Chapter 436 Fuck MGM (2)
MGM was established in 1924 as an amalgamation of three film companies, Mitro, Godwin, and Louis Meyer.
But this company was not actually controlled by the founders of the three film companies for long.
In the second year of the merger, that is, in 2025, Samuel Godwin, the founder of Godwin Films, had already withdrawn. He died of a heart attack. So far, even though Louis Meyer is struggling to support him, it still cannot change the fact that the descendants of the other two founders have successively sold their shares. Therefore, in fact, as early as the 1930s, MGM became a public company.
After the death of Louis Meyer in 1957, the company was acquired by Edgar Bronfman.
And Edgar Bronfman...
is actually the Canadian wine industry, Seagram's heir.
Yes, his father, Samuel Bronfman, is the founder of Seagram! And his son Edgar Bronfman Jr. was the one who sold 24.3% of DuPont's shares back to the DuPont family for 9 billion in the 1990s, and bought Universal Music In the end, he sold his ancestral property directly to Vivendi's ruthless people!
Of course, Edgar Bronfman is not as sculpted as his son...
Well, this is bullshit.
If he was as sculpted as his son, then Seagram would be gone.
During the period when he held MGM, MGM's film and television business did not perform well, because the purpose of his acquisition of MGM was to use the MGM brand to expand its business in the United States. Do real estate business.
Like MGM, MGM Gold, MGM Resorts…
In fact, he did it all.
As for why he bought a film and television company to engage in real estate?
This is very simple.
Because Walt Disney’s cultural tourism real estate is really profitable.
While he was vigorously developing the MGM real estate business, he discovered that the gambling business was profitable, so he wanted to open the MGM hotel to Las Vegas. At that time, most of the land in Las Vegas was occupied Kirk Kerkorian, a rich man of Armenian origin, was bought. If he wanted to enter the venue, he had to contact the other party, so the two sides met conveniently.
Before the meeting, Kirk Kerkorian sold the 80 acres of land in his hands to Caesars Corporation, allowing it to build the famous Caesars Palace and earn a lot of money, so when Kirk Kerkorian Corian learned that after Edgar Bronfman wanted to make the well-known MGM a landmark building in Las Vegas, he hit it off with the money and land. , bought a certain amount of MGM shares from him, and then bought a part of the shares from Time Corporation, MGM's second shareholder at the time, and made up 40%. holding.
Yes!
This is how rich people collaborate!
You have a brand and I have land?
Then we can cooperate!
As long as I buy you, then I have a brand and a place?
Next, no matter what kind of casino or hotel to build, that is my decision alone!
So, since 1969, Kirk Kerkorian has become the owner of MGM.
With his intervention, MGM also went further and further on the road of real estate companies. In 1973, the MGM Grand Hotel and MGM Casino opened in Las Vegas, as the largest hotel in the world at that time. The profitability of hotels and casinos far exceeds that of MGM's film business, and it is even comparable to Disneyland!
In 1979, Kirk Kerkorian even changed the ownership of MGM from a film and television entertainment company registered in Los Angeles to Las Vegas, Nevada. hotel company!
So, the decline of MGM in Hollywood is actually normal.
When the boss is too lazy to do film and television, it is strange that MGM is not dead!
But unfortunately, when Kirk Kerkorian was arrogantly waving MGM and swam freely in the real estate industry in the United States, on November 21, 1980, MGM located in Las Vegas A fire broke out at the Mei Hotel.
The fire started from the refrigerated pastry display case in the restaurant on the first floor. After development, it eventually engulfed the hotel with 26 floors, more than 2,000 rooms, and more than 5,000 guests. Eighty-five people were killed and 600 Fifty people were injured.
Direct economic loss, one billion yuan!
Not only that, but at the time, it was the second largest hotel fire in modern American history.
Only slightly smaller than the Wayne Cove Hotel fire in Atlanta in 1946.
