Chapter 24: You want my money, but I want your body

Hearing this, Eric frowned. Hasbro was being too greedy. They asked for 20% right away. They really thought that money came from the wind.

But he felt helpless about this. After all, the copyright was in the hands of others. If they did not cooperate with him, they could alternatively cooperate with the other six major companies.

Instead of cooperating with the other six major companies, you can also cooperate with powerful independent production companies. Such big IPs will never lack buyers.

Especially the success of the X-Men series and Spider-Man has made more companies realize the potential of comic adaptations.

MGM had anticipated Hasbro's huge demand for the lion and had come up with a series of contingency plans.

In business, there is no escape from asking for a high price and paying a low price! "Mr. Hassenfeld, I have a question, why does Hasbro want to film Transformers?"

Hassenfeld didn't answer, but just looked at Eric, wanting to hear what he had to say.

"In my opinion, it is nothing more than expanding the influence, or injecting fresh blood into Transformers, and the fundamental purpose is to sell peripherals and toys. After all, this is your core business, isn't it?"

"Yes, Mr. Cooper, what exactly do you want to say?"

Eric took a deep breath and said, "Then I have a suggestion. How about we sign a bet agreement?"

Hassenfeld was stunned for a moment, and asked in surprise: "Betting agreement? What do you want to bet on?"

"It's very simple. We just bet on the impact of the movie's release on toy sales, and link sales volume to profits."

"If the movie has no impact on toy sales, and sales increase by less than 10% in a year, then MGM will pay Hasbro twice the copyright fee, which is $100 million."

"If Transformers toy sales increase by more than 50% within a year, MGM will pay Hasbro 1.5 times the copyright fee, which is $75 million."

"If toy sales increase by more than 100% in a year, MGM will pay Hasbro $50 million in royalties."

"If toy sales grow by more than 150% in a year, MGM will only pay Hasbro $25 million in royalties."

"And if toy sales grow by more than 200% in a year, MGM will still only pay Hasbro $25 million in royalties, but Hasbro will pay MGM 10% of the toy profits."

"Finally, if toy sales increase by more than 300% within a year, MGM will still pay Hasbro $50 million in royalties, but Hasbro will have to give MGM 3% of its equity or pay 40% of the toy profits."

"Of course, this is just a rough idea of ​​mine. We can discuss the specific details, but I hope Hasbro can see our sincerity."

That’s right, it was Eric’s spur of the moment idea to propose this bet.

You are greedy for my money, but I am greedy for your body.

In 2002, the American toy market was in a three-way competition situation, with Hasbro, Mattel and Lego dominating the market. Other small companies could only tremble in fear, not knowing when they would face bankruptcy or be acquired.

Our Chinese friends are the least familiar with Mattel because their main product is the Barbie doll series, and playing with Barbie dolls is not mainstream among Chinese people.

Among these three giants, if development follows the historical trajectory, LEGO has undoubtedly taken the right path. Relying on various superhero and Disney authorizations, it has developed a large number of film, television and game peripherals, and has become the world's number one toy manufacturer in one fell swoop.

But looking back to 2002, Lego was at a disadvantage, with Hasbro and Mattel having a larger market share.

Eric's idea was very simple. It would be best to enter Hasbro's management without any bloodshed, and then slowly gain the right to speak.

If he can become a decision-maker, with his foresight, it is not impossible for him to defeat Mattel and Lego in the future. Even within the scope permitted by laws and regulations, acquisition may not be a dream.

If they then invade Japan and take over Bandai Namco, they will be able to dominate the global toy market and establish an absolute monopoly.

In this world, is there anything more profitable than monopoly? Of course, this is just a beautiful idea.

In 2007, before he traveled through time, because "Transformers" was a hit, his nephew pestered him to buy toys, so he bought a genuine movie Optimus Prime, which was extremely expensive.

He also took the opportunity to look at Hasbro's financial report for that year. The sales of Transformers toys soared 5 times, which was a huge profit for the company, with profits far exceeding Paramount.

So he really hopes that Hasbro will sign the bet agreement, and is even willing to make bigger concessions, as long as you sign it.

"Mr. Hassenfeld, I hope you will consider this bet agreement carefully. I think it is more cost-effective than increasing the copyright fee by 20%."

In the conference room, the people from Hasbro had fallen into collective silence. Not only them, but even the people from MGM were in a daze.

Volvo even screamed in his heart: "Can you please let me know before you make a fucking decision? We want to catch others off guard, not ourselves!"

After a moment's silence, Hassenfeld checked the time and said, "Mr. Cooper, although you are very young, I have to say that your proposal is very bold!"

"But this is not something I can decide alone. It requires research by the board of directors. I think we should stop here today. After all, Hasbro has seen your sincerity."

"It's getting late, why don't we take a break? We've been talking about work for so long, it's time to talk about other things like friends."

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

Eric also knew that the other party could not make the decision, not to mention that the details still needed to be improved, so he laughed and said, "Then it would be disrespectful to refuse."

At 2:30 in the afternoon, Eric and Chen Xing boarded the flight back to Los Angeles.

In the first class cabin, a beautiful stewardess in uniform walked up to the two and served them with a smile.

"Sir, would you like something to drink?"

"Give me a glass of ice water, please."

Eric stroked his dizzy head. During lunch, Hassenfeld was very enthusiastic.

Even though there was a dozen years difference in age, the other party seemed really interested in Eric, and the two chatted quite a bit.

I naturally drank a lot of wine when I was in a good mood. Don't think that there is no drinking culture abroad. Now that I'm drunk, I feel a little dry in the mouth.

"Just give me a Coke."

The stewardess quickly returned with a tray and seeing Eric's dazed look, she asked, "Sir, are you feeling unwell?"

Then he grabbed Eric's hand and said, "Do you need to call a doctor?"

Shaking his head and feeling the itch in his hands, Eric carefully looked at the stewardess in front of him. She unexpectedly resembled Brooke Shields.

You should know that unlike China, American Airlines' flight attendants are almost all middle-aged women, and you can only meet young ones in the first class. The probability of meeting a beautiful woman is not high.

"I think so, but not a doctor, can you help me?" Eric said and walked towards the bathroom.

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(End of this chapter)