Marvel's chairman, Isaac Perlmutter, wasn't an idiot.
When he learned that Isabella had actually issued an acquisition offer for Take-Two, a well-known company in the gaming industry, at roughly double its market price, he instantly understood that Isabella was preparing to make a move against him.
The reason for this judgment was simple. In fact, there were two reasons.
First, although the video game industry had always been an important part of the global entertainment industry, and as early as the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Warner acquired Atari, North American entertainment capital had already regarded video games as an important part of IP development (after all, the great Atari crash happened because of the disastrous failure of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), before this year, before 2007, Isabella had never once involved herself in this field.
Even if there were all kinds of reasons for that.
For example, Isabella's personal businesses had never really matched the video game industry. Although she had indeed created a highly valuable IP like The Voice, that IP was clearly not easy to turn into a game.
The Voice had two attributes. One was "talent show," and the other was "music."
The former, "talent show," was content that couldn't be made into a game.
As for the latter, "music"—
At present, the most impressive music game in the world was called PaRappa the Rapper. But since its birth in 1996, it had only sold just over two million copies in total.
Yes.
PaRappa the Rapper had been on the market for ten years, yet its total global sales hadn't even reached three million.
When even the leading title in the rhythm game circle had such painfully weak results, any normal person wouldn't think that The Voice could be made into a good game.
So, when Isabella had never touched the video game industry before, and suddenly wanted to buy a game company? Then her actions most likely weren't aimed at the video game industry itself. She must have another motive.
There was nothing wrong with that logic, right?
Of course, if someone insisted that Isabella suddenly acquiring Take-Two was because she now had IPs in her hands that could be made into video games, such as God of Cookery, which did have the possibility of being adapted into a video game—
Then—
Let's do a simple calculation.
At present, the best-selling game in the world was Tetris. Counting all versions, from 1988 until now, it had sold almost 500 million copies in total. And the recorded average selling price of Tetris was $9.99.
Calculated according to the industry's 30% net profit margin, since its birth, Tetris had created roughly $1.5 billion in net profit for the copyright holders.
So, even if the game adaptation of God of Cookery could be as successful as Tetris, and sold wildly for twenty years after release, it still wouldn't be able to earn Isabella back the $2.5 billion she spent acquiring Take-Two.
Of course, this comparison wasn't reasonable!
But this comparison was meaningful!
Because if Isabella wanted to develop IP and make money from the video game industry, the most rational and cost-effective approach would be to cooperate with well-known companies already on the market, not buy a game company herself and make games on her own.
Moreover, over the past many years, Isabella had always done IP development as a business with no heavy upfront investment.
The development of The Voice variety show was done by selling licenses.
The development of The Voice drama series was done by securing contracts first and investing afterward.
The promotion of God of Cookery's cartoon characters even used The Voice platform to gain exposure.
The current God of Cookery cartoon toys were even being sold with Hasbro's help—
So, when Isabella had never accumulated heavy assets in IP development, and suddenly wanted to buy a game company? Then she definitely had another motive!
Second, Microsoft and Isabella were currently enemies, not friends. And Microsoft's Xbox team had already extended an olive branch of "cooperation" to Marvel, Isabella's private territory.
When the sequence of events was that Microsoft's tentacles first reached into Isabella's heartland, and Isabella then launched an acquisition offer for Take-Two, no matter how one looked at it, this behavior seemed like a counterattack.
There was nothing wrong with that logic either, right?
Since Isaac Perlmutter's trusted subordinates understood everything, when he raised his head tremblingly and shouted in disbelief, both the assistant who had come to deliver the news and the secretary who had reported God of Cookery's results to him fell silent.
Because the whole judgment was too—
Insane!
A long while passed.
Perhaps it was because their boss hadn't moved the entire time? Like a drowning man, he just stared at them fixedly, staring until they felt chills run down their spines.
Or perhaps the two of them had managed to suppress their agitation.
In any case, the secretary who had first discussed God of Cookery's results with Isaac Perlmutter spoke up. He shook his head slightly and said in a tentative tone, "Boss, I understand what you mean."
"But—"
"Could there be another possibility behind this whole incident?"
"For example, could Isabella have some unknown business plan?"
