Chapter 176: Warner's Plan to Cut Losses

Words : 1268 Updated : Oct 6th, 2025

The fierce competition in the electronics industry was beyond what an average Joe could imagine. A company with annual sales reaching a billion dollars was actually on the brink of bankruptcy. Warner was still a giant, but if they had been a bit weaker, they might have been done for. Nowadays, no one talks about the smaller Warner. Whatever they have, William White has it all, and better. Time was running out for them. They could either fully shift toward Legendary World or sell directly to William White. Don't be surprised. After changing the CEO, the relationship between the two companies wasn't exactly friendly, but it wasn't hostile either. A lot of people could see through William White's strategy. After taking the juiciest piece of the pie, Legendary World was still decent, caring little about any battles between others. As for developing a new system, Atari might have such plans, but Warner definitely wouldn't. They had already sunk over 100 million into the 2600 and were just barely breaking even. If they threw in another hundred million, the board might burst into arguments. "What? Are you sure?" "Yes, boss. They're open to selling the whole thing." "Darn, the company's just too big. What would I do with so many people?" "Should we decline?" "I can't afford them. They can develop new games, and our system is much better. They could buy our production licenses." "Alright, boss, I will inform them." "Sure, if they have the capacity, they could make 500,000 game consoles for me. Forget about the acquisition, as I'm not fond of factories." William White wasn't interested in cleaning up Atari's mess. They weren't completely out of business yet, and at least five hundred million dollars would be necessary. Whether it was worth it depended on perspective. A year ago, selling for a billion dollars would've been a bargain. Now? Even five hundred million might not be appealing. If William White had a factory in the U.S., the acquisition would make more sense. Atari's programming team wasn't just for show, far outnumbering those at Legendary World and being much more technically skilled. However, having more programmers is useless if you don't have the right game concepts. Game development heavily depends on creativity. Even the best programming skills are futile without a good game plan. Warner planned to cut their losses, but William White didn't want to expand his empire. ... "Boss, they rejected. It wasn't about the price. It's probably that darn reason again." "Hah, why is he so unwilling about factories but okay with a car plant?" The old man was overthinking it. The car factory was much smaller in scale and required fewer personnel compared to Atari. Morgan Stanley knew William White was going for an IPO, so there was no need to discuss finances. As a shareholder of Legendary World, they understood the company's situation well. They considered the acquisition excellent and believed packaging it for the stock market would be beneficial. After all, it was all the investors' money, so what was the big deal? "Is it really just the union causing problems?" "I doubt it. According to rumors, the added value of this gaming console is too low, and there's no need to manufacture it in the U.S. They'd prefer to assemble it in less developed regions." Too low a value-added? The old man was speechless. Do you even realize what the average profit margin is in this industry? Your products already far exceed the standard. And still not satisfied? Compared to other companies, that conclusion makes sense. But compared to William White's own businesses, these game consoles are nothing special. The conflict between investment banks and founders lies here. Investment banks prioritize scaling up. Profit margin decrease isn't a concern since you're not a mature enterprise. High growth is the real allure. If this year's revenue is 500 million, next year should be 1.5 billion. Even if profits stay at 100 million, they'd choose the latter. In their view, William White's strategy wasn't the brightest. What's with selling licenses? Even though it's lucrative, it sacrifices a crucial statistic. If all products were OEM, revenue would at least increase fivefold. In their view, William White's thought process was unusual. With the company going public next year, bigger revenue numbers would be better. But they overthought it. William White certainly understood that logic. The Japanese manufacturers couldn't release their brand of game consoles before next June. Legendary World had massive orders, and it was hard to gauge the market's capacity. By the time they fulfilled the orders and began production, Legendary World's stock would already be public. The saying "the bigger you get, the harder you fall" holds true. William White, being so successful, naturally had plenty of people targeting him. Morgan Stanley's approach didn't bother William White. It was a reasonable demand from shareholders; their interests aligned. Even if he disagreed, he wouldn't be harsh about it. ... A bunch of financial consortia were actually quite vexed. Investing in William White brought them some profits, but they wanted more, hence urging Warner to cut losses. Warner was well aware that William White might be the only one capable of taking over Atari. Even though nothing came of it this time, they hadn't come away empty-handed. At least one thing was clear: William White was extending an olive branch, without intent on a total showdown with Warner. Alright, the mess left by the previous administration was indeed nasty. From the current situation, it's evidently not William White's fault. Among the American elite, opinions on William White were mixed. Some liked him, while others didn't. There was consensus though: this guy was tough to deal with and quite petty, always focusing on the person rather than the issue. Take Lucas, for example. William White had clearly played second fiddle when investing in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but did you ever see him lose his cool? Not at all! Instead of becoming rivals with Lucas, he engaged in many collaborations. Is there really only one special effects company? It's a joke. Industrial Light & Magic's success was entirely due to Star Wars. Though William White got burned once, he seemed indifferent. From this point, you could see that shady dealings didn't bother him much. Those tricks of negotiating after applying pressure, the financiers had stopped using them. That tactic didn't sit well with William White. You'd be better off talking to him nicely; you might gain something worthwhile. As for the pitiful Citibank, no one cared about their feelings. Wanting everything for themselves was foolhardy. If they dared meddle in next year's IPO, they'd surely face retaliation. Can't even handle a small fellow, yet daring to claim to be the top investment bank? Alright, this top position didn't last long. Though everyone knew Citibank would soon recover, so what? The current bosses wouldn't be having a grand time. Of course, William White also faced plenty of criticism. Using his underhanded tactics, he could even think of cutting the power. That wasn't something commendable. Citibank had indeed gone too far. Lending money to Australia was fine, but what was the point of lowering the interest rates so much? Creating trouble? Alright, you succeeded. ***** https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.

Chapter 176: Warner's Plan to Cut Losses

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