Chapter 162: News Can Have Sequels

[Chapter 162: News Can Have Sequels]

In the early spring of 2002, as the season brought warmth and life back into the world, a car sped recklessly down the highway in the outskirts of Los Angeles. Following close behind was a news van, weaving through traffic with sirens blaring in pursuit.

"Chase them! Catch up!"

Ian Carr shouted from the car.

Beside him, Brydon drove, while the newly appointed Butterfly, Vincent holding the camera, prepared to capture the unfolding drama as they pursued thieves ahead.

As the thieves in the car caught sight of the news van, they burst into loud cheers. "Ian Carr, you're finally here! We've been waiting for you!"

Ian chuckled.

Ever since the Palos Bank heist, there had been a surge of criminals trying to replicate previous exploits. The gang out on bail had been giving interviews and raking in cash, making countless wannabe criminals envious.

On TV, those young guys grinned broadly, claiming that this was quicker money than robbing a bank, repeatedly thanking Ian -- something he had orchestrated intentionally.

The idea was to make the news come to you instead of you seeking out the news!

For Ian, it was all about making violent incidents find him, not the other way around. This way, it explained why he always seemed to attract good stories!

And today was just another round of this scenario, but it wasn't a bank robbery; it was merely a car theft with a man taken hostage -- a lesser charge that made follow-up easier. Ian didn't even have to negotiate; the thieves were just waiting for him.

...

"Let's get started. Vincent, you're up!"

As he spoke, he took the camera from Vincent, who was already getting ready to conduct the interview.

The thieves seemed a bit dissatisfied. "Aren't you going to participate personally, Ian Carr?"

"Gotta give the new blood some chances. He's the next Butterfly; he'll do just fine!" Ian boasted, eager to promote new talent. "You guys are the first big deal for the new Butterfly."

A good boss needed to provide more opportunities for his subordinates!

"Alright," one of the thieves shouted. "Are you going to help us publish a book?"

Vincent wasn't as decisive as Phil Leyso, but he was smart and knew how to make news. In contrast, Leyso was more action-oriented and could act with gusto but struggled with independent interviews, completely following in Ian's footsteps, lacking his own style.

At that moment, Vincent replied, "We're not too sure about that. It depends on how well Gannon's book sells and if you guys have interesting stories to share."

The thieves chimed in, "We could kill a few people."

Vincent shook his head repeatedly. "That would make it tough for you to get bail."

"Fuck! Why do Gannon and them get to do that?"

Vincent explained, "There's a certain order; the first one usually gets the advantage."

The thieves sighed collectively, "This business isn't easy, huh?"

Vincent encouraged, "If you really want to get famous, you have to be more creative."

"What should we do?"

Vincent gently shook his head, "I'm just an interviewer, not an instigator."

Even editing wouldn't allow him to teach them how to commit crimes!

Then he gestured with his left hand, making a circle, and moved his right index finger inside the circle a few times.

Goodness!

It surprised Ian how Vincent managed to come up with something like that.

Ian looked at them, his left eye gleaming with amusement.

He was not trying to control them; he was showing them through a kind of magic how to proceed... those guys likely wouldn't comprehend Vincent's gestures.

One of the thieves paused for a moment and suddenly yelled, "I guess that's all I can do! Remember, I'm taking the lead here!"

Saying this, he forcefully shoved the kidnapped man against the window and pulled down his pants.

"Damn! Gaston, what are you doing?" the other thieves were bewildered.

That thief ranted furiously at the kidnapped man, "Shut up, this is the price for fame. Come on, film this; in front of you is the great Gaston Bieber!"

He yelled, opening the car roof and reveling in chaos.

While being chased by the police, this thief was completely naked, shouting out loud, leaving the officers stunned.

So, you guys are stealing a car and kidnapping a person just to expose?

Only Ian Carr and Vincent were laughing heartily.

Ian remarked, "The next one to follow this trend better think of something more outrageous, like kidnapping a pig."

Even the typically quiet Brydon chuckled, "This is some brutal competition."

...

Meanwhile, the unfortunate kidnapped man was still screaming for help, "No, Ian Carr, save me!"

Ian called out, "I can save you, or you can accept reality. I can give you a hundred grand."