"If I remember correctly, J.K. Rowling's cooperation agreement with EA was for ten years, right? It expires the year after next?"
"Do you think there's a chance she's acquiring Take-Two now because she wants to make video games related to HP herself?"
"And for her, this matter wouldn't be difficult."
"Other people need to negotiate with Warner to get the rights to HP, but if she wants the rights to HP—"
"She only needs to make a phone call to J.K. Rowling."
The secretary felt that his logic was very clear. His idea was also fairly reliable. But even after he threw the topic to his boss, Isaac Perlmutter still had no intention of taking up the conversation.
This left the secretary somewhat helpless, and he decisively cast a pleading look at the assistant beside him.
Seeing this, the assistant who had come to deliver the news gritted his teeth and nodded. He squeezed out an awkward smile and said, "Boss, I think his analysis does make some sense, because the idea that Isabella wants to counterattack us by acquiring Take-Two…"
"That thought really is a little too crazy!"
"You have to know, our current market value is only fluctuating around three billion dollars."
"If Isabella were to smash us with 2.5 billion, she could just directly acquire us."
"She still holds 10% of Marvel's shares herself."
"So—"
At this point, the assistant could no longer continue. It wasn't because he had suddenly discovered a logical flaw in his colleague's words. It was because their boss, who had been frozen in place for a long time, suddenly moved.
After hearing Marvel's market value mentioned, Isaac Perlmutter, who had been clenching both fists and leaning forward like someone who had fallen into a pit and was desperately trying to save himself by clinging to the edge, slowly shook his head. Like a rusted machine, he slowly said, "I don't think your ideas hold."
"There's no reason."
"It's just a feeling."
"…"
"…"
The secretary and assistant both shut their mouths at the same time. Since their boss had already abandoned reason and embraced mysticism, then they had nothing more to say.
And to be honest, they actually also felt that their boss's judgment wasn't wrong.
What?
Someone was asking, since they also thought their boss's judgment wasn't wrong, then why did they speak up to refute him?
Dear, what they had just done wasn't refutation.
It was comfort.
When you discover that you've encountered something and cannot solve it, comforting someone by questioning whether it's real is better at reducing emotional conflict and verbal disputes than agreeing that disaster has arrived.
And this—
"I understand what you mean."
Isaac Perlmutter, who had recovered slightly, took a deep breath. He, who had originally been leaning over the desk, sat upright again and slowly leaned back. Once again embracing the softness of his chair, a sharp light appeared in his cloudy eyes.
"I don't know whether Isabella has other business plans."
"But I know that if she wants to use 2.5 billion dollars in cash to counterattack, then what she wants must be my life."
"She wants me, who embraced Microsoft, to die!"
"And she wants—"
"Microsoft, who dared to have ideas about her, to die!"
"But I will never accept all of this!"
"So—"
"Help me contact Phil Spencer!!"
"Since Isabella intends to counterattack, then we must think of every countermeasure before she officially makes her move!!"
"Otherwise—"
"An attack worth 2.5 billion dollars can really crush people to death!!!"
Isaac Perlmutter's emotions appeared in a progressive manner. When he first leaned against the back of the chair, his mood was still relatively calm. But as he spoke, blue veins began to bulge on his neck. By the end, even his face had turned red.
That roar, mixed with anger, unwillingness, and a little fear, made the assistant and secretary nod repeatedly. They turned around and went to work.
After they took out their phones and contacted Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft's Xbox gaming business in North America—
Washington.
Redmond.
Phil Spencer had already been together with Steve Ballmer for some time.
"What's the situation?"
"Isaac Perlmutter is panicking?"
Phil Spencer had just put down his phone.
Steve Ballmer, who had heard a bit of movement, spoke up.
"Yes."
Phil Spencer nodded and said, "He's a little anxious, because—"
"Just like what we were discussing earlier, Isabella's counterattack is simply too insane."
That was right.
At the same time that Isaac Perlmutter learned Isabella wanted to acquire Take-Two, Microsoft had actually also noticed Isabella's move. Then, their reaction was basically the same as Isaac Perlmutter's. They were shocked. They were also confused.
There was no helping it.
