Chapter 262: Saving Disney

Early in the morning, Wu Yuchen didn't care about the soft fragrance in his arms; he threw Anne Hathaway aside and rushed out. After arriving at DreamWorks, he immediately asked Katzenberg: "Jeffrey, what exactly is going on?"

Katzenberg handed a cup of coffee to Wu Yuchen, then showed a happy smile and said: "The opportunity we've been waiting for has arrived!"

Katzenberg then explained in detail: "Just yesterday, Luo Yi Disney was dismissed from all his duties by Eisner on the grounds of age and was compulsorily retired. I received news that Luo Yi Disney is uniting dissatisfied people within Disney to resist Eisner!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen's spirit lifted, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud. Then he asked: "Has Luo Yi Disney contacted you?"

Katzenberg shook his head and said with a smile: "This old man is very stubborn. He is contacting current Disney internal personnel and the thousands of employees who were laid off by Disney in the past year. He won't take the initiative to contact outsiders to solve Disney's internal affairs."

Wu Yuchen also laughed. He really is a stubborn old man. This means he doesn't want to unite with outside thieves to deal with Disney!

Then Wu Yuchen asked again: "Since even you know about it, Eisner can't possibly not know, right? Has Eisner taken any measures?"

First was Wu Yuchen, who had recently won the Oscar for Best Picture and brought the blockbuster 'Spider-Man', and had never left the center of public opinion.

Luo Yi stated that Eisner's actions over the past eight years were a complete failure: the failed operation of the ABC Family channel, theme parks losing money year after year with low popularity, only wanting to make quick money without seeking long-term value, excessive management leading to the loss of a large number of creative talents, destroying the Disney animation department, worsening relations with Pixar, and so on. These were all destroying Disney's credibility and the foundation it relied on for survival step by step!

Luo Yi said in an interview: "The company's performance has always been unsatisfactory. I, along with other employees and shareholders, are deeply worried. Eisner has caused the company to lose a lot of money. Ovitz, who was invited by Eisner with great fanfare, only worked for Disney for one year, yet was forcibly dismissed by Eisner and received $120 million. At the time, the board of directors did nothing! It's really hard to imagine!"

Katzenberg nodded: "Disney's shareholders' meeting is about to be held. Eisner will definitely try to stop his actions, but it won't be of much use. He has accumulated too much dissatisfaction during his years of rule, but in the past, no one dared to resist him like this. Now that Luo Yi has jumped out, a group of people will definitely follow Luo Yi. And there are those thousands of laid-off employees; Eisner can't do anything about them, and they will definitely stand firmly on Luo Yi's side."

Wu Yuchen showed joy. Luo Yi Disney represented the Disney family and was also the spiritual representative of Disney. Now that he was going to fight Eisner to the end, it would definitely be enough for Eisner to suffer. And now that Disney's stock price was at a long-term low, shareholders were already dissatisfied with Eisner's management. If they delivered a hard blow this time, they might be able to drive Eisner out of office at the shareholders' meeting!

Wu Yuchen hadn't forgotten Eisner's backstabbing back then. If he had won Best Director that time, he wouldn't have had to struggle so hard this year. In fact, time and energy were secondary; the key was the feeling of working hard only to be betrayed, which was really uncomfortable. With such a good opportunity this time, he had to get involved!

Wu Yuchen immediately said: "Although Luo Yi doesn't want to find us, we can take the initiative to send him help. We can provide him with media resources and support him whenever the opportunity arises."

Just when public opinion was slightly stabilized, several influential celebrities stood up and spoke out one after another.

"This is like a robber disguised as a good person occupying your home, making a mess of your house, and driving you out of your own home. And he is still openly enjoying your wealth. This is really absurd!"

"Facts prove that I should be the most suitable helmsman for Disney!"

Over the past few years, Disney has been getting worse and worse, but Eisner has been taking a high salary and high bonuses of over $1 million per week. This is simply unimaginable! He is a bloodsucker clinging to Disney!

