Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

"This damned Link, I'm going to kill him."

In the Weinstein Company conference room, Harvey picked up the documents on the table and smashed them hard against the wall. Dozens of white papers fluttered out of the folder and scattered leisurely all over the floor.

Bob Weinstein, Marketing Director Jon Gordon, Production Head Mick Locke, and other high-ranking officials of the Weinstein Company watched helplessly as Harvey lost his temper.

They had been negotiating a collaboration with the Summit Entertainment Company, planning to acquire Summit Entertainment for $280 million in cash and 45% of the Weinstein Company's shares—approximately $420 million.

After the merger of the two companies, the executives of both companies would jointly oversee the new company's production and distribution, with Summit handling commercial films and Weinstein responsible for art films.

The combination of strengths was to create a new landscape in the film industry.

After over three months of negotiations, just when success seemed close, Summit Entertainment suddenly announced a pause in the discussions and delayed signing the agreement.

Initially, they were confused, thinking that Summit Entertainment was dissatisfied with the price and was using this tactic to demand more money.

They sent people to investigate the matter to see how much more money Summit Entertainment wanted.

But the investigation revealed that it wasn't about Summit Entertainment wanting more money; instead, Lionsgate Films had re-initiated contact with Summit, ready to restart the acquisition plans.

Compared to the Weinstein Company, Lionsgate Films had significant advantages in market value, operational condition, financial liquidity, and management team.

Currently, Lionsgate Films had a market value of $1.6 billion, with $300 million in debt. Thanks to favorable box office returns, Wall Street's valuation of Lionsgate kept rising, with many investors eager to buy in over the asking price but without the opportunity.

Meanwhile, the Weinstein Company's market value was only $300 million with $160 million in debt. Due to poor box office performance that year and severe challenges from Lionsgate at the Oscars, Moody's valuation of the Weinstein Company was also decreasing.

Lionsgate also held the rights to successful film series like "The Hunger Games", "The Expendables", "Saw" and "Black Crazy Woman", which not only indicated high brand value but also demonstrated Lionsgate's significant development potential.

Not to mention, Lionsgate also owned shares in Netflix, had a television production department and a TV guide stake, along with an extensive movie library—all highly valuable assets.

Regardless of how you looked at it, Lionsgate was worth far more than the Weinstein Company, which had been established less than five years ago.

Moreover, management-wise, Ivanka had demonstrated excellent management skills while serving as the chairman of Link Music and Lionsgate Films.

Jon Feltheimer, Steven Bicks, Michael Burns, Brian Goldsmith, Jamie Jones, and Stacy Schneider were all elite figures in the film industry with strong capabilities.

On the other hand, the Weinstein Company primarily relied on the Weinstein brothers for management. Both were very dominant at work, especially Harvey with his infamous temper, making collaboration difficult and leading to issues such as harassment, which was an open secret in the industry.

When compared, Lionsgate Films was much more suitable for collaboration in every aspect.

Probably thinking along the same lines, when Summit Entertainment saw Lionsgate step forward with a proposal, they immediately paused negotiations with the Weinstein Company and engaged with the acquisition team led by Lionsgate's Chief Strategy Officer, Michael Burns.

What Summit did was in line with commercial negotiation rules, but it was perceived as unfriendly by the Weinstein Company's side.

Before, both sides had been negotiating well in a harmonious atmosphere, seemingly on the brink of becoming 'one family.' To maintain this, Harvey had patiently put on a smiling face every day when dealing with Summit Entertainment.

He had thought they could unite with Summit to compete against Lionsgate.

But just when the companies were about to join in a 'marriage,' the 'tall, rich, and handsome' Lionsgate unexpectedly swooped in to woo the 'young mistress' Summit, who upon seeing the 'high-flier' Lionsgate, immediately put aside the 'ugly toad' Weinstein Company and started flirting fervently with Lionsgate, as if they couldn't wait to throw themselves into its arms.

This was akin to slapping Weinstein company squarely in the face, also bringing disgrace upon its boss Harvey.

With Harvey's temper, upon hearing the news, he naturally couldn't hold back his anger and erupted in a fury during the meeting, even threatening to kill Link.

"Harvey, don't get angry, no one wanted this to happen, but it has already occurred, and all we can do now is wait and see how the talks between Lionsgate and Summit go. If they don't work out, we still have a chance."

Bob stepped forward and tried to calm him down.

The company's other executives knew about Harvey's bad temper; sometimes when he got angry, he would even hit Bob, so whenever Harvey was furious, everyone stayed far away to avoid being affected.

Hearing Bob's attempt to pacify him only angered Harvey further.

What did he mean by 'all we can do now is wait'? What did he mean by 'if their talks fall through, Weinstein still has a chance'?

They were all movie companies. Why should Lionsgate be the one to negotiate with Summit first, while Weinstein had to wait in line like some back-up plan?

This was incredibly humiliating.

In all his life except for being cursed out by Link that time, Harvey had never faced such naked humiliation.