When this unexpected disaster appeared in front of Kirk Kerkorian, he wanted to continue to support him, so he called a lawyer, borrowed money everywhere, in an attempt to tide over the difficulties, and spent eight months rebuilding the MGM Grand Hotel, Behind allowing it to continue to open to the outside world, Kirk Kerkorian sold MGM's music department to the outside world.
But unfortunately, his struggle did not last long.
When a compensation lawsuit of up to two billion appeared, he could only sell the MGM Grand Hotel in his hand. In order to clear the relationship, he also sold MGM Entertainment to the founder of the Turner Broadcasting Network. Ted Turner.
So far, MGM's real estate business and film and television entertainment business have finally separated.
Perhaps Ted Turner felt that the name MGM, which was associated with the casino murder, was unlucky.
So after holding it for a few years, he sold the entertainment company in his hand to Italian banker Giancarlo Paretti.
But the Italian banker Ancarlo Paretti himself was burdened with a pile of debts, so within a few years, MGM was forcibly taken away by Carlo Paretti's creditor, Credit France.
And it's no use for Credit France to ask MGM!
So, selling Hollywood assets has become the only thing they can do.
If things come to this, and a rich man who likes film and television drama production buys MGM, then this is Tianwen's development routine, but the problem is that the new owner of MGM is not a person who likes film and television drama production. millionaires, because—
It is still Kirk Kerkorian who bought MGM from Credit France!
Yes! He was forced to sell MGM in 1986, and bought MGM back in 1996!
The reason is actually very simple!
Because Kirk Kerkorian had already reached an out-of-court settlement with all the victims in the MGM fire case that year!
No one understands why after reaching an out-of-court settlement, Kirk Kerkorian wants to buy back the property he once sold. Is it the depth of love? Or reminisce about the past? Anyway, no one can give a reasonable explanation.
But the fact is that, after 1996, Kirk Kerkorian became the boss of MGM again.
If Roland Allen wants to buy MGM, he must get his consent.
"But getting his consent is actually not an easy task."
The current FBI Director Robert Mueller opened his briefcase and pulled out a stack of documents from it.
"But we, have found a way...
On November 21, 1980, the fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada made Nevada the focus of attention in the United States. After the fire, Due to the large number of deaths and the wide range of casualties, the governor of Nevada ordered to strictly investigate the safety hazards of major hotels in Las Vegas.
Even though the gaming industry is the largest source of local tax revenue, they still closed Las Vegas for a week for inspection, and the resulting tax loss was as high as 1.7 million yuan.
But the problem is that on the eighty-first day after the MGM Grand Hotel fire, another fire broke out at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. Although the death toll was not as exaggerated as that of the MGM Grand Hotel, but The nature is extremely bad.
After the explosion caused by the fire at the Hilton Hotel killed eight tourists, the governor of Nevada quickly established a fire safety rules committee to review the state's fire safety guidelines and regulations.
They require that all buildings open to the public must have fire sprinklers in the building, as well as hotel rooms, in addition to that, smoke detectors must be installed in hotel rooms and elevators, and emergency exit lights must be installed in hallways.
And quickly legislate and enforce it.
And when this regulation appeared, all casinos and hotels in Las Vegas entered the stage of closed rectification.
When they reopen, the MGM Grand…
has also been reorganized. "
Hearing such words, Roland raised his eyebrows.
Although it was the first time for him to meet Robert Miller, and the other party was the current FBI director, he didn't feel any tension at all when he was accompanied by Henry Rumsfeld.
Not only that, he also asked very straightforwardly—
"You mean, the fire at the Hilton Hotel has something to do with MGM boss Kirk Kerkorian?"
Although from the perspective of law enforcement officers, Roland's words are equivalent to malicious accusations, but the problem is that Robert Miller is not only a law enforcement officer, he is also a law enforcement officer of the small bush family, so in a situation where reason trumps law Next, he said directly: "There may be a certain relationship between them."
While speaking, he pushed the document with the FBI logo in front of Roland.
Signaled the other party to read the information collected by the FBI.