Who told Isabella's behavior to be so fucking deranged?
Right now, Microsoft merely had a certain intention to cooperate with Marvel! The two sides hadn't even started working together yet!
In Steve Ballmer's eyes, the private communication between him and Isaac Perlmutter could at most be considered two people throwing their arms around each other's shoulders after work in a bar. Although everyone knew that their secret contact definitely meant they intended to stir up trouble, before they formally laid their cards on the table, no one could accuse their behavior of being problematic, right?
This was the logic of normal people.
The logic of abnormal people was—
Isabella wanted to acquire Take-Two, one of the current leaders in the gaming industry, with 2.5 billion dollars in cash.
The moment this action appeared, wasn't that the same as treating Steve Ballmer and Isaac Perlmutter's arm-around-the-shoulder contact as the delivery of a declaration of war?
Ah, no.
Isabella had treated their arm-around-the-shoulder contact as the official start of war!
And then—
Fuck!
Isabella directly used her ultimate move!
Yes! Even Steve Ballmer felt that Isabella's current move was far too terrifying!
Although everyone knew Isabella had money, and even though she'd been buying things all over the world for the past few years, the 5 billion dollars in emotional damages that Rupert Murdoch had paid her hadn't been touched at all. Buying Take-Two would be far too easy for her!
But in order to shut the mouths of all the other Marvel shareholders, in order to strip all the other Marvel shareholders of their right to choose, in order to tell all the other Marvel shareholders that Marvel's copyrights could only be controlled by her alone, Isabella had directly thrown out 2.5 billion dollars in cash?
This was simply too—
Insane!
"Steve, do you think we still don't understand Isabella well enough?"
Seeing that his boss didn't respond, Phil Spencer organized his words and said, "Previously, we thought Isabella might very likely be forced into the trap we set, but judging from the current situation—"
"It seems like she directly stepped over the pit we dug?"
"And the way she stepped over the trap was extremely crazy?"
"If I had to describe it—"
"Uh, if she were the president of the United States, I think humanity might go straight toward extinction."
"Because normal American presidents, when threatened, would choose to negotiate with the other side."
"But her—"
"If someone dared to curse at her even once, they'd be nuked into peace the very next second."
"And afterward, she'd even smile and say, 'Oh~ I thought I was pressing the Coke button~'"
"Because so far, we've only sent her a letter of intent, but she's thrown out 2.5 billion dollars—"
Phil Spencer sighed.
"Hah."
The vivid comparison made Steve Ballmer laugh. After all, he wasn't some fake human.
But as he laughed, he shook his head again.
As for the reason—
"Phil."
"Hm?"
"If Isabella is a lunatic, then we really shouldn't have made a move against her."
Steve Ballmer sighed and said, "I finally understand now why those who had conflicts with her all eventually chose to disappear and leave the stage. I used to think those people voluntarily left the circle because there was no profit to be gained, but now it seems—"
"The previous rumors were true."
"The person who wanted Rupert Murdoch dead was Isabella."
"Not Sumner Redstone, Steven Spielberg, or anyone else—"
Phil Spencer fell silent. The topic Steve Ballmer had brought up left him unsure how to respond.
However, the awkward feeling didn't last long, because Steve Ballmer's emotion only lasted a few seconds before it ended.
"Okay! Let's stop talking about this!"
Steve Ballmer slapped his thigh hard and said, "There's no regret medicine in this world!"
"Since we've already launched an attack against Isabella, we can only continue down this road!"
"Even if—"
"A bottomless cliff lies ahead!"
"And even if it will smash us to pieces!"
"So—"
"What do you think about us bidding for Take-Two?"
Steve Ballmer's train of thought jumped quickly, but Phil Spencer still understood what his boss meant.
After thinking for a moment, he shook his head. "Boss, this plan obviously won't work."
"Because Europe's investigation into us still hasn't ended."
"And because there are many game companies in this world—"
Steve Ballmer's idea was simple. If Isabella wanted to block their offensive by holding a well-known game company, they could actually stop Isabella from owning that well-known game company by interrupting her move, thereby ensuring the original plan could proceed normally.
But this approach wasn't feasible.
There were two reasons.
