Jobs was thinking about selling Pixar and using the proceeds to develop Next.

Get up from where you fall.

He was ousted from the company by Apple's board of directors, and he wanted to prove that the board's choice was wrong.

However, it's quite embarrassing now that Next has developed into this mess, making Jobs lose face.

Steve Jobs made an outrageous demand of $100 million, but in reality, he was all bark and no bite and had little real confidence.

If the Shanghai Animation Film Studio is unwilling to pay such a high price to acquire Pixar, it can lower the price.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the negotiators from the Shanghai Animation Film Studio met and talked with Ronald Perelman.

Back in 1988, Marvel was resold to Ronald Perelman for $85 million.

Ronald Perelman was more concerned with how to make more money for Marvel through capital operations than with running comics.

Under Perelman's management, Marvel went public in 1991.

After going public, Marvel began to expand rapidly. In addition to launching comics, it also acquired other companies, including toy companies, card companies, comic book distribution companies, etc., while also accumulating huge debts.

Furthermore, in 1991, a group of star artists, including Jim Lee and McFarlane, left Marvel to start their own company, ImageWorks. Marvel lost one of its most influential artists.

Currently, the comic book industry is in a slump, with a large number of comic book stores going bankrupt and closing down, damaging Marvel's sales channels and causing its stock price to plummet.

However, Perelman had already gone public with Marvel and not only did not suffer losses, but made a fortune.

At this time, Marvel was already on the decline, but unexpectedly, the Shanghai Animation Film Studio took the initiative to approach them and wanted to acquire Marvel, which made Perelman overjoyed.

"Haha, the parent company of Shanghai Animation Film Studio is Wujiang Group, which is very wealthy. I'm going to make a fortune again this time!" Perelman was overjoyed and couldn't help but laugh.

He looked at the negotiators opposite him and said, "You want to acquire Marvel? Sure, as long as you offer enough incentives, I can sell Marvel to you!"

Fan Jingtong, the head of the negotiation team, did not immediately make an offer.

"Mr. Perelman, through your capital operations, Marvel has incorporated toy companies, card companies, and other businesses into Marvel, thereby inflating Marvel's stock price and pushing its market value to over $1 billion! But we all know this is unreasonable. Currently, although Marvel's revenue is high, it is actually suffering heavy losses. Who would want to buy a loss-making company?"

After a pause, Fan Jingtong said firmly, "Our Shanghai Animation Film Studio does want to acquire Marvel, but the prerequisite is that we need to divest all the other messy companies!"

Perelman's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

How can I sell Marvel at a high price if I divest all the messy companies? It's all about bundling them together!

Perelman immediately expressed his disagreement.

"If you want to acquire Marvel, you have to buy the entire Marvel universe. There's no reason to buy it piecemeal!!!"

Fan Jingtong frowned and tentatively asked, "Mr. Perelman, what would be the purchase price if we were to acquire the entire package?"

“At least $1.5 billion!” Perelman replied.

Fan Jingtong and the others looked at each other in bewilderment upon hearing the price.

“Mr. Perelman, if I may be so bold, Marvel is not worth this price. When you acquired Marvel, you only spent $89 million, and now it has risen to $1.5 billion. This is simply outrageous!” Fan Jingtong said in a deep voice. If he hadn’t been so well-mannered, he would have already started cursing. This old man was simply incredibly greedy, treating them like suckers to be fleeced!

Fan Jingtong wasn't going to tolerate that, so he immediately stood up and led everyone to take their leave.

On the way back to the hotel, Fan Jingtong called Xu Xiangming to report on the progress of his negotiations. Xu Xiangming was stunned. $1.5 billion? What kind of international joke is this?

Xu Xiangming immediately called Zhao Ye and relayed the situation.

"Boss, Perelman's appetite is too big. He's asking for $1.5 billion. He's treating us like suckers! We absolutely cannot meet Perelman's demands!" Xu Xiangming said angrily.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ye nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "Then let's give up on acquiring Marvel for now and wait until it goes bankrupt!"

In just a few years, Perelman bankrupted Marvel, shrinking the workforce from over 5,000 to only 200-300. He was truly remarkable.

What's really infuriating is that this guy has been selling superhero characters all this time. If Wujiang Group acquires Marvel, they'll have to find a way to reclaim the superhero rights from other film and television companies. It's a real pain in the ass.

...

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Ye looked at a black machine on the table, and a smile reappeared on his face.

"Thank you all for your hard work! We've finally developed the Super VCD. The entire development team can go on a trip to Hainan, and the company will reimburse all expenses. In addition, there will be a generous project bonus at the end of the year!"

"Long live the boss!!!"

A deafening cheer erupted from inside the laboratory.

Zhao Ye smiled happily. Once the Super VCD was developed, Wujiang Group was confident that it could break into the European and American video market.

Currently, DVDs haven't been invented yet, and VHS recorders have similar picture quality to VCD players. This has led to VCDs being very popular in developing countries, but only selling moderately in developed countries. This is because VHS recorders have a first-mover advantage and are already deeply rooted in Europe and America.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!