"According to the case records of the year, we found that the explosion in the Hilton Hotel was caused by the hotel attendant Philip Klein taking an excessive amount of narcotics, which caused hallucinations, and set fire to the curtains in the elevator lobby on the eighth floor of the East Tower.
But the problem is, the time this guy entered the Hilton Hotel was after the fire at the MGM Grand Hotel.
Before that, he had been a waiter at the MGM Grand Hotel. "
"What?"
This information made Roland a little puzzled by Monk Zhang Er.
"A job like a waiter is inherently very mobile!
Those who are paid by the hour may work at the MGM Grand Hotel today, and go to the Hilton Hotel to apply for jobs tomorrow.
So that's not proof that Kirk Kerkorian was responsible for the Hilton fire?
Even if...
The fire at the Hilton Hotel prompted the reform of fire protection laws in Nevada, and caused the closure of all Las Vegas hotels and casinos, which promoted the renovation of the MGM Grand Hotel? "
While his voice fell, Henry Rumsfeld, who had already communicated with Robert Miller on the way here, shook his head and said: "According to normal people's thinking, the situation is indeed like this, but the problem is...
The Hilton Hotel fire case had problems when it was closed that year. "
"Aha?" Roland blinked his eyes, frowned, and quickly scanned the document in his hand, eager to get an answer from it. At the same time, he also asked, "What's the problem?"
"Because the suspect Philip Klein, ah, no, I should call him a criminal...he lied back then."
Robert Miller pursed his lips, understanding why he appeared in the hotel room at night to speak to another rich man in the world, he said slowly: "Philip Klein is a guy with a lot of bad records.
Because of taking narcotics all the year round and not having a proper job, he has very close contacts with the local associations.
Stealing, smashing and smashing, he has done everything.
But after being wanted by the Bay Area police, he knew that he couldn’t live in the Bay Area, so he left there and moved to Las Vegas, which is closer to the Bay Area, hoping to have a new life there…”
"However, when he was a waiter in a hotel in Las Vegas, he was still stealing the guests' belongings, and when he was doing errands for the hotel, he also embezzled the company's public funds." While Robert Miller organized the language , Henry Rumsfeld took over the conversation, and continued: "But these, in fact, are not the point, the point is that when he was caught by MGM Grand Hotel for embezzlement of public funds and formally prosecuted, this rotten People, but suddenly reached a settlement with the MGM Grand Hotel.
At that time, only two weeks had passed since the fire at the Hilton Hotel. "
"Because they settled out of court, the police don't know what he paid to make MGM Grand let go." Robert Miller shrugged and said, "But after they settled, Philip G. Ryan quickly went to the Hilton Hotel to apply for a job and became a waiter there. Then, a fire broke out in the Hilton Hotel.
In the subsequent interrogation, according to his statement, when the crime happened, he was sitting on the sofa of the hotel smoking marijuana during the rest period. Because of the overdose, he had hallucinations and felt a little cold in his body, so he took out the lighter and lit the curtains. Want to keep warm.
However, he did not expect that the flames would quickly rise up, climb up the curtains, break through the floors, and engulf the hotel.
And most importantly, when the Las Vegas police reviewed his confession, the police found that, according to the other party's description, the flames could never grow rapidly and silently, and what he said was found at the recovery site After having a problem, the local police directly put him on a polygraph test, and then he said that because he saw a **** man having **** next to him, he collapsed and wanted to kill them, and then lit the curtains, trying to make the dirty sent to hell. "
"But unfortunately, the police in Las Vegas did not find the **** couple he described."
While Robert Miller was resting, Henry Rumsfeld opened his mouth again and continued, "After his confession made mistakes continuously, the police were actually wondering whether this guy was made by Michael It was sent by MGM Hotel, because only by destroying other competitors, MGM Grand Hotel will not fall behind in the subsequent competition.
In the investigation within the next two months, this point became more and more obvious.
But just when the police wanted to change their thinking to solve the case, a woman who was in the hotel at the time suddenly jumped out to testify. She said that when she went downstairs to get ice, she did hear a fire report on the hotel phone, but because the fire extinguisher Due to aging, they couldn't put out the fire and could only wait for the firefighters to arrive, but the problem was that there was no possibility of problems with the firefighting equipment of the Hilton Hotel.