First, the antitrust cases Microsoft had stirred up still hadn't been fully closed worldwide. When they hadn't yet reached a true settlement with Europe, if they openly sniped Isabella, who had royal endorsement, at a time like this, Europe could force Microsoft to split up.
This wasn't to say that Europe had the ability to make Microsoft split the whole company in two, like what the U.S. Department of Justice had demanded back then: one company for systems, one company for the internet. Rather, Europe had the ability to force Microsoft to separate its European business from its global business. And the company managing the European business would have to exist in an independent form, with European companies investing and taking equity stakes.
If this logic was hard to understand, just look at Sony and TikTok.
For the former, Sony America was a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, but Sony America's operations were independent from Sony Group Corporation.
For the latter, TikTok was indeed a subsidiary of ByteDance, but in TikTok USDS, which managed the U.S. assets, 15% of the shares belonged to Oracle, 15% belonged to MGX, 15% belonged to Silver Lake, and 35.1% belonged to Michael Dell.
So, if Microsoft's business was split up by Europe, then even if Steve Ballmer was Bill Gates' good friend, Bill Gates would still drive over and run him down.
As long as a split happened, Microsoft's stock price would lose at least 100 billion dollars!
Second, even if Microsoft rushed ahead of Isabella and acquired Take-Two first, it still wouldn't be able to stop Isabella's counterattack.
Because there were many game companies in this world. If Isabella couldn't acquire Take-Two, she could acquire others! For example, she could directly acquire Activision Blizzard.
Although the market value of the new company after Activision and Blizzard merged might reach 20 billion dollars, still, Isabella could acquire it as long as she added leverage! And she wouldn't even need to pledge her Google shares, because she had 5 billion dollars in cash.
As long as she took out 5 billion dollars in cash to acquire 25% of Activision Blizzard's shares, then used Activision Blizzard itself as her collateral, every financial institution in the world could directly provide her with the financing needed to acquire the remaining 75%.
Mm.
This was exactly how Musk acquired Twitter. As long as Twitter's total market value didn't fall below the amount Musk had personally contributed, the financial institutions wouldn't call in the loan.
What? Someone was asking what would happen if it fell below that amount?
Simple!
After Twitter fell below Musk's contribution for the first time, Musk merged Twitter with AI. After AI fell below Musk's contribution for the second time, Musk merged AI with SpaceX.
Repay the money?
Impossible! The word "repay" had never existed in the dictionary of capitalists. What they repaid could only ever be paper.
Of course, some people might think Musk's actions were basically charity, because SpaceX's shares were worth far more than Twitter's shares. As long as SpaceX successfully went public, the people who'd lent Musk money and helped him buy Twitter back then would make insane profits.
But this was actually the true difference between financial consumers and investors.
The former thought they'd earned money as soon as the stock turned red.
The latter—
Musk acquired Twitter in 2022. SpaceX could go public in 2026 at the earliest. Over those four years, anyone capable of lending him hundreds of millions could have invested in anything. Even if they just bought index funds, the money they earned would be far, far greater than the increase in value from Twitter shares turning into SpaceX shares.
Moreover, turning Twitter shares into SpaceX shares still carried risks. Musk had allies, but he also had enemies. If Musk was taken down before SpaceX went public, then those who'd invested money in him would lose everything.
And if they wanted Musk not to be taken down, then when he encountered a giant pit, his creditors would have to save him.
So, since the simplest market-defense tactic couldn't be used, Steve Ballmer could only choose silence.
"Then we'll wait."
"We'll wait for Isabella to play her specific counterattack."
"And then—"
"We'll think of a way to respond!"
"Of course, on Isaac Perlmutter's side, you need to say—"
"Everything is under control," Phil Spencer took over.
Steve Ballmer nodded. Since the matter had already been discussed, he waved his hand, signaling that Phil Spencer could leave.
And while Microsoft chose to respond to each move as it came, Isabella also made her move.
Because the first to act gains the advantage, while the one who acts later suffers.
After all, Take-Two wasn't a small company. An acquisition involving it wouldn't be completed quickly!
So, when the time entered August 2007, the first thing that appeared before everyone was—
Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios under The Walt Disney Company, announced his resignation.