Martin Goodman was originally a magazine editor, and later he founded a small comics company. He had his own principles in doing things. If a work became popular, he would copy it and it would ensure that he could make a lot of money.
DC was the leader in the comics industry at the time. From the very beginning of Marvel's emergence, it has been following DC's footsteps. As long as they release a comic, Marvel will definitely imitate it.
Stan Lee is the cousin of Goodman's wife. He joined Marvel after graduating from high school. No, Marvel at that time was called "Atlas" Comics Company, and it had not yet been named Marvel Comics Company in later generations.
When World War II broke out, Stan Lee joined the army, but he did not go to the battlefield. In the army, he mainly drew illustrations and did propaganda work. After World War II, he returned to work at the comic company. Now he is the editor-in-chief, chief writer and art director of Marvel.
Hardy knew that Stan Lee was the soul of Marvel, and he had to keep Stan Lee even if he didn't want Goodman.
"I want to acquire your comic company. What do you think?" Hardy asked Goodman.
"I wonder if Mr. Hardy wants to inject capital or buy out the entire company?" Goodman asked.
"Buy some shares if you want. You can still run the company and Mr. Stan Lee will continue to be the editor-in-chief," said Hardy.
Goodman breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.
Atlas is now only a medium-sized comics company with more than 40 employees. Last year, it sold more than one million copies and made a profit of more than 100,000 yuan after deducting costs.
This income is actually very good, but everyone who starts a company has his own ideal, which is to make it bigger and stronger and make more money. Naturally, he also hopes that the comic company can become the largest comic company in the United States.
I also hope that Marvel characters can hit the big screen.
In fact, there are many comic book companies like Atlas in the United States. Goodman was actually a little surprised that the Hardy Group took a fancy to them. He knew the strength of the Hardy Group. Just in the media industry, ABC TV, HD Films, the newly emerging Global Times, Playboy magazine, and the recently appeared new magazine "Reader" all show that the Hardy Group wants to build an all-round media industry.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this that the Hardy Group took a fancy to this small company of his.
"Mr. Hardy, how many shares do you plan to buy?" Goodman asked.
Hardy had already thought about this problem. "I plan to acquire more than 80% of the shares, and you can keep 20%. Of course, you will still be responsible for the operation of the comic company in the future, so I am willing to give you some management shares, 5%."
After Hardy finished speaking, he looked at Stan Lee again and said, "Mr. Stan Lee, I also hope that you will stay. If you continue to be the editor-in-chief, you can get 5% of the bonus shares."
Stan Lee was slightly stunned.
"And mine, too?"
"Of course, technology stocks pay dividends," said Hardy.
Stan Lee's face immediately showed surprise.
Hardy looked at Goodman again. "How much do you value the company?"
Goodman thought for a moment and said, "I think the Atlas is worth $1.5 million."
Hardy shook his head.
"I've had professionals calculate that your company's valuation is at most $800,000. DC already has more than a dozen well-known comic book characters, but you don't have any notable characters, except perhaps the art team leader."
Hardy's words made Goodman feel a little embarrassed.
But that's exactly what happened.
"One million, no less," Goodman said.
Hardy paused for a moment, then nodded, "Okay, let's value it at 1 million, and I'll buy 80% of the shares."
A million-dollar deal was thus concluded.
Both companies were willing to cooperate, so it went so smoothly.
The Hardy Group has a large legal team that quickly drafted a purchase contract. When signing, Goodman said with emotion, "Originally, I thought this meeting was just a first contact and there would be several rounds of negotiations later. I didn't expect it to be so simple to sign the contract."
Andy smiled and said, "There's no need to waste so much time on a million-dollar acquisition. Mr. Hardy is quick and decisive in his work. He doesn't like to argue over small amounts of money. As long as everyone feels it's okay, then the deal is done, because the time saved may have already earned back the extra money spent."
Stan Lee was impressed when he heard this and thought that this was the kind of person who could accomplish great things.
I heard that Mr. Hardy is only one year older than me, but he already has a fortune of hundreds of millions. There must be a reason for it.
Subsequently, a management equity dividend agreement was signed.
Stan Lee also had a copy.
The agreement stipulated that as long as he stayed in Marvel, he could continue to enjoy stock dividends. Stan Lee's hands trembled slightly when he signed.
There is the joy of earning money, and there is also the excitement of being recognized.
After signing the contract, several people returned to Hardy's office. Now Hardy has become the boss of Goodman and Stan Lee. Hardy said:
"There are a few things now. The first is to change the name of the company. I think the name Atlas is not nice, so I gave the comic company a new name, called 'Marvelics'."
The two of them chewed over the new name quietly, "'Marvelics', amazing comics, this name is good."
"The second is that I am going to adapt Captain America and make a TV series. I will hand over the scriptwriting to the screenwriters of HD Films. Stan Lee, as the editor-in-chief of Marvel, you should be very familiar with this character. You will also join the crew."
When Goodman and Stan Lee heard about the TV series, they were both excited. As the saying goes, "It's good to lean on a big tree for shelter." Just after joining the Hardy Group, the characters of their comic company will be put on the screen.
Even though it's just a TV series, with the TV series already here, movies can't be far behind.
"Okay, I will definitely cooperate with the screenwriter." Stan Lee said.
To him, all the screenwriters in HD Films are big screenwriters, and he should have played a supporting role and provided information in the past.