The guy hesitated, then roared, "I want a hundred grand! Come on, Gaston babe, love me good! Harder! Damn, that's too much; I need some oil!"

So that's how the oil situation came about!?

---

One hour later.

Ian returned to Carr Media Group's headquarters.

Upon entering his office, he saw his secretary, Ida, walking towards him with a big smile. "Congratulations, boss, you've just made another big news story."

Ian casually tossed his coat onto the sofa and opened the liquor cabinet.

He poured a drink and lounged back in his executive chair. "Not too major, just like filming a movie. It's merely Palos Bank Heist 2, and there might even be a 3, 4, and 5, but those are just regurgitating old news."

Although making money was fine, Ian always pursued innovation. An outstanding journalist was like a great director; one had to create unique stories.

So he wasn't planning to handle sequels like Palos Bank Heist 1, 2, or 3 himself anymore; he would leave it for Vincent and the team.

Talented directors seldom did sequels unless they felt confident and creative enough.

At that moment, he looked at Ida. "What else do we have today?"

Ida stood respectfully in front of Ian. "20th Century Fox rejected your offer to purchase the X-Men rights, Disney turned down your bid for Pirates of the Caribbean, and ABC firmly and angrily denied your request for Oscar broadcast rights. Mr. Murdoch from News Corp says he's open to having dinner with you, but he can only do that in three months. He also mentioned that Fox is off the table for dinner discussions."

Ian sighed, "All bad news!"

With the support of Lino Bank, Ian was finally empowered to make bold moves.

...

The first step was to acquire and invest in all the enterprises and projects he knew.

Not long ago, Google finally started its funding round, and Ian successfully acquired a 10% stake. He had also made smaller investments in some well-known future billionaire companies, spending only a few million dollars.

The investment division under Carr Media Group had become Ian's primary focus, but only temporarily.

For him, making a fortune through rebirth was not his main goal, not only because this world differed significantly but also influenced by Gaskill, he increasingly realized that money wasn't everything.

While those internet companies could be lucrative, their societal impact wasn't comparable to physical enterprises -- especially when evaluated based on equal value, with exceptions for some specific industries.

Thus, for Ian, the future profitable internet companies were just about being a good investor and gaining what he needed. Ian was truly focused on businesses that had a significant impact on society.

This included finance, defense, and such -- industries that heavily influenced employment required oversight.

When you manage companies with millions of employees, you control America; you can determine who the president is and prompt them to issue any directives you want as long as you're willing; all laws can be trampled underfoot!

You could even control the world -- for at least the next twenty years, at least.

The problem was, however, they weren't willing to sell!

Despite Hollywood fearing Ian, it still didn't mean he could get what he wanted whenever he pleased.

For instance, 20th Century Fox was ready to invest in X-Men and manage its marketing, but they were not going to approve the rights transfer.

Thus, even though Jim Gianopulos was apprehensive of Ian, he could never accede to that request.

Of course, he was very cordial about it, confirming that it was indeed out of his hands and asked for understanding.

Ian didn't take it to heart; it was genuinely something to comprehend -- after all, he didn't have any blackmail material on Jim Gianopulos at the moment.

...

Ida smiled and said, "But there's good news too. Actoz and Marvel have accepted your investments."

Ian murmured, "That's decent."

Actoz was a South Korean online gaming company. Earlier this year, he reached out to buy Actoz.

"What about Pixar?"

"Mr. Steve Jobs isn't looking to sell Pixar at the moment."

"He's merely biding his time; he will sell it. I just don't want to wait that long, as it will be too expensive. I don't want to spend billions on it." Ian smirked.

In the original timeline, Pixar sold in 2006 for $7.4 billion, but currently, it lacked major hits and wasn't worth that much.

Ian didn't want to wait that long either.

Thoughtfully, he said, "Tell him if he's willing to sell Pixar to me for $2 billion this year, I can hold 15% of Apple shares by the end of 2003 and have him manage them indefinitely."

For Jobs, Apple was what he valued the most.

"Indefinitely?" Ida was stunned.

She had never seen such generosity.

Ian confirmed, "Yes, which means as long as he's alive, the power corresponding to my Apple shares will be his to control. 15% of Apple shares -- it's neither too much nor too little. If I can't achieve this, he'll get Pixar back at no cost."

