Meanwhile, the Marvel company was in big trouble. It was losing a lot of money and was close to falling apart.
During this hard time, a young man named David Messer went to a Marvel boss with a big idea.
"Look," David argued, "you're selling your heroes one by one to different movie studios. Why don't you make your own series of movies? The heroes could even cross over and be in each other's films, just like in the comics!"
The boss was skeptical. "How would we even do that?"
The answer David gave him was the big, secret plan that would one day become the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the Avengers movies).
...
Back at his own company, Wald Pictures, Zane was putting his own team together. After all the new artists were hired, he held a big meeting to start making SpongeBob SquarePants.
By the end of the day, Stephen Hillenburg (the man who had the first idea) was made the head of the new cartoon department. David Messer was made his second-in-command and the main script editor.
Zane's idea for his cartoon studio was huge, and his schedule became super busy.
His days were a crazy juggling act.
He was: Watching new movie clips for his studio.
Checking on how SpongeBob was going.
Traveling to Silicon Valley to check on his internet company, ICQ.
Making time for his girlfriend, Adriana Lima.
In the few quiet moments he could find, he was reading books on how to be a good boss.
"Being a billionaire isn't all just fun and parties," he'd grumble to himself with a small smile.
He had a simple rule he believed in: "Trust your team, but always check their work." He knew that as his company got bigger, some people might try to cheat him. He refused to be a lazy boss who got tricked. He wanted to be a smart, active leader for his team.
...
On July 1st, Zane went to the main "SpongeBob's House" store for the big monthly meeting.
"Alright, everyone, let's hear the good news!" Zane said, taking a sip of his coffee.
The store managers, including his old friend James, were all very excited. They reported their numbers one by one.
"Boss, the main store made $120,000 in profit last month! That's up 58%!" "Our second store hit a new record! $118,000 in profit!" "The third store is right behind, at $105,000!"
The room was buzzing with happy energy. When business was this good, everyone got big bonuses.
In just one month, the seven stores had made Zane a profit of $650,000.
"That is outstanding work, everyone," Zane said with a big, genuine, and proud smile. "Give yourselves a round of applause. You've earned it!"
The room erupted in cheers.
"A lot of the credit goes to the boss!" James added, beaming. "Zane, getting the rights to sell toys for all those hit movies was a brilliant idea!"
"Now, James, let's not get carried away," Zane laughed, though he was secretly very pleased.
James was right. The stores were doing so well because Zane had known which movies were going to be the biggest hits. They were selling tons of toys from Twister, Mission: Impossible, and The Rock.
"Okay, everyone, focus up," Zane said, his voice turning serious (but still friendly). "The big premiere for Independence Day is the day after tomorrow. We all know what that means."
Everyone nodded. They knew this movie was going to be the biggest one of the whole year.
Zane had not only gotten the rights to sell the toys in Los Angeles, but he had also paid the movie studio, 20th Century Fox, $1 million. This was for a two-year right to sell the movie's toys online, all over North America.
This was his new, big plan. He had made a deal with Amazon.com, and this was his first big test of selling things on the internet.
Still, that $1 million deal left a bit of a sour taste. "A million dollars... just for a two-year license?" he muttered to himself. "The big studios are ruthless."
He knew Fox was just using him as a test. If he did well, they would charge him a ton of money next time. If he failed, it wasn't their problem.
But Zane knew the future was on the internet. He knew that one day, most toys would be sold online. This was why he had stopped opening new real stores. The real money was online.
Just as he was thinking about the future, a familiar, and always startling, sound chimed in his mind.
Ding Dong!
[Congratulations, host. You have received all the plans and rights for... "America's Got Talent."]
Zane almost jumped out of his chair.
Well, I'll be darned, he thought, a huge smile spreading across his face. The ghost in the machine is finally back!
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