' faces are absolutely priceless. Too bad I won't get to see it."
"Not necessarily. I heard someone suggested you should go back. Steve, consider whether you need to be the Savior."
"Hmm, I definitely need to cool down a bit."
With around 30 million in costs, it seemed likely the global box office would reach at least 350 million dollars. If you added in the merchandise sales, it was going to be a tremendous profit.
Achieving success with the first film was vital, particularly since it was the beginning of a series. According to the company's announcement, they signed a ten-year contract for six films with Disney.
The terms weren't exceptional, but they weren't bad either. With a solid backing, the company's future looked promising.
Look at the toys -- they were selling like hotcakes. If you weren't investing in such a company, what were you waiting for?
"Wow, over sixty! Damn, Old Steve Jobs must be thrilled, huh? He can swim in dollars now."
Filson chuckled wryly; a market cap of 2 billion was quite a payday for him as well. The world was going insane; at one point, Paramount was only worth about a billion.
"Spielberg, this is just absurd. If Pixar is worth 2 billion, DreamWorks should be worth 10 billion."
Seeing Lucas getting petty, Spielberg was at a loss for words.
If anyone was to blame, it was Lucas's ex-wife. If it weren't for their divorce drama, he wouldn't be selling this company.
Lucas's frustration was not unfounded. The crew at Pixar was made up of his former Star Wars team.
Not to dwell on Lucas's woes, Filson shifted the conversation back to him.
"There's no way. If Pixar were still with Lucas, it would still be at that farm. You know, once you start playing it safe, there won't be any breakthroughs.
Of course, holding Star Wars essentially means you're a winner in life, so complaining shouldn't even be an option."
"This slap in the face is going to hurt Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs."
"They need a shake-up; constantly trying to profit without a care is now their lesson to learn."
William White smiled at the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Old Steve Jobs, oh Old Steve Jobs, how hated you were!
Steve Jobs made a comeback, leveraging Pixar's IPO to join the ranks of billionaires.
Well, Old Steve Jobs might not have had smooth sailing over the years, but since Apple's IPO, this guy was undoubtedly a billionaire, right?
If nothing else, if you weren't even a billionaire, how could you shamelessly negotiate with William White?
A bunch of analysts vented their frustrations, universally agreeing that a 2 billion market cap represented the market's loss of reason. Most of the profits were being picked off by Disney; Pixar was merely doing the grunt work.
"The company's valuation isn't decided by me, but by the market, which is the essence of the market's existence.
We are the second company in a century to release a blockbuster animated film. As for Disney, those analysts aren't right. If Disney takes 90% of the profits, why would I even run a company? That's absurd."
"Mr. Steve, would you be willing to share details?"
"No need to reveal more; our announcement provides all the hints. It's about a 50-50 split; they need to invest.
Investing 50% for 50% of the profits seems very fair to me."
With a click, the editor of The Wall Street Journal felt his heart sink. Damn it! Not like this. We just sold our paper, and you're telling me about a 50-50 split?
What the hell does NBC have to do with this guy?
"Editor, editor! Steve and William White have a good relationship; that's not a secret in Silicon Valley!"
"Why didn't you say that earlier? Are you enjoying watching me make a fool of myself?"
His subordinates secretly rolled their eyes; if you didn't have any reasons, how could such a report land on the front page? Now acting innocent, sure, you're the boss, but how long could you keep that up?
Old Steve Jobs realized the genius of William White. He could completely blow smoke in front of the camera.
Look, Disney originally disagreed, but after the success of Toy Story, they changed their minds.
This was significant; if Pixar became a subsidiary of Disney, it would lose its value -- or rather, there wouldn't be much room for imagination.
Isn't that what stocks are about? First, you must know how to tell a story; second, that story must be very credible.
Was negotiating with Disney tricky? Of course. If you're dictating everything, then what good is Disney as a Hollywood giant?
"Mr. White's shares? No, no, no! You don't understand; those are just shares with partial voting rights. In fact, over 60% of the voting rights are in my hands.
You know, I hope the company can bring more profits to the shareholders."
Although many in the industry knew the guy was spooked by Apple and didn't want to be kicked out again, not all investors were insiders. Watching Steve Jobs speak so confidently, many still cast their firm votes for him.
Animated films are profitable -- The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story.
These so-called big animated films not only raked in box office money but also generated more revenue from merchandise than regular films.
There's no way around it; even if Forrest Gump made a billion, you might only make a bit from video rental. And DVDs are still quite limited.
As for other memorabilia? Don't even think about it; they're like feathers falling from the sky; you can't sell them.
Wait a minute -- if Pixar could, couldn't DreamWorks?
For now, they couldn't. Just mentioning three-dimensional animated blockbusters, even Disney's two-dimensional ones would take time to replicate.
It had become a consensus that George Lucas sold at a loss. Jobs didn't know much about film effects; despite all the flaunting, that was just knowledge he had picked up over the years. Before that, Old Steve Jobs was more skilled in industrial design.
An outsider who wasn't familiar with the business had somehow succeeded. Hollywood and Silicon Valley fell into a collective regret.
However, it was just a thought.
Seeing others succeed made it seem simple; they just got lucky.
Ha! If you keep thinking that way, you may just stay in that mindset.
Life was tough for Jobs after being ousted from Apple. Leaving a familiar industry made it difficult for him to make a comeback. If he kept struggling for a few more years, he might not have been able to hang in there.
Success wasn't ever simple. If it were that easy, why would Pixar's financing have faced so many hurdles? As for White Capital's investment, Jobs had always been very cautious. Having one dominant player was something he couldn't accept; if there were others willing to invest, he wouldn't choose William White if he could help it.
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