With such a condition set, if Jobs still didn't agree, then that would be a problem.

Apple was a public company, but as long as an agreement with the board was reached, buying an enormous number of stocks wouldn't have a huge impact. Ian had only promised 15% because it was not yet the time for Apple to soar, and it wasn't necessary to tie up too much capital.

Good management requires knowing precisely when to invest money!

And with 15% as a successful example, it would be much easier to acquire more shares from Apple and other companies going forward.

The only regret was that some excellent enterprises from Ian's memories were difficult to find due to the discrepancies in timelines, but fortunately, heavyweights like Google and Apple were still around, and the future issues with the Wall Street seven were not significant.

[T/N: Apple, Tesla, Google, Nvidia, Facebook/Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon.]

"All right, sir," Ida quickly noted down. "Anything else?"

Ian replied, "Contact Eisner; regarding Pirates of the Caribbean, I'm willing to invest $300 million. They can keep the merchandise rights as well as handle production themselves."

Ida was bewildered. "$300 million?"

Since Pirates of the Caribbean was still in production and carried a budget of $150 million, Ian was doubling the purchase amount.

The first Pirates of the Caribbean grossed $600 million, and after theater shares were deducted, it was roughly $200 million. Taking out the marketing would still lead to losses, but after considering DVDs, it could earn a small profit... good DVD sales could amount to twice the box office.

However, with such a significant investment and such a high risk, it didn't seem worthwhile -- before Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney hadn't achieved much success with live-action films.

Moreover, Ian didn't even want the merchandising rights; it was essentially giving Disney money!

Ian grinned, "Yes! The reason Disney decided to produce Pirates of the Caribbean was that it was for their theme park's pirate ship project, which had the least business among Disneyland projects. To make the pirate ship project flourish, they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean."

As he spread his hands, Ian said, "Tell Eisner that Disney can freely keep the gaming rights for the pirate ship project; he'll agree, as I'm not competing with him for ultimate profits."

Ida was speechless.

These conditions seemed too generous to be true.

Disney's ultimate goal was the amusement park's pirate ship project, so whether the movie got released or not was irrelevant. They even needed Disney's marketing for it.

This deal could earn more than Spider-Man!

But she couldn't quite understand what benefits Ian derived from it.

It was simple -- Ian wanted the rights!

Once Pirates of the Caribbean became a hit, the pirate ship project would also benefit, but to continually dig into this gold mine, Disney would need to keep developing Pirates of the Caribbean.

However, by then, the rights to Pirates of the Caribbean would already be owned by Ian, and he could never film it himself, forcing Disney to buy it back.

Then it would be Ian's time to set the price.

All the things bought in were ultimately meant for reselling -- buy high, sell higher!

Pixar, Pirates of the Caribbean, and all the rest are the same.

For Ian, projects were merely a means; keeping these people under control and obedient was the real core!

Spider-Man and the My Big Fat Greek Wedding still hadn't released, and he needed to resolve these major issues before his cinematic insights spread, or it would become difficult to buy projects in the future.

At that moment, Ian pulled out a report and handed it to Ida. "Give this to Disney's Board as well."

Ida accepted the report and read aloud, "Pirate ship capsized, leading to one death and two injuries?"

She gazed at Ian in disbelief.

"You have this?"

Ian smiled, "This happened last year at Disneyland, but they buried it. But news has a way of leaking out. Pirates of the Caribbean serves their pirate ship project... they wouldn't want this news coming out."

This piece of news wasn't concocted by Ian personally; it was one of his reporter's findings and directly buried afterward.

The old carrot-and-stick approach was always an effective tactic.

Ida happily accepted the material. "Okay, boss."

"Anything else?" Ian inquired.

"Chairman Chandler wants to have dinner with you tonight."

"Alright. Anything else?"

"Jessica Alba and Amanda mentioned that Barbara, Helen, and Kelsey are available these days, and Scarlett and Shawna will also be joining."

"Oh God!" Ian slapped his forehead. "Now I'm spread too thin!"

Although the girls often staggered their schedules, they sometimes coincided.

Seven of them showed up at once?

It was overwhelming!

*****

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