Disney must make changes now. We must drive Eisner, this dictatorial and muddle-headed autocrat, out of office, otherwise Disney will have no future!"

"He has always lacked respect for us at Pixar. He even privately said that Pixar's animated characters are ugly. He doesn't like Pixar's animations; he only likes the money Pixar earns for him! I hate this arrogant and conceited guy, and Pixar won't welcome him either!"

"Pixar will not consider renewing its contract with Disney! Yes, as long as Eisner is still at Disney for one day, Pixar will not cooperate with Disney!"

"As far as I know, Luo Yi Disney is still Disney's largest individual shareholder."

Wu Yuchen said when accepting an interview with reporters:

"A member of the Disney family has been driven out of Disney. This is undoubtedly an irony! In any case, forcibly dismissing an old employee who has dedicated 50 years to the company is too cold-blooded."

Seeing this, those investors at Disney felt their hearts bleeding again. Katzenberg was originally from Disney! If he hadn't been driven out of Disney by Eisner, then the $500 million box office 'Shi Laike', and the entire DreamWorks animation department, should have been theirs at Disney!

At this time, even Michael Ovitz, who had been accused by Luo Yi Disney and had left with a $120 million severance package after working at Disney for only one year, came out to accuse Eisner:

"Did I go to Disney for the salary? That $120 million was an insult to me! I went to Disney entirely to realize my ambitions and to display my talent and ability! I have the ability and confidence to take Disney to new heights!"

"It's just a pity that Eisner saw me as a threat to him, so he didn't hesitate to pay a $120 million severance package to drive me away! He couldn't tolerate more excellent people staying at Disney to work with him; that would highlight his muddle-headedness and incompetence!"

And when these words reached the ears of those investors at Disney, their hearts were truly bleeding!

They looked at Disney's stock, which had been falling for two years, and then thought about the $900 million global box office of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and its various revenues. This big-earning series that should have belonged to Disney had ended up at DreamWorks...

"Damn it!" Eisner angrily slapped the newspaper on the table, constantly cursing Luo Yi Disney, that old guy.

"And I have another suggestion: we can help them create a website called 'Save Disney', which will allow employees laid off by Eisner in different parts of the world and people dissatisfied with him to concentrate on it and express their opinions."

It is understood that Luo Yi put the open letter he wrote on the 'Save Disney' website he created. So far, thousands of Disney employees have signed it and expressed their support for Luo Yi Disney.

"The 'Save Disney' movement reflects that Disney's internal management has fallen into serious chaos. Regardless of who is right or wrong, this chaotic fight will cause Disney to fall into turmoil!"

His subordinates immediately responded. Soon, several media outlets stood up to defend Disney, not only pointing out that Luo Yi Disney's health was worrying and he could no longer hold important positions, but also painting Luo Yi Disney as an old thing who had reached retirement age but was unwilling to leave because of his greed for power.

"Wu, so are you supporting Luo Yi Disney?"

And following Jobs, Katzenberg also spoke out:

"Eisner is just a guy who is jealous of talent and excludes dissent! His decisions are only for his own consideration, and never from Disney's perspective! Look at what Disney's animation business has become now? I am very glad to have left Disney, otherwise, perhaps there would be no 'Shi Laike' at all!"

It wasn't just Wu Yuchen; after Wu Yuchen, others continued to appear, and Jobs also spoke publicly:

"In the past two years, Disney's stock price has fallen from $40 to $10.5. I wonder what the numerous Disney shareholders think of this 'Save Disney' action?"

"Yes, I sympathize with Luo Yi, and I also support his argument. I think he is very right about one point: Eisner's management has led to the loss of a large number of creative talents, and I have deeply experienced this."

Eisner, you deserve to die!

But after Wu Yuchen, a celebrity, got involved, it attracted considerable attention. So, there was such a story behind 'Pirates of the Caribbean'!

