"If I want to bring the two of you back to Netflix, what price would I have to pay?" Huang He said seriously.
Hearing Huang He's words, the two were startled, not expecting him to be serious. However, they absolutely could not return to Netflix, so Jimmy said without hesitation, "If you want us two to return to Netflix, it's fine, just get that bastard Hastings out!"
Jimmy felt that Huang He would never agree to this condition. Firstly, from an outsider's perspective, Netflix was built by Hastings. He was extremely capable and had not made any obvious mistakes so far. Therefore, unless Huang He, the investor, was blind, he would never replace Hastings.
Secondly, Jimmy also knew that when Hastings sold company shares, he had signed a management agreement with the company. Even if Huang He held 99% of the shares, as long as Hastings didn't want to leave, Huang He could not take control of the company from him.
Therefore, Jimmy thought Huang He would not agree to this condition!
"Alright, it's settled then!" To everyone's surprise, Huang He agreed immediately, leaving both Jimmy and Randolph stunned.
"Mr. Huang, are you serious?" Jimmy asked, somewhat incredulously.
"I never lie!" Huang He said calmly, "Actually, I've been annoyed by this guy Hastings for a long time. When I first invested, I didn't understand the situation and thought Hastings really built Netflix from scratch!"
"But later I realized that Netflix is where it is today because of the contributions of you two. That Hastings is just a thief who stole your credit!"
"What's most infuriating is his tendency to discard people after they've served their purpose. I heard that all 13 employees who started Netflix back then have been fired by Hastings. This guy probably wishes he could fire me too!"
Jimmy and Randolph immediately felt they had found a kindred spirit. Their biggest conflict with Hastings was that Hastings prioritized profit to the extreme and never cared about personal relationships. Of course, if he was doing everything for the company's benefit, it wouldn't be wrong.
But the problem was that he only acted for his own benefit, even if it would harm Netflix's interests. Later, through various means, he had even fired the two of them, the founding members. They hated Hastings to the bone.
So, the thought of having the opportunity to get rid of Hastings and regain control of Netflix, this kind of revenge fantasy, made the two of them immediately forget their vow never to return to Netflix.
As long as they could see Hastings being disgraced and kicked out, that would be enough.
Of course, this impulse only lasted for a while before they had to consider some practical issues.
"Mr. Huang, I believe in your sincerity, but I just want to ask, is the rumored agreement that gives Hastings permanent control of Netflix true?" Jimmy asked.
"It is true!" Huang He nodded.
"Then your condition has no possibility of being realized, because you cannot get rid of Hastings!" Jimmy said.
"But as far as I know, when Randolph was founded, Hastings, who was in charge of investment, also signed an agreement with Mr. Randolph, stating that even if he held 70% of the shares, he would never interfere with Mr. Randolph's operations. He had the same agreement with Mr. Randolph as I do now!"
"But ultimately, this agreement was torn up, and Mr. Randolph was removed from the board of directors, while Hastings is the current president of Netflix!" Huang He narrowed his eyes. Randolph, who had been silent all along, felt a chill in his hands and feet, and his expression became distressed.
"The situations are different!" Randolph could only say with a wry smile, "At that time, I did have the same agreement with Hastings, but in reality, this agreement was only verbal and not included in the contract!"
"Secondly, but it was also I who agreed to Hastings taking over management rights because the situation at the time was very dire. Netflix lacked funds, and its account balance was as low as less than 300 dollars. I only understood operations, not connections, and I couldn't attract investment for the company. Only Hastings could continue to bring money into the company; otherwise, the company would be doomed.
I had to agree to Hastings' terms and give up the position of president to ensure the company's survival!" Randolph said.
"I know, I just feel that since this method has been used once, there's no reason it can't be used again!" Huang He stroked his chin. "The way Hastings took management rights from Mr. Randolph back then, we can replicate it today. It's very simple!"
Hearing Boss Huang's answer, Jimmy and Randolph felt a surge of joy. There was nothing more satisfying than enacting revenge by using the same methods against someone.
