Describing the conflict between Citibank and William White as a mutual loss fits like a glove. On the surface, Citibank lost more market value, while William White lost actual cash. The value Citibank lost was slowly recovering, but the real dollars William White lost were completely gone with the wind.
The public might say Citibank won big, but the consortiums saw things differently. They knew very well that William White's goal was to intimidate, and his targets were people like them.
Their current thought was to tread carefully. From this perspective, William White actually won. He not only dared to short your companies but could also cut off communication and power to your building.
No one wants to engage in such cut-throat battles. To them, next time might not be so cheap; it could lead to bloody conflict.
Of course, bloody conflict is fine as long as it's not one's own family bleeding. Other people's kids can die all day.
"Boss, these toys just got delivered."
"Yeah, seems a bit better now."
After fiddling with it for a while, William White was more or less satisfied. The little assistant was puzzled though. This thing looked pretty dumb. If it's a robot, just be a robot. What's up with it transforming into a car?
"Suzuki, let them go ahead with production. We can't delay the delivery schedule."
"Okay, boss."
William White had a headache. He really didn't have the right people for the job. Even the manga companies in Japan were complaining. They really weren't good with toys.
"Boss, Hasbro doesn't want to sell. They want a licensing agreement for toys."
"Oh, Filson, are they asking for Transformers?"
"Yes, and they're interested in Saint Seiya too. Besides them, Mattel is also interested."
"Sigh, I can't afford Mattel. Forget it, let's wait and see. Or maybe you can keep an eye on some smaller toy companies. We can't keep relying on the Japanese; it's affecting manga production."
"Alright, boss."
To William White, Hasbro seemed like a flop. In this tough business environment, refusing a buyout was puzzling. You'd think they'd be more practical.
The toys were a big industry. There's Mickey Mouse and Barbie, My Little Pony too. Any random toy is a billion-dollar business.
Even in a dreadful economic environment, very few toy companies had gone under, which spoke volumes.
William White believed that if you protected intellectual property, these things could make big bucks.
The final retail price could be twenty times the production cost.
American toy companies were profitable, but not the most profitable. Companies like Disney were the top earners.
...
The Transformers cartoon was mostly done. William White planned to air it in October, and the toys would hit the market then too.
"Those old guys will be shocked, huh? Ha, I wonder which company they'll sell to me," William White mused. Those old guys were not good people, just constantly expanding more and more.
In the eyes of Morgan Stanley, why bother with Hasbro? How much could that dump be worth? Why not just go for Mattel?
What? You say there's no money? We'll lend it to you. Can't you raise funds one more time before going public?
To these greedy bastards, William White could only flip the bird. They didn't get that his main business was comics, not toys. Investing in Mattel would confuse the primary focus.
William White wasn't afraid to tell them: forget about companies over five hundred million dollars, regardless of price, it won't happen.
Expansion required more than just cash. He needed time to observe the guys in his think tanks. Hastily promoting them to management wasn't wise.
His decision to rely on Barry Diller and Michael Eisner confused many people.
To the general public, he seemed ambitious enough to get himself in trouble sooner or later.
In the face of such criticism, William White acted arrogantly, like a rich, naive bookworm.
Was it true though?
Ha! Couldn't be more wrong. Such vital assets couldn't possibly be left unchecked. If someone were truly that dumb, they'd just be encouraging wrongdoing.
In this world, maybe there truly are people of upright moral character. But those who've studied themselves silly are definitely not fit to run businesses. Teaching in school might suit them better.
Solving these issues could only rely on systematic constraints. That's the most reliable approach. Forget about those you don't know well. Even if Jason comes over to work, it'll be business as usual.
If you treat friends the same as business, the simple result is you'd lose both your friends and your business would be messed up.
...
"Boss, this toy order isn't right. The number is way too huge. Even if it's global release, does he plan to sell for a year?"
"Tsk, maybe we're wrong again. Calculate if they ship 60% by Christmas. What's the company's valuation then?"
"Alright, boss."
William White was swamped. Speed was finished shooting. He needed to get moving on post-production, and the volume of toy orders was massive, which would use up a lot of capital too.
Fortunately, the stock he bought in Japan had risen. If he needed it, the Japanese would be happy to assist.
Well, they hoped William White would take a fall too, because then they might get more stock.
William White not failing was fine. Such loans were pretty safe.
"Boss, if they ship more than 60% by year's end, their value's at least forty billion."
"That high? How'd you figure?"
"Boss, it's not just Transformers toys; Saints Seiya's gearing up too."
"Tsk, didn't Citibank want to sell shares? Buy them."
"Alright, boss."
William White wasn't too bothered about Morgan Stanley and Citibank's dealings. These fools didn't understand the value of the surrounding markets yet.
His perspective was a bit arrogant. The comic book playbook was known to the consortiums. They just couldn't gauge the success rate.
*****
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