Therefore, Eisner thought that by forcibly retiring him before, judging by Luo Yi Disney's past behavior, the old guy would mostly swallow his anger for the sake of Disney.

"Disney's operations have been poor in recent years, its various businesses have fallen into a slump, and its stock price has been falling repeatedly. The incompetence of the management led by Eisner has been exposed, but his 18 years of rule have left him deeply rooted in Disney. Where Disney goes from here will be a mystery."

But he didn't expect that he would actually launch some 'Save Disney' movement and make such a big scene. Didn't he know that this would put Disney in an even more disadvantageous situation?

Just look at Disney's stock price now; it has fallen below the $10 mark and is in the single digits.

Eisner knew that if he let the other side go on like this, he would face an extremely terrible situation at the upcoming shareholders' meeting. He had to recover some of the situation.

After Wu Yuchen's interview came out, it immediately attracted considerable attention. Many people didn't care whether Disney lived or died; they didn't care about Luo Yi Disney or Eisner, and they didn't even really know their names.

A week later, several well-known newspapers across America focused their attention on one thing:

"Recently, a movement called 'Save Disney' has attracted great attention in Hollywood. The initiator of this movement is Luo Yi Disney, a second-generation member of the Disney family, an employee who has worked at Disney for nearly 50 years, a representative of the Disney family, and a successor of the Disney spirit, who has now been driven out of Disney by CEO Eisner!"

Luo Yi Disney wrote a 7-page, strongly worded letter severely criticizing Eisner's leadership of the company over the past 8 years.

And the reports didn't just appear in the entertainment section; they also appeared in the financial sections of many newspapers. Because the situation of this event was likely to have a major impact on Disney's operations and development, it attracted the attention of investors, and analysts from various financial sections naturally began to analyze the 'Save Disney' event.

Katzenberg immediately clapped his hands and cheered: "Aha! I like this idea. We will work together to drive Eisner out of office and save Disney!"

"I want to confess one thing: a few years ago, when I wrote the script for 'Pirates of the Caribbean', I originally wanted to cooperate with Disney. But during the process of cooperating with Disney on 'The Sixth Sense', some of Eisner's actions made me have a very poor impression of Disney. From then on, I decided not to cooperate with Disney again."

To be honest, he didn't expect Luo Yi Disney to make such a big scene. According to his understanding of Luo Yi Disney, although this old man opposed him, he always considered himself a member of the Disney family and would always put Disney's overall situation first, often defending Disney when facing outsiders.

Once the news report came out, it attracted the attention of many people to Disney. Generally, such internal company situations are difficult for outsiders to know, but when the media intervenes, it's different.

"Because of Eisner's arrogance, our relationship with the most creative people in Hollywood has worsened. Wu Yuchen, Pixar Studios, Katzenberg—these were all originally Disney's close partners. Look at the dazzling works they have created! But because of Eisner, these will all have nothing to do with Disney!"

This was another heavy blow to Disney. You must know that Disney's animation side now relies heavily on Pixar. If Pixar doesn't renew its contract with Disney next, it will definitely be bad news for Disney. Many small and medium shareholders felt a chill in their hearts when they saw this news.

"Eisner has been at Disney for 18 years. For the first ten years, he led Disney into glory and prosperity, but in the last 8 years, his rule has been criticized by many. This 'Save Disney' movement has exposed many of Disney's problems to the public. Disney has now entered a critical and sensitive stage. Whether Eisner can survive this 'Save Disney' movement is also a question."

Eisner called his subordinates: "Issue a statement to the outside world: Luo Yi has reached retirement age, and the company is asking him to retire out of humanistic care. Find some problems from his past medical reports and release them to prove that his health has problems. Also, find some media to muddy the waters!"

With this, the matter was completely blown up. Even the public who didn't care about Disney began to pay attention to this matter. After all, too many people had seen 'Pirates of the Caribbean', 'Shi Laike', and Pixar animations.

The 'Save Disney' movement and Eisner were both pushed to the forefront of the storm. ===== CHAPTER 263 =====