"One last question, what about this company of ours!" Jimmy looked at the company. "You might not believe it, but this company's operating performance is quite impressive. I think it's worth at least 50 million dollars!"
"I'll buy your company for 60 million dollars!" Boss Huang said unceremoniously. Well, Redbox, historically, would go public in three years, with a total market value reaching 2 billion US dollars.
More importantly, Redbox would dominate the entire lower-tier market in the United States.
The United States is actually a very strange country. It appears very developed, but if you look at American cities and rural areas... you don't even need to look at rural areas, just look at some small towns, and you'll find they are almost two different worlds.
To give a simple example, even as late as 2015, over 60% of towns in the US were not connected to the internet, and 30% of towns did not have electricity, requiring them to use generators. In China, there isn't a single village without electricity.
There are many reasons for this, but the core reason is that these towns cannot make money.
In the United States, all infrastructure is privately owned, and enterprises are responsible for their own profits and losses. The land in the United States is vast, and the population is only about 300 million. This means that most towns are far from cities and the population is not large.
If electricity poles were extended for tens of kilometers from cities to provide power to these towns, it might take two to three hundred years to recoup the cost of building this new infrastructure through electricity fees.
Therefore, capital will absolutely not provide electricity or internet to these towns unless the residents of the towns pay for it themselves; otherwise, it is impossible.
But in China, the situation is completely different. With a single order from the state, even villages with only one or two households will invest millions of yuan to install various infrastructure, just to serve these one or two households.
For a period, there was a story on the Chinese internet, mainly about Japan. There was a small village in Japan with a small train station, and only one female student used the train to go to and from school every day.
So, the Japanese railway company arranged a locomotive every day specifically for this student, stopping at the time of her commute, just to pick her up and drop her off.
And only after this student graduated was the station closed.
You see, how beautiful, how humane this story is, full of the excellent qualities and noble character of the Japanese people.
But the truth is, the train this female student took was not exclusively for her. Her classmates from a nearby high school also took the same train to school. This train connected stations in over a dozen remote areas and mountain villages, picking up and dropping off more than 40 students in total.
Secondly, this station was not reserved exclusively for this student. Including the train she took, a total of four trains stopped at this station, and more than 50 people commuted using this station every day.
Thirdly, the station's closure was not due to this student's graduation, but as part of an adjustment to the entire railway operating schedule of the Hokkaido Railway Company of Japan, not just for one person. Even if she hadn't graduated, the station would have been closed anyway.
The source of this story was a Chinese person who received special art grants from the Japanese government, lived in Japan for a year, and then, inspired, posted a news report from a newspaper onto domestic Weibo.
Within three days, it was reposted by countless Weibo accounts, further promoting a positive image of Japan.
However, there is nothing to criticize about this. Many national governments use the tactic of spending money to promote their country's good aspects in other countries. China also often promotes Chinese culture abroad, which is all normal, and we don't need to pay too much attention to it.
But we also need to look at the many examples of what our own country has done.
Train 7053, from Zibo, Shandong to Mount Tai, fare 1 yuan, unchanged for 42 years;
Train 7272, from Huaihua to Meijiang, Chongqing, passing through HH City and XXTZMZ Autonomous Prefecture, fare 1 yuan, never increased;
Train 8361, crossing the concentrated poverty-stricken areas of Qinba, with fares as low as 1 yuan and as high as 7.5 yuan, never increased;
Train 5634, from the Southwest to Xide, traversing the Daliang Mountains. Except for cattle, all other animals like pigs, sheep, ducks, and geese can be brought onto the train, which has never increased its fare;
This has strayed a bit too far. In short, I can state with certainty that the towns in the United States are very backward. Their cities live in the 21st century, but many of their towns are still in the era of World War II. Most of the infrastructure was built during the Franklin era. These markets have not been penetrated by so-called technology companies like Netflix, Microsoft, or Amazon, but Redbox, with its vending machines, has successfully infiltrated them!