[Chapter 261: Media Group Initial Formation]
Winnie and Goodman finally completed their acquisition of Fire Elf Games and Meluva Publishing.
Fire Elf Games was acquired for $2 million, with an additional 5% equity set aside to create an option pool to reward technical staff for future contributions.
Under a compensation policy of high salaries and stock options, the two founders signed three-year employment contracts, and the other four technical staff remained with the company.
Linton instructed Edward to vacate 400 square meters of office space in the office building. After the acquisition, Fire Elf Games upgraded its office from a remote, modest space to a bright and spacious office, greatly boosting employees' morale and outlook.
Winnie also devised a company reform plan, hiring a seasoned executive from another game company at a high salary to serve as the company's new general manager. The company established four departments: Game Development Department 1 and 2, Game Operations Department, and the General Office.
The original company founders, Evan Capet and Lucas Sedek, were appointed heads of Development Departments 1 and 2 respectively, assembling their development teams.
Post-acquisition, Linton invested another $2 million and simultaneously released the game design plans for Tomb Raider and Resident Evil to the two departments for independent development.
Both games had previously achieved massive success, spawning movies, TV series, and comics, evolving into multibillion-dollar intellectual properties.
Tomb Raider, an action-adventure treasure hunting game originally developed by British company Core Design, sold over a million copies within three days of its 1996 release, with global sales exceeding six million copies that year.
Resident Evil was initially a survival horror action-adventure game developed by Japan's CAPCOM, released in 1996, with cumulative global sales surpassing five million copies that year.
Given the development timeline, the games were expected to reach the market by early next year.
Currently, there were relatively few playable computer games, making the gaming market a wide-open frontier. Drawing on their previous success, Linton believed the results this time would surpass the past. After accumulating enough fans over several years and when the timing was right, a movie adaptation could be considered.
...
Meluva Publishing was acquired for $24 million, including copyrights to 27,308 book titles, 125 specialty bookstores across the U.S., and 97 overseas specialty bookstores.
More importantly, the publishing business spanned the U.S., with cooperative channels in cities nationwide and established sales networks in English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
The publishing house's headquarters remained in New York, an important hub for book publishing with unique East Coast advantages.
Still, reforms were necessary, and Winnie spent a week in New York overseeing changes.
After reviewing analysis reports from two consulting firms, Winnie and Linton agreed the company's biggest issue lay in the screenwriting department's lack of market awareness. Crucially, the original editor-in-chief was too old-fashioned and out of touch with market trends. Therefore, the original investor was firmly required to dismiss him during the acquisition.
Following the acquisition, Korn Ferry was commissioned to recruit Aleister Kuhn, a deputy editor-in-chief from HarperCollins Publishing Group, to take the helm as the new editor-in-chief.
Aleister introduced a new performance evaluation system meeting Winnie's requirements.
The system was summed up in the words: "performance first; reward the good, punish the bad; promote the capable, demote the mediocre, and dismiss the incompetent."
Linton nodded in approval upon reviewing the new system, impressed by Aleister's executive background. He believed the publishing house would regain vitality under his leadership.
Moreover, they now had their biggest asset, which enabled them to continuously deliver top-quality content.
...
At this point, Linton's media group began to take shape, encompassing a film company, a publishing house, a newspaper, and a game company. Though the latter three were still weak, the foundation was laid. The next step was to solidify the base and accelerate development for each company.
Of course, to become a true media conglomerate, one key link was missing: a TV station. But acquiring one was not easy and required waiting for the right opportunity.
Hollywood Gossip Daily editor-in-chief Sharon showed outstanding capability. With Linton's investment, full support, and strict performance demands, she swiftly revitalized the team.
Five months post-acquisition, the newspaper underwent dramatic transformation. Sales rose fivefold -- from 4,000 to 20,000 copies daily.
Staff expanded from 15 to 30, and the office moved from a rundown hut to a bright, spacious building.
The financials improved from monthly losses to a $200,000 profit last month.
The newspaper had gained renown in Los Angeles, becoming the go-to source for Hollywood celebrity buzz.
Linton fulfilled his promise, substantially raising Sharon's salary and boosting all employees' pay by 10%.
...
After three months, Eddie and Rosa completed first drafts of their debut novels, National Treasure and The Fault in Our Stars, one month ahead of schedule.
Having only watched the films and never read the books, and knowing the movies made major adaptations, Linton was unfamiliar with the differences between book and film.
He spent a day reading the first drafts and found them satisfying with no obvious issues or revisions needed from a reader's perspective.
The manuscripts were sent to the new editor-in-chief Aleister, who was tasked with appointing a professional commercial novel editor to provide expert revision suggestions.
While awaiting feedback, Linton gave Eddie the plot outline for National Treasure 2 and Rosa the outline for Twilight, urging them to begin preparing their sequels immediately.
He also rewarded each with $10,000 for early completion. Both were overjoyed and screamed with excitement.
Their income far exceeded previous jobs. Over three months, they had earned a base of $13,000 each plus the $10,000 bonus. According to contract terms, even more generous rewards awaited successful publication.
With such salaries, the only drawback was they couldn't sign the novels themselves. However, Linton promised formal screenwriter positions after completing five novels.
There was no doubt they were motivated to write well and quickly. The two threw themselves into preparatory work with passion.
*****
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