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Chapter 993 Mass Resignation? Thanks to all of you for your assistance in privatization!

When the news reached the ears of the entire MGM Studios leadership, no one could believe it.

Frank Rothman even called Lin Haoran personally to confirm whether Henry had misheard.

Unfortunately, Lin Haoran's answer left Frank Rothman utterly devastated.

Lin Haoran told Frank Rothman over the phone that after Henry faxed him their resignation letters, he had already commissioned a crisis management company under Citigroup to take over MGM Studios.

In other words, there is absolutely no chance of redemption.

Because their resignation letters were already in Lin Haoran's hands, and they all had their signatures on them.

At this moment, it's too late for them to regret it; clearly, they made a wrong judgment.

The consequence of their misjudgment was that they lost a large sum of money in breach of contract penalties.

Of the tens of millions of dollars in breach of contract penalties, Frank Rothman alone received more than three million dollars, while the others received between one million and several hundred thousand dollars according to their contractual salary ratios.

Unfortunately, they haven't received a single penny yet.

A sum of money ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars may not be a huge amount for big bosses, but for professional managers like them, it is an absolutely significant asset.

Now, that money is gone.

They weren't robbed or detained; they handed it over themselves.

It's funny, and it's also ironic.

Their greed and arrogance led them to forfeit the compensation they deserved.

If they endure a few more days, they'll basically be guaranteed to receive the compensation.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in this world.

They have no chance to turn back.

Moreover, they also have to cooperate obediently with the handover work of the new team, because this clause is stipulated in their contracts with MGM Studios.

If they fail to cooperate with the handover, the company has the right to pursue their legal responsibility and even demand compensation for losses.

In other words, not only will they not receive any penalty for breach of contract, but they will also have to hand over their work properly without any slackness, concealment, or underhanded tactics.

Otherwise, Lin Haoran could sue them at any time.

Their boss, Frank Rothman, although a lawyer by training, was powerless in the face of a written contract.

In this round, they lost completely.

Immediately, more than a dozen senior executives at MGM Studios blamed Frank Rothman for the incident.

It was precisely because of Frank Rothman's "collective resignation and coup" plan that they ended up in such a predicament.

If they hadn't listened to Frank Rothman and stayed with the company, and if Lin Haoran had really planned to fire them all along, they could have easily received that hefty breach of contract penalty even if they did nothing.

Even if they weren't fired, they would still have stable, high-paying jobs and remain high-ranking executives at MGM, one of Hollywood's eight major studios.

Now, they not only haven't received any penalty for breach of contract, but they've also lost their jobs.

In the eight major Hollywood studios, each high-level position is filled by a specific person, and there are not always vacancies.

In other words, after losing their senior positions at MGM, they are most likely to only be able to take up senior positions in small and medium-sized enterprises in Hollywood, where their remuneration will drop significantly, and their status and influence will be far less than when they were at MGM.

They went from being high-ranking executives at one of Hollywood's eight major studios to becoming senior managers in small and medium-sized enterprises—a dramatic fall from grace.

Moreover, some small and medium-sized enterprises may not dare to hire them.

After all, they resigned en masse from MGM Studios. Who knows if they'll pull this stunt again at a crucial moment?

No boss wants to take in a group of employees who will collectively stage a coup.

They've lost not only their money and their jobs, but their reputations are ruined too.

The consequences were far more serious than they had imagined.

So at this moment, the management team that Frank Rothman personally assembled more than a year ago, a team that was once closely connected and worked together seamlessly, has now almost turned against each other.

However, all of this had nothing to do with Lin Haoran.

That same evening, John Reed helped Lin Haoran finalize the selection of his crisis management team.

This was an experienced crisis management team. After receiving the team introduction materials faxed by John Reed, Lin Haoran immediately made the decision, and the temporary management team for MGM Studios was finalized.

The next morning, the team flew from New York to Las Vegas, arriving in Las Vegas at 3 p.m.

Lin Haoran personally met with the team, which was led by a white man named Ivan Fuller and consisted of 12 members covering various fields such as finance, operations, legal affairs, marketing, human resources, administration, procurement, risk control, planning, and auditing.

This is a small but complete team, not a hastily assembled group of random soldiers.

Ivan Fuller was a white man in his early fifties, of medium build, wearing frameless glasses. He looked refined and spoke clearly, but he was decisive and efficient in his work.

He has held temporary management positions in several large American companies, handling various thorny crisis situations with rich experience and shrewd methods.

Although he had no experience working in a film company, the principles of business management are actually the same across all industries.

Finance is finance, operations is operations, legal is legal, procurement is procurement, and auditing is auditing.

What makes a film company special is its creative drive, IP management, and distribution, and Lin Haoran doesn't need them to worry about these three aspects for the time being.