Because of the fire at the MGM Grand Hotel two months ago, all hotels in Las Vegas have updated their fire extinguishing equipment.
But this set of allegations was adopted by the jury.
Later, when the prosecutor in charge of the case wanted to sentence him to death, the jury shifted all responsibility for the matter to the Hilton Hotel, saying that the Hilton Hotel failed to maintain basic fire safety equipment, and their fault was the It was the root cause of the fire, and Philip Klein was sentenced to eight life sentences.
Although we don’t understand how this judgment was made, it is precisely because the Hilton Hotel has taken a lot of responsibility that Nevada’s fire safety law will be reformed quickly...”
"..."
Good guy! Roland just wanted to shout, good guy!
If before, he believed that the reform of Nevada's fire safety law brought Las Vegas hotels back to the same starting line, it was just an accident, but now, he really thinks that all of this is caused by the MGM boss. Driven by Kirk Kerkorian!
Because it was a coincidence!
The reasons given in each link are untenable!
And the only thing that can hold water is conspiracy theory!
But the problem is...
It is meaningless that this kind of conspiracy theory that has been separated for more than 20 years is brought up again without conclusive evidence!
Not to mention…
"If all the problems back then were pointed at Kirk Kerkorian, the owner of the MGM Grand Hotel, why did the Hilton Hotel sit idly by and let the other side put all the responsibility on itself?" Roland wondered asked.
That's right!
Roland couldn't figure this out at all!
While MGM Grand owner Kirk Kerkorian could be called capital, but…
Isn’t the owner of the Hilton Hotel capital?
In the case of capital confrontation, this kind of endless case didn't become a large-scale tear-off scene?
This is incredible!
And his doubts, for the guy who has already got all the information, it is actually reasonable.
"This? This is actually very simple." Robert Miller said with a smile: "Because Hilton was in trouble at the time.
Didn't I say it before? Many lands in Las Vegas are in the hands of Kirk Kerkorian, so when Hilton wants to expand in Las Vegas, they are actually from Kirk Kerkorian in the hands of those who bought the house.
The predecessor of the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel was the International Leisure Club built by Kirk Kerkorian. After it was sold to Hilton in 1970, Hilton started construction. It took five years to build the A large hotel with 620 rooms, and in 1977, a stadium with a capacity of 5,000 people was erected.
But unfortunately, after the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel was built, their founder Conrad Hilton passed away, and when he passed away, the British gambling company Ladbrokes Coral wanted to acquire the hotel located in the casino. Hilton Hotel.
During this process, the Hilton family had serious disagreements.
His eldest son wanted to sell it because he felt that the gambling business would damage the family's brand image, while his youngest son didn't want to sell it because he felt that the gambling business was the real source of money. From 1979 to 1986, During this period, the fire at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas was the focus of their anxiety.
So, in the disagreement between selling ancestral property and not selling ancestral property, who cares about the fire, is there a problem?
They just want to put out the fire as soon as possible, and then fight for the property! "
Whoops!
This big melon, Roland was so addicted to hearing it!
The fire at the Hilton Hotel was burned during the infighting of the Hilton family?
Then this can also explain why the Hilton family didn't delve into this issue!
If you don’t have peace inside yourself, what time do you have to deal with external conflicts?
No way, compared with the rich generation, the rich second generation lacks ruthlessness.
This kind of ruthlessness does not refer to internal fighting, but expansion.
"Okay, I understand what you guys want to say." Hearing this, Roland finally nodded his head, glanced at the time, and broke through the midnight pointer again, which made him helpless, "But even if the case back then can be used as an attack Kirk-Kerkorian's breakthrough, we can't do it without actual evidence!"
And his sorrow, for the two of them, is a manifestation of pressure.
