Chapter 82: Pixar Changes Hands
Chapter 82: Pixar Changes Hands
Richmond, California. Eric had already been here for three days. During those few days, he hired a professional Silicon Valley team to conduct a detailed investigation and evaluation of Pixar’s assets.
Jobs was eager to complete the deal and expressed dissatisfaction toward Eric’s “unnecessary” actions, but there was nothing he could do about it. Eric had no interest in considering Jobs’ feelings.
Although Jobs’ talent was unquestionable, his character was truly difficult to compliment. This was a man who, in order to avoid paying child support for his illegitimate daughter, had publicly claimed that he was sexually impotent. Therefore, there was no way Eric would skip a thorough evaluation of Pixar and rush through the transaction.
Three days later, inside Pixar’s single-floor office building in Richmond, Eric placed the thick stack of evaluation documents onto the conference table. Tapping his fingers lightly against the tabletop, he said to Jobs, who sat across from him:
“Steve, I originally approached the Pixar acquisition very sincerely. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any sincerity from you.”
Jobs was completely unaffected by Eric’s tone. Wearing the helpless expression of an expert looking at an amateur, he said:
“Eric, if you have any doubts, you can raise them. I’ll answer them seriously. Directly accusing me of lacking sincerity is a very serious accusation.”
Eric inwardly admired Jobs’ psychological resilience. No matter what was happening inside his head, he never showed weakness outwardly. Even Eric, who had lived two lives, found it difficult to achieve that level of composure.
He had no interest in playing psychological games with Jobs and went straight to the point.
“Alright, Steve, I’ll say it directly. The reason I’m acquiring Pixar is because I value Pixar’s 3D animation technology. So I don’t mind that you already sold off the hardware division.”
As Eric spoke, he opened the documents in his hands and glanced through them before continuing:
“However, the information I gathered shows that among the graphics rendering software packages developed by Pixar, ownership of three core software programs was transferred into your NeXT computer company some time ago. As for the most important animation production system, although the core software remains intact, ownership of one coloring software program was also transferred away.”
“The reason Pixar was able to secure Disney’s 2D animation outsourcing projects was precisely because of this software, which drastically reduced coloring time.”
“You need to explain this to me.”
Jobs truly was not an honest man. He had done this out of pure opportunism, hoping to fool Eric, an outsider to the industry. If successful, those few software programs alone could have sold for several million dollars more.
Some people might wonder how a few software programs could be worth so much. If they did, they only needed to look at Microsoft for the answer.
But what Jobs had not expected was that although Eric really was an outsider, he knew how to leave professional matters to professionals. That was why he specifically hired a Silicon Valley evaluation team. Silicon Valley was packed with tech fanatics, but it was also a place full of ruthless scheming. Those experts quickly uncovered Jobs’ little tricks.
In truth, once Eric made this move, Jobs no longer held much hope of getting away with it. However, with his thick skin, even when exposed face-to-face, he was never the type to surrender easily.
“Eric, over the four years I took over Pixar, I invested at least fifty million dollars into it. The hardware division only sold for sixteen million. And your offer is only twenty million. That amount only buys the things I left behind in Pixar.”
Eric let out a mocking laugh, closed the folder, rested both hands on the conference table, and stared directly at Jobs.
“Steve, it seems you still refuse to admit your failure so easily. Fine, I’ll make it clearer. Your acquisition of Pixar from Lucas was another failure.”
“A loser should have the awareness of a loser. Losses are unavoidable.”
“To save your NeXT computer company, you must sell Pixar’s software division to me completely and at a low price.”
“So return those software rights first, and only then can we continue discussing anything else.”
Jobs’ expression shifted between pale and green several times.
As an extremely proud and arrogant man, he had always been the one pointing fingers and berating others. Now, being openly called a loser by a teenager more than ten years younger than himself—even with his exceptional mental fortitude—it was impossible for him to remain completely expressionless.
Meanwhile, outside in the workspace, John Lasseter and the others pretended to work busily while secretly pricking up their ears to listen to the conversation between the two men. Inside, they were enjoying this immensely.
Jobs had never been a warm or approachable boss.
Every time he came to Pixar, he would gather the entire creative team and criticize their work until it sounded utterly worthless, only afterward throwing them a check as though granting charity, in exchange for reclaiming portions of management’s equity.
Over the years, through these methods, Pixar had completely become Jobs’ personal property. All shares once held by management had been taken back by him.
And now, they were finally witnessing Jobs himself getting scolded by someone else.
Just this alone completely erased their awkward feelings about eventually working under a teenager.
Inside the conference room, Jobs stiffly said:
“Mr. Williams, you’re acquiring Pixar to make animated films, correct? You’ve already achieved enormous success with several films in a row. I believe many people are paying attention to your every move now.”
“If I leak the news that you value Pixar so highly, perhaps quite a few people would become interested and offer higher prices. What do you think?”
Eric’s right ring finger twitched slightly.
Fortunately, Jobs did not notice the detail.
Forcefully suppressing the concern that surfaced in his heart, Eric let out a cold laugh without hesitation.
“Mr. Jobs, that sentence of yours just cost one million dollars.”
“I don’t like being manipulated by others, so I’ve decided to reduce my offer to nineteen million.”
“Pixar is actually like a camera. Under my direction, it can produce Home Alone. It can produce Pretty Woman. But in the hands of another director, what it produces is hard to say.”
“So, nineteen million dollars for the complete Pixar software division.”
“If you make up your mind before I leave Richmond, give me a call.”
After speaking, Eric directly packed up his personal belongings and walked out of Pixar’s office. His private lawyer Edward hurriedly followed behind him.
A long while later, Jobs finally emerged from the conference room. His cold gaze swept across the employees who were either working or pretending to work. Uncharacteristically, he did not lose his temper. Instead, he silently left Pixar headquarters.
Early the next morning, Eric and Jobs sat across from each other in the conference room once again.
Business negotiations were often like this. They always required several rounds of confrontation.
Even if the previous session had devolved into furious arguments that nearly turned physical, with both sides appearing ready to walk away completely, once the next round began, everyone still had to calm down and sit back at the table to continue the game.
Today, faint dark circles clearly hung beneath Jobs’ eyes.
“Eric, what I did before wasn’t wrong. Everyone tries their hardest to maximize their own interests. But I agree to return those software rights. However, the price must remain twenty million dollars.”
“We’re both rational adults. We can’t reduce one million dollars just because of a single sentence. That’s something children do.”
Eric also did not want to push Jobs too hard. If the negotiations completely collapsed, Eric could still spend money building another animation studio from scratch. But developing the corresponding software and accumulating enough technical expertise would require not only enormous sums of money, but also many years of time.
Eric did not lack money, but he lacked time for technological accumulation.
In his previous life, everyone knew that 3D animated films and their merchandise generated enormous profits. Yet only a handful of famous animation studios ever emerged in Hollywood. The reason was simple: those studios had already established overwhelming technological advantages and occupied the market.
For latecomers to catch up was extremely difficult.
You might spend several years finally reaching a respectable level, only to discover that the others had accumulated several more years of advancement in the meantime.
Under those circumstances, latecomers could never truly catch up to the pioneers.
Inside the conference room, the two men haggled back and forth for half an hour.
Eric could not simply swallow back everything he had said the previous day. In the end, both sides made small concessions and settled on a final price of nineteen and a half million dollars.
After recovering ownership of the software, Eric had people verify everything once more before finally signing the contract without hesitation.
Jobs pocketed the check, glanced at the employees who had worked under him for years, and found that he had nothing meaningful to say. He merely nodded before turning around and leaving Pixar headquarters.