All he needed was for them to protect the assets, prevent anyone from taking advantage of the IP, and ensure the company's normal operation.

As for project progress, cooperation negotiations, and talent recruitment, we'll talk about those once we find a suitable CEO.

No rush, take your time.

In a conference room at the MGM Grand Hotel, Lin Haoran personally communicated with the team, confirming their talents and making them understand his bottom line and requirements.

The two parties eventually signed a detailed cooperation agreement and an appointment letter.

The contract specifies the management team's responsibilities, authority, compensation, and liability for breach of contract, and is personally guaranteed by Citibank.

That evening, the team left Las Vegas and flew to Los Angeles.

Las Vegas and Los Angeles are not far apart, only about 400 kilometers apart, so if you leave in the evening, you can arrive before dark.

The arrival of this team at MGM Studios completely disillusioned Frank Rothman's management team.

They knew there was no chance of turning things around.

Lin Haoran wasn't bluffing; he genuinely didn't care whether they left or not.

The day after Ivan Fuller's team took over MGM Studios, the team announced changes to MGM Studios' management.

The announcement was concise and formal, with not a single superfluous word.

"As the company's former chairman and CEO, Frank Rothman, and his management team have officially submitted their resignations, effective immediately, a temporary management team led by Mr. Ivan Fuller will take over the company's daily operations."

The company will continue its commitment to providing high-quality film content to audiences worldwide, and thanks everyone for their care and support.

The announcement immediately caused an uproar in Hollywood's media circles.

For the past two weeks, news about MGM Studios has dominated the headlines of major entertainment media outlets.

From Lin Haoran's acquisition of MGM to the overwhelming media campaign, the continuous decline in stock price, and the collective resignation of the management team, every step has been under the media spotlight.

Initially, everyone thought the public attention was waning and that MGM Studios would soon fade from view. However, the announcement of management changes at MGM Studios reignited the public interest.

Reporters who were already preparing to turn their attention to the Oscars and summer blockbusters swarmed in like sharks smelling blood.

Ivan Fuller held a press conference at MGM Studios headquarters.

At the press conference, he truthfully announced the reason for the changes in the company's senior management: the original management team had voluntarily submitted their resignations, the company respected their choices, and they had amicably terminated their contracts.

His team was appointed to temporarily take over the company's daily operations until Lin Haoran found a suitable CEO.

None of Frank Rothman's team members appeared at the press conference.

After briefly explaining his reasons for taking over the company and his plans for the next few months, Ivan Fuller prepared to end the press conference.

However, the reporters were certainly not satisfied with this.

They pressed Frank Rothman on why he resigned, and whether it was because of a conflict with Lin Haoran.

Ivan Fuller replied, "This is Mr. Frank Rothman's personal choice, and the company respects his decision. We cannot disclose any further details."

When reporters pressed Lin Haoran on whether he would implement sweeping reforms at MGM, Ivan Fuller replied, "Mr. Lin has a clear plan for the future of MGM, but it is not convenient to announce it to the public at this time. Please be patient."

When reporters pressed him on how the interim management team would drive the development of MGM Studios, Ivan Fuller replied, "Our priority is to protect our assets, ensure the company's smooth operation, and wait for the new CEO to take office."

As for project progress, cooperation negotiations, and talent recruitment, we'll discuss those after the new CEO takes office. We're not here to create miracles; we're here to uphold our bottom line.

After the press conference, the reporters left disappointed.

They didn't uncover any juicy details and could only write reports based on their own imagination and speculation.

As a result, the news headlines the next day were all over the place.

Some say, "Lin Haoran purged his old subordinates, plunging MGM into chaos," others say, "The temporary management team doesn't understand film, and MGM's future is worrying," and still others say, "Frank Rothman was forced out, and MGM's top management is in a state of panic."

This has made investors who still hold shares in MGM Studios even more apprehensive.

As a result, the already dwindling number of shareholders fueled another wave of selling.

Those retail investors who were still observing could no longer sit still after seeing the overwhelming negative reports.

Sending a team with no experience in managing film companies to take over MGM Studios is clearly a recipe for disaster.

They worried that MGM would completely collapse under Lin Haoran's "purge" and that their shares would become worthless.

As a result, they rushed to sell their shares. At the very least, the privatization offer from Citigroup and Universal Investments has kept MGM's stock price at a decent level.

If we don't sell now, are we going to wait until Lin Haoran bankrupts MGM Studios before selling it?

This also led to an acceleration of Lin Haoran's privatization process of MGM Studios, with his shareholding in the company soaring from just over 90 percent to 97.7 percent in just a few days.

Retail investors rushed to sell, and Citibank's trading team and Universal Investment's acquisition team accepted them all, buying up as many as they could.

Transactions were completed quietly, and no one cared who was buying in. These investors had given up on the idea that the stock price would rise further.