"You can rest assured that when the shale oil exploitation bill is passed, the guy who is still serving his sentence in prison will take the initiative to jump out and call for injustice." Henry Rumsfeld said with a smile: "He will say that the fire and his own It doesn't matter."
"Yes, and then our FBI will directly intervene, take the investigation report of the Las Vegas police, and tell the society that the police knew that he was lying, but still adopted his ignition statement."
Robert Miller continued: "That alone will allow the case to be reopened."
"Then, the Department of Justice will overturn the results of the case that year and order the FBI to re-investigate." Henry Rumsfeld said.
"Next, we will put all the clues we have discovered on the table." Robert Miller spread his hands.
"When all the issues point to Kirk Kerkorian, we can subpoena him and freeze his corresponding assets in accordance with the law." Henry Rumsfeld pointed out the operability in the case.
"At this time, he will definitely deny it, but it doesn't matter, because the guy in the prison will jump out and testify. The reason why he lied back then was to help Kirk Kerkorian cover up the reality." Robert Miller said with a smile .
"Although there is no actual evidence, it doesn't make any sense whether there is evidence or not in this kind of case."
"That's right! Because our fundamental purpose is to use lawsuits to drag down his property. When he is short of money, he must sell his assets in an attempt to tide over the difficulties. When the time comes, he will find that only MGM Film and Television Entertainment , can be sold."
"In this way, the final result is actually very simple..."
"From high to low, price reduction auction, you can buy this company at the price you want."
"As for competition? It doesn't exist! Because Time Warner and Fox on our side won't make an offer, and Vivendi, which owns Universal, won't make an offer either. The rest of Paramount and Disney... you can solve it yourself .”
When the two old men decided the fate of MGM as if they were talking about a cross talk, Roland, who was opposite to them, laughed very happily, because this is what he was looking for.
When the power is in hand, if you have the power to use it, isn’t that stupid?
The best embodiment of using rights is not crushing?
Have you broken the law?
I don't care at all!
Because I think you broke the law, then you are breaking the law!
Do you want to sell your assets?
What does this have to do with me?
Because when I want to buy, you're bound to want to sell!
Although all this sounds so pompous.
But after helping these people run around, if Roland still doesn't get the exaggeration, then it is the real exaggeration!
As for the plutocrats...
A rich man without power is just a pig...
When I don't need you, you can be happy, when I need you, you can only fatten everyone!
Jeffrey Epstein, that is the best role model!
"I am very satisfied with this arrangement."
Roland smiled and shook hands with the two, "I am more satisfied with your efficiency."
While Roland was embracing him friendly, Henry Rumsfeld also stuffed another brown paper bag into Roland's hand and said, "We are also very satisfied with your help. And if we can see you tomorrow night You, then we will be more satisfied."
"Hahahaha~"
This unreasonable response made the three of them laugh out loud, and after holding the heavy file bag, Roland, who was clear in his heart, stated directly, "If you disturb your rest tomorrow night, you can't blame me." .”
"Of course not~" Henry Rumsfeld affirmed: "Because we are too late to welcome~"
Note: ① In reality, MGM’s real estate business was indeed created by the son of the founder of Seagram. Therefore, it is understandable that his grandson sold DuPont shares to play Universal, because His father is also an out-of-the-ordinary guy. ②The Time Company, the second shareholder of MGM written in the article in the 1960s, was the era when it later merged with Warner Bros. to form Time Warner. ③The MGM Grand Hotel fire case and the Hilton Grand Hotel fire case are the basis for promoting the modern public facility fire protection law, and all subsequent fire safety regulations basically appeared as a result of mandatory requirements in those years. As for whether the fire at the Hilton Hotel has anything to do with the owner of MGM, judging from all the evidence provided by the state of Nevada, there was something wrong with the case back then. He should not be responsible for this incident, but unfortunately, with the death of the boss of MGM, no matter how much he yelled, he would report to the police at most. No lawyer is willing to reverse the case, and no prosecutor is willing to investigate. ④ The infighting among the Hilton family is also real. In the end, all the casino business under Hilton's name was sold to a British gaming company.
(end of this chapter)