Since becoming a shareholder of MGM, Kevin had his own exclusive office. However, he rarely visited here.
This time could be considered his first experience of working at MGM.
Regardless of his past life or present one, he preferred freelance work. Only in freelance work could he truly understand the taste of living, while traditional employment felt like being a walking corpse, bound and restricted.
Sitting on the large sofa in his office, Kevin sipped the iced coffee poured by Reed's secretary, feeling quite comfortable.
"Kevin, you're here," Reed said as he walked in, uttering a meaningless phrase. But his joyful expression revealed his true thoughts. Clearly, he was delighted by Kevin's arrival.
"Reed, do the others have objections to me not having MGM invest in Batman?" Kevin asked directly.
Apart from persuading MGM to invest, his purpose for coming today was to shake up the people at MGM. He wanted them to realize what MGM's fate would be without Steve Kevin. At the same time, he wanted to test whether they would support his acquisition of MGM, laying the groundwork for a complete takeover in the future.
Reed's face displayed a slightly awkward smile. Kevin clearly knew everything happening within MGM, even though he had few connections there. Since that was the case, there was no need for Reed to hide it anymore. Moreover, he wanted to use this opportunity to test Kevin's attitude.
He had spent so much money buying MGM shares, yet Kevin seemed indifferent and showed no sign of valuing his stake in MGM. It was difficult to understand.
"Indeed, many top-level executives expressed their confusion. Just a moment ago, everyone was discussing this matter, and they were greatly disappointed that you didn't allow MGM to invest in Batman," Reed replied, his face revealing a hint of uncertainty.
Kevin's expression flashed with a noncommittal look as he spoke, "I came here this time for the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean."
"For this project, Dawn Film will invest 60% and MGM will invest 40%. The specific distribution of rights will be the same as the first film."
"At the same time, Dawn Film will take charge of everything related to the film, while MGM will only oversee the financial supervision of fund usage. They won't need to be involved in anything else."
"They just need to take care of the distribution and promotion after the film's completion."
Hearing these words, Reed suddenly felt a headache coming on. He knew that Kevin's demands this time would cause a huge reaction within MGM.
MGM was a deeply rooted film company, albeit experiencing a decline in recent years. However, these executives still carried the pride of a Hollywood giant.
Kevin's actions were simply slapping their faces. He might as well have directly said that MGM was not capable.
Only Reed, as the president with the highest probability of being replaced, didn't have these messy thoughts. He was solely focused on improving the financial reports.
He didn't want to take the blame for this.
Hastily, he suggested, "Should we hold a meeting with the company's executives?"
"Okay."
...
After a while, the previous ten or so top executives returned to the conference room. But this time, it was Steve Kevin who sat in the main seat.
Unlike their dissatisfaction with Kevin in the previous meeting, every executive here seemed submissive toward him, as evident from their faces.
Kevin glanced around and calmly said, "Now, let's discuss the investment details of the new project, the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean by Dawn Film Company."
As soon as he spoke, smiles appeared on the faces of the executives below. The sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean was practically a guaranteed money-making venture.
It seemed that Steve Kevin still had faith in MGM.
But this was to be expected. After all, with a 10% stake in MGM, the value had more than doubled after the success of two blockbuster films.
If other minor shareholders sold their stakes at this time, they would have already made double the profit.
The investors who currently held shares in film stocks had a superstitious confidence in the name Steve Kevin. As long as it wasn't Steve Kevin selling his MGM shares, everyone had full confidence in the current state of MGM.
This was due to the absolute confidence brought by the blockbuster success of five consecutive films.
As long as Steve Kevin could continue his undefeated box office legend, his presence would firmly stabilize the value of MGM shares at their current price.
"..."
Kevin restated what he had said to Reed, and the executives present immediately had unpleasant expressions on their faces.
Unlike Reed, who had worked at MGM for three or four years, many of these executives had been with the company for over two or three decades. Over time, they had become not just executives but also minor shareholders of MGM, with some holding 3% and others even over 1% of the shares. Together, they held more than 10% of MGM's shares.
Their connection to MGM went beyond just being employees; it had become an emotional attachment. In a way, they were partly responsible for MGM's decline, lacking the support of a major media company and the flexibility of younger talent.
"Director Kevin, are you insulting MGM?" one executive asked with an unpleasant expression.
"No, it's just that I have 100% control over Dawn Film Company, while I only have a 10% stake in MGM. Comparatively, Dawn is truly mine," Kevin replied calmly.
Everyone fell silent.
Kevin's words seemed to make sense. It was an unsolvable deadlock. They didn't know how to respond.
How could they ask Steve Kevin to abandon more of his interests to support MGM? It was impossible for anyone to do that. Even in this situation, they worried that Steve Kevin might abandon MGM at any moment. If that happened, MGM would be truly doomed.
The financial reports of recent years were almost abysmal, with losses every year except for the previous one.
Reed, observing everything from the side, suddenly understood Kevin's intention and interjected, "Why don't you buy more shares, Kevin? If MGM is truly yours, then the treatment would certainly be different."
His words woke everyone up.
No one in their positions was a fool. If Steve Kevin truly didn't care about MGM, he wouldn't have made his intentions so clear. The fact that he had said so much actually indicated his significant concern for MGM.
The meaning was clear.
Steve Kevin wanted to acquire MGM.
Realizing this, everyone pondered for a moment. They suddenly realized that it might actually be a good thing if Steve Kevin acquired MGM. Unlike the previous outsider, the casino mogul, having an industry insider like Steve Kevin leading MGM would undoubtedly bring benefits.
They could make more successful films, for starters.
Now the biggest problem is, where will the funds to acquire MGM come from?