In fact, the current threshold for privatization in the United States is that a 90% shareholding is considered a successful privatization, which can directly terminate the status of a listed company.

However, most privatization acquirers seek 100% ownership to gain complete control of the company and avoid subsequent disputes with minority shareholders.

Lin Haoran felt the same way; he didn't want a few shareholders to linger after privatization and cause trouble from time to time.

What he wanted was 100% control, a clean privatization, and ownership without any worries.

The collective resignation of the original management team at MGM Studios has unexpectedly accelerated Lin Haoran's 100% privatization process of MGM Studios, something he had not anticipated.

However, this is ultimately a good thing.

All I can say is that the collective resignation of the original management team did him a huge favor.

In the conference room at Universal Pictures, the heads of the six giants gathered once again.

However, unlike the triumphant and confident atmosphere of the last time, everyone in the meeting room looked very grim this time.

They are fully aware of the situation at MGM Studios.

They never expected that Frank Rothman would be kicked out of MGM Studios so easily.

As a result, their plan to gradually acquire MGM's core IPs and film library had to be shelved.

This is such a tempting cake, what a pity.

The new manager, Ivan Fuller, was someone they knew well; he was a very famous crisis management professional at Citigroup.

Managers like these are simply not people they can bribe.

Who in the industry doesn't know Ivan Fuller's reputation?

He brought many companies on the verge of bankruptcy back to life and restored order to many enterprises that had fallen into chaos.

The other party is not someone who can be bought with money, nor someone who can be threatened or intimidated, after all, the other party is actually working for Citibank.

"Guys, we underestimated Lin Haoran's courage!" Warner Bros.' Steve Ross sighed.

Luwatherman said, "Then issue the blockade order! I don't believe that an amateur like him can make any good movies. Without theater screenings, no matter how good his movies are, audiences won't be able to see them."

If there's no box office, there's no revenue; without box office revenue, he can't make money; if he can't make money, he'll quit. So, the six of us joined forces to block his distribution channels, so even if he has money, he can't spend it.

Furthermore, talent restrictions have been tightened, preventing directors, screenwriters, and actors from outside the MGM system from joining MGM Studios. Efforts are also being made to poach existing industry elites from MGM Studios.

He paused, then continued, "We'll make sure that even if they have the money, they can't hire anyone; even if they do hire someone, they can't make a good movie; even if they make a good movie, it won't be shown in theaters; and even if it is shown in theaters, it won't get good screenings. We'll put MGM in a vicious cycle. Let's see how long they can hold out!"

Although doing so would involve legal risks of monopoly, as long as we do not leave written evidence or collude publicly, everyone is just making independent business decisions, and the antitrust bureau can't do anything to us.

Moreover, Lin Haoran is not a local, but an outsider. The US judicial system will inevitably favor us, so there is no need to be too worried about it.

Although Ivan Fuller is quite famous, he is not a deeply rooted Hollywood insider. He only seeks to consolidate the existing order and is not a threat. In the end, he is just a conservative.

“Lu is right. Hollywood is the territory of our Squid Corporation. We will never allow outsiders to trespass. Coca-Cola is already an exception. There can’t be a second one, otherwise there will only be more in the future!” Marvin Davis of 20th Century Fox chimed in.

“Yes, the advantage is in our hands now. Lin Haoran, an outsider, can’t cause any trouble. With the six of us giants joining forces, MGM will only find it difficult to move forward!” Disney’s usually taciturn head, E. Catton Walker, said with a smile.

In fact, Disney itself did not want to get involved in this matter, because they would not gain any benefit from it.

Disney is more focused on protecting its own intellectual property and unwilling to get involved in this war without bloodshed.

But Lou Wasserman’s repeated lobbying, coupled with pressure from several other companies, forced E. Catton Walker to sit in this conference room and listen to these discussions that had little to do with his interests.

He knew perfectly well that Disney's animation empire was impregnable and that no matter how much money Lin Haoran had, he couldn't shake it.

But out of appearances, he can't leave this circle.

In Hollywood, connections are more important than profits.

Disney's influence would be greatly diminished if it were excluded from the industry.

So he could only sit there, saying agreeable things, but his mind was on his own business.

"Okay, it's settled then. We need to let Lin Haoran know that MGM Studios is not just a matter of public opinion crisis. Does he think that buying MGM will give him a foothold in Hollywood? He's too naive."

Distribution, connections, and talent are the lifeblood of Hollywood. The six of us joining forces are here to show him that in Hollywood, he can't do anything without our approval!" Lou Wasserman said again.

Suddenly, undercurrents were stirring in Hollywood.

Frank Rothman, on the other hand, was completely ignored by those present, as if he were merely a discarded pawn. (End of Chapter)