Hardy waved his hand and said: "It's not about cooperation. You are also one of the main scriptwriters. You should come up with your own opinions and creativity. I hope everyone will work hard."
Although his boss's words were asking him to take on more responsibilities, Stan Lee was slightly excited. Perhaps this was the feeling of being recognized.
Um,
He likes this boss.
"Third, the company's current publishing situation is about 100,000 copies sold per month, which is not a good number. My idea is to get rid of the previous mindset and create more Marvel characters. Once a character that a customer likes appears, I will make it a masterpiece."
"Recruit more editors and painters, and you can also solicit contributions from the public. Stan Lee is working with the HD writing team this time, and you can also work with them to let them help create characters and edit plots. After all, they are professional storytellers."
Goodman and Stan Lee nodded together.
"Fourthly, your comics club is in New York. My suggestion is to move it to Los Angeles. After all, Hollywood is here, which makes it more convenient for producing programs. As for New York, it can be used as a branch. Of course, this can be done slowly and completed within one or two years."
When Goodman and Stan Lee were leaving, Hardy sent a Harley-Davidson WLA motorcycle to Stan Lee.
"This is Captain America's mount. In Captain America's story, this Harley motorcycle must be an important prop. Captain America only has two pieces of equipment, one is his shield, and the other is this Harley motorcycle."
Stan Lee thanks Hardy and leaves with his motorcycle.
Seeing the motorcycle, Hardy thought of what he had told Andy to do to acquire Harley-Davidson Motor Company. "Andy, how is the acquisition of Harley-Davidson Motor Company going?"
"It's not very ideal. I sent someone to contact the owner of Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company. Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company is now the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the United States. During World War II, it was the only motorcycle supplier to the military. It manufactured more than 90,000 motorcycles and made a lot of money."
"Although they no longer have military orders, they are still strong. This year they launched a new model of motorcycles, which are selling very well. The total market value of the company is now around 60 million US dollars."
It's normal to be unwilling to sell.
If someone wanted to buy Playboy magazine now, Hardy wouldn't want to sell it. He has plenty of money, so why would he sell it?
Another point is that Harley-Davidson Motor Company is not listed, so it cannot be operated even if it wants to.
"Then discuss with them whether we can purchase the copyright of this military vehicle model," said Hardy.
"Okay, I'll have someone contact Harley later."
Nothing is perfect, especially in business. It doesn't matter to Hardy, he just earns a little less.
He still has so many businesses and there are plenty of places to make money.
Hardy called Colonel Adam Beach and said, "I have an idea to organize a large post-war supplies expo."
Colonel Adam Beach was a little confused.
"Mr. Hardy, what does this 'Post-War Supplies Sales Fair' mean?"
"To put it simply, it means transporting various materials to a warehouse, just like the sample warehouse of the Logistics Department Headquarters. This warehouse only sells things that are allowed to be sold. Didn't Major General Williams say that except for heavy weapons, battleships and aircraft carriers, everything else can be sold, right?"
"Yes." Colonel Beach nodded.
"It's too troublesome for us to find buyers one by one. I plan to gather all the samples of materials that can be sold in a warehouse, and then post advertisements to invite buyers who are interested in purchasing in large quantities to come and see the goods, and let them help us sell the goods. Wouldn't it be much faster to sell them this way?"
There are so many second-hand car dealers, and naturally there are also many second-hand material dealers. It’s just that they didn’t have any connections or channels before. Hardy organized such an expo to summon these wholesalers.
There are many businesses selling second-hand guns in the United States. When Hardy was in the Jewish gang, he bought second-hand guns from Old Mike. Guns account for a large proportion of military supplies, with tens of millions of various types of guns.
There are other supplies,
For example, tents, military uniforms, military woolen vests, military boots, typewriters, ice cream machines, ovens, mechanical spare parts, scrap tires, instruments and meters, various special vehicles, production equipment, machine tool drills, and cargo ships.
…and so on and so forth.
There will always be merchants interested in some of the materials.
Because he is cheap.
In order to sell the goods quickly, Hadi was prepared to increase the price slightly above the base price provided by the military, about double it. In fact, the increased price was still very, very low, because the military's base price was one-tenth or even one-twentieth of the original production cost.
Big items are hard to sell and have little practical value in life, so they are priced even lower.
Colonel Beach naturally listened to Hardy.
Hardy held the expo at the Nevada Armory. Colonel Beach was responsible for allocating supplies and preparing the venue, while Hardy was in charge of advertising.
A few days later,
ABC TV station broadcasts a commercial, showing a huge armory filled with various supplies. As the camera scans these supplies, the voice-over introduces that these supplies are all inventory left over from World War II and are now being sold at a low price.
A 'Post-War Supplies Sales Fair' will be held at the Nevada Armory in a week, where most of the items for sale will be on display. If there are merchants willing to purchase them, they can come and negotiate the purchase.
At the same time.
The next day's edition of the Global Times printed a whole article specifically listing the supplies, filling both sides of the huge newspaper, and this was only a part of it.
There is an explanation at the end, "The number of specific materials far exceeds the categories published in the newspaper. Maybe there is something you like here."
The whole American saw this news, and it immediately aroused the interest of many people. The United States has no shortage of businessmen, and there are also many middlemen. They saw profits in this batch of materials.