Reed Hastings from Netflix Company?
"Alexander, I shouldn't have any connection with him, right?" Kyle asked while sitting on the sofa.
"That's correct, Boss. You don't know Reed Hastings personally, nor Netflix Company, nor any of Netflix Company's shareholders. You have had no dealings with them whatsoever," Alexander replied.
Kyle nodded, smiled, and said, "Let him in."
"Uh? Hmm~"
Alexander was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted.
In his impression, Netflix Company was just a company providing online DVD rentals, with a total value barely exceeding $130 million, especially after being affected by the Dot-com Bubble.
Netflix Company's losses in the first half of 2000 alone exceeded $45 million.
The situation was very dire~
Alexander had seen too many companies like this.
"I wonder why Boss is interested in Netflix Company?" Alexander muttered to himself.
Most people wouldn't understand, but... who told Kyle to be a transmigrator?!
Disney Group is awesome, right?
So awesome that in 2018, it would acquire 20th Century Fox, one of The Big Six of Hollywood, with a total market value exceeding $200 billion.
But... in 2018, Netflix Company surpassed Disney Group!
"Hello, Mr. Page, I am Reed Hastings from Netflix Company. It is a great honor to meet you!"
Reed Hastings, who had just entered Kyle's office, was very polite and showed none of his usual arrogance.
That's right, Reed Hastings was a bit arrogant and had a very bad temper.
But here, did he dare?
Being respectful was his only choice.
Kyle glanced at Reed Hastings and said, "Our time is very precious. State your purpose, sir."
"Very well!"
Hearing this, Reed Hastings said solemnly, "Mr. Page, Page Pictures, which is under your banner, currently owns a film library with over 2,000 movies. Forgive my bluntness, apart from the films produced by your company that are quite popular in the market, what about the others?"
"Well, your company's 2,000+ film copyrights were all acquired, and they are quite uneven in quality. One could even say that the vast majority of these films have not been released on video or DVD offline."
"For your company, this is definitely a huge loss!"
"And the purpose of my visit is to hope to acquire the offline distribution and sales rights for this portion of the films."
As his voice fell, Kyle: "..."
Alexander's eyes lit up; he thought Reed Hastings' suggestion was excellent!
First, one must understand one thing!
Blockbuster Video, the largest offline DVD and video distributor and rental company in the U.S. and the world, has a principle when undertaking film distribution and rental: it focuses mainly on popular films.
At the very least, they must have been released in theaters!
In other words, more than half of the films produced by major American film companies each year fail to make it to the theatrical market, and more than 35% of the films don't even qualify to be pressed onto video or DVD.
"Alexander, how many films in our Page Pictures library have not been released offline?" Kyle turned and asked.
Alexander pondered for a moment, then whispered to Kyle, "Boss, in the film library, there are at least 1,500 movies that have had no offline sales."
Over 1,500 movies?!
It must be said that the quality of Page Pictures' film library is truly terrible!
To be precise, the quality of Page Pictures' film library is one of the worst among major Hollywood film companies. Over 1,500 films that have not been released or sold offline are practically like trash.
"Mr. Page, Mr. Alexander, I have come with the sincerity of Netflix Company. We are willing to take over this portion of film resources and push them all into the offline market," Reed Hastings said.
Alexander was somewhat tempted.
After all, even the smallest profit is still a profit.
1,500 films that haven't been released or sold offline can definitely be repurposed, so he was naturally more than happy to do so.
However, Kyle shook his head!
"I'm sorry, I refuse!"
A stone stirred up a thousand ripples~
As soon as the words fell, the confident look on Reed Hastings' face instantly vanished, replaced by shock and disbelief.
"Why?!" Reed Hastings sprang from his seat and asked loudly.
Kyle immediately narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "Do I need to give you a reason?"
Reed Hastings' pupils constricted, and he quickly said, "Sorry, sorry, I lost my composure."
At this moment, Alexander, as a bystander, was filled with confusion.
Refused?
Isn't this obviously refusing to make money?
Alexander had been with Kyle for quite some time; he knew Kyle very well and knew that Kyle was the type of person who would never pass up even the smallest profit.
"Boss, why would you refuse?" He couldn't figure it out for the time being.
At this moment, Reed Hastings was feeling quite dejected; he couldn't understand how something he was so sure of could fall through.
Kyle suddenly said, "Mr. Hastings, regarding the film library copyrights of Page Pictures, I regret that we cannot reach a cooperation, but I am interested in investing in your company, Netflix, I wonder if I might have that honor?"
"..."
Reed Hastings was stunned immediately.
With the cooperation failing, he turned to investing in Netflix; he had some trouble understanding Kyle's line of thinking.
Netflix, one of the future largest streaming giant companies in the world, owns over 100,000 film copyrights, and its self-produced TV series "House of Cards" has swept the globe.
Furthermore, in 2012, Netflix would also gain a seat on the Motion Picture Association (film review and rating) committee, which symbolizes the supreme status of Hollywood films.
You have to know, a seat is a good thing; it is the exclusive preserve of The Big Six of Hollywood and MGM, something other film and television companies dream of but cannot obtain.
"Invest?"
Reed Hastings immediately smiled and said, "Mr. Page, I personally welcome your investment in Netflix with both hands, but as you know, while it is true that I am the founder, investment in the company is decided by the board of directors."
Kyle understood very well.
As the founder of Netflix, after several rounds of share expansion for Netflix, Reed Hastings' shareholding ratio had been diluted to only 10%.
In 2020, the Netflix shares he held were left with just over 1%.
Of course, this is very common in public companies in America; not everyone is Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, who can hold onto a large amount of shares tightly.
... The next day.
Kyle received the news that the Netflix board of directors refused to accept Kyle's investment.