America 1919-Chapter 965 - 329, enticed by benefits

Charlie froze for a moment, then looked at Douglas with dissatisfaction: "What good could come of it? Haven’t you always disliked Donnie?"

Douglas smiled and said, "It’s true, I don’t like Donnie, and that’s still the case now. But think about it. Once the company goes public, Donnie would essentially lose control of the company."

Griffith, upon hearing Douglas’s statement, quickly interjected: "Doug, that’s not entirely accurate. If the company goes public, even if our four parties’ shares are diluted, Donnie would still remain the majority shareholder!"

Douglas chuckled: "I know that, of course. But don’t forget: what is United Artists’ core competitive advantage?"

Charlie and Griffith both sat on the sofa, looking at Douglas in confusion.

Douglas smiled and continued, "The core competitive advantage of United Artists is the three of us. As long as we three band together and secure the support of some other shareholders and board members, Donnie’s influence in United Artists would be significantly reduced.

Moreover, the investors coming in would inevitably represent multiple sources of capital. This way, we could even choose certain funding sources to finance our films."

There was something else Douglas didn’t say, though. Once United Artists went public, they would become major shareholders of a listed company. At that point, Douglas believed he would no longer be simply a regular actor but an actor involved in capital operations, with significantly enhanced influence.

However, in this timeline, Charlie was different. He had poured all his energy into United Artists, which meant he would leave no room for Douglas to harbor such… vulgar ambitions!

"Charlie, haven’t you always wanted to break free from Donnie’s influence on the company? This is a great opportunity!"

Douglas pressed on, trying to persuade Charlie.

Charlie, after listening carefully and contemplating for a moment, shook his head and said, "I don’t trust Donnie, but I trust capital even less. They can work with us, but they could just as easily work with Donnie. And if they truly joined forces, their combined shares would exceed ours, and United Artists would no longer be *our* United Artists!"

Seeing Charlie unmoved, Douglas revealed a look of discontent.

Griffith chimed in: "I think it’s better for us to maintain the company’s current state. At most, we can focus more on expanding the company in the future. That way, it would at least be worthy of Donnie’s support when he helped us back then!"

Clearly, the three of them couldn’t come to a consensus.

After Douglas returned to his room and washed up, there was a knock at his door.

Douglas opened it and saw a vaguely familiar figure standing there. He quickly remembered—it was Donnie’s assistant, Ozzy Barber.

"Mr. Douglas, our boss would like to invite you for a drink!"

Ozzy Barber said politely.

Douglas snorted coldly: "I have nothing to talk about with Donnie!"

Ozzy Barber calmly replied, "Our boss asked me to ask you—don’t you really want to see United Artists go public?"

Douglas fell silent for a moment, then asked coldly, "Where is Donnie now?"

Ozzy Barber led Douglas to a Western-style restaurant.

The restaurant was located on the top floor of a building in New York, offering a panoramic view of Manhattan while dining.

"I love their steak here, but their salmon is even more popular. You can choose one," Donnie said as he cut into the steak in front of him.

Douglas, ignoring Donnie’s tone, coldly told the waiter, "I’ll have the salmon."

Donnie wasn’t bothered by Douglas’s demeanor. He continued cutting his steak with a smile.

"Let’s get to the point. What exactly do you want?" Douglas, still resentful, hadn’t forgotten the rumors about Donnie and Pickford.

Donnie smiled, "It’s simple. I want you to stand on my side and agree to let United Artists go public!"

"I doubt it’s as simple as just going public, right?" Douglas remembered what Charlie had said earlier.

Donnie smirked. "After going public and raising funds, I propose distributing the proceeds as dividends according to our shareholding proportions."

So it *was* just as Charlie had suspected. All the talk about developing United Artists was fake—Donnie simply wanted to cash out!

"I will never stand with you!"

Douglas said coldly.

At this moment, a man in a suit approached. He greeted Donnie enthusiastically, even hinting that he hoped for opportunities to collaborate with him in the future.

Donnie exchanged some polite words with the man, who soon left.

"That’s the CEO of a Wall Street securities firm. Their firm manages assets of at least over $200 million. Many company founders are exceedingly polite when they meet them!"

Donnie explained to Douglas.

Douglas frowned, feeling a pang of envy. Over the years, while he had managed to accumulate some wealth, it paled in comparison to someone running a firm managing $200 million in assets. Yet, this person was now fawning over Donnie.

"I know you’re impressive. So what? As long as we don’t agree to United Artists going public, there’s nothing you can do!"

Donnie chuckled, "I’ve already had a Wall Street valuation company appraise United Artists. Right now, its market value is around $8 million to $13 million. Based on your shares, that equals roughly $1.6 million to $2.6 million. But if I told you that agreeing to go public would allow me to raise United Artists’ valuation to at least $25 million, wouldn’t your assets effectively double?"