Chapter 303 — Selfish Ambition
Early morning, inside the Bel Air villa.
Aaron was still asleep in bed with Jennifer Aniston in his arms when the phone beside him suddenly rang.
It was Jack Wells.
"Mmm… what is it, Jack?" Aaron muttered sleepily.
"Aaron, I just received some information. Ron Meyer, the president of Creative Artists Agency, owes twelve million dollars in gambling debts from Las Vegas casinos."
"Ron Meyer?" Aaron frowned slightly. "That guy definitely has a gambling addiction, but twelve million shouldn't be impossible for him to handle, right?"
As he spoke, Jennifer Aniston stirred awake in his arms and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
Then, with a playful smile, she slipped beneath the blanket.
Aaron abruptly inhaled sharply.
Meanwhile, Jack continued speaking on the other end of the line.
"There's more. Ron Meyer has been carrying a lot of resentment toward Michael Ovitz."
"Hah…" Aaron let out a slow breath. "Jack, where are you right now?"
It seemed that even inside CAA, the relationship between Michael Ovitz and Ron Meyer was far from harmonious.
"I'm at the Angel Base in Texas. I'll head back to Los Angeles tonight and meet you there."
"Alright."
After hanging up, Aaron tossed the phone aside, lifted the blanket, and ran a hand gently through Jennifer Aniston's hair…
---
That evening, Jack Wells arrived at Dawnlight's headquarters in Los Angeles after flying in from Texas.
Inside the office, Aaron handed him a glass of whiskey.
"How does Ron Meyer not even have ten million dollars?"
Jack laughed.
"That old guy's been addicted to gambling in Las Vegas for years. He's already lost a fortune over time."
"His income at CAA simply can't sustain that kind of spending."
"A few years ago, Michael Ovitz already helped him settle a five-million-dollar gambling debt once before."
Aaron nodded thoughtfully.
"After CAA restructured, Michael Ovitz became the major shareholder. His earnings skyrocketed."
"As one of the remaining founding veterans, Ron Meyer's influence has clearly been shrinking."
Jack took a sip of whiskey.
"He's been dissatisfied with Ovitz for a long time."
"When CAA helped Panasonic acquire MCA, the agency earned tens of millions in advisory fees."
"And Ovitz personally took the lion's share of that money."
"The rest of CAA—including Ron Meyer—split what little remained."
"After that, Ovitz appointed himself CEO of CAA and started treating Ron Meyer like a subordinate rather than a partner."
Jack shrugged as he glanced at Aaron.
"We both worked at CAA before. The agency's original philosophy was that nobody stood above anyone else."
"Michael Ovitz's behavior naturally made Ron Meyer even more resentful."
"And when Ovitz helped him cover that five-million-dollar debt back then, he used Ron Meyer's future income as collateral."
Aaron took a sip of whiskey, his expression barely changing.
"No one values money more than Jews do. Did you really think Michael Ovitz would use his own cash to help him?"
Jack Wells continued,
"This time, Ron Meyer wants Ovitz to bail him out again and cover the ten-million-dollar gambling debt."
"But Ovitz apparently wants Ron Meyer to use his shares in Creative Artists Agency as collateral."
Aaron's eyes narrowed immediately.
"So Michael Ovitz is after his shares?"
Then he looked up again.
"How did you even find this out?"
Jack spread his hands casually.
"One of my private investigators tapped the phone of an actress."
"She just happens to be one of Ron Meyer's mistresses."
"Oh, I see."
Aaron immediately understood.
Ron Meyer must have been venting to his mistress over the phone, complaining about Michael Ovitz.
"Any information about Panasonic selling MCA?"
That was still Aaron's primary concern.
Jack shook his head.
"I already have people continuing the surveillance, but Ron Meyer hasn't really been involved in the acquisition talks."
"When Sony and Panasonic acquired Columbia TriStar and MCA in the past, it was all handled personally by Ovitz."
"This time is no different."
"CAA provided assistance, but only in supporting roles."
Aaron thought about it for a moment.
In his previous life, after Seagram eventually acquired MCA, Ron Meyer had joined Universal independently and thrived there. Meanwhile, Michael Ovitz had been discarded by Universal before later joining The Walt Disney Company.
Ovitz's time at Disney had ended miserably—humiliated and pushed out by Michael Eisner—while Ron Meyer never stopped targeting him afterward.
"Michael Ovitz is selfish to the core," Aaron said coldly.
"He's domineering, aggressive, and more than willing to play dirty."
"How could someone like that possibly have real friends?"
Stretching lazily, Aaron added,
"If Ron Meyer leaks anything truly important, Dawnlight could offer him certain guarantees."
Jack's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So… should I make contact with him?"
Aaron nodded.
"Michael Ovitz has been acting like a middleman between Panasonic and Seagram. He's gotten far too arrogant."
"Blackstone sent word that Panasonic is waiting for Dawnlight and Seagram to start bidding against each other."
"The problem is, we still don't know how badly Seagram wants MCA."
Aaron's biggest concern was that Edgar Bronfman Jr. might get carried away and decide to acquire MCA at any cost.
If Bronfman truly committed himself to the deal, it could easily turn into another bidding war like last year's battle between Sumner Redstone and Barry Diller over Paramount.
Barry Diller's reputation had been enormous.
But reputation meant nothing against Sumner Redstone's mountains of cash.
Aaron had no illusion that he could outspend Edgar Bronfman Jr.
"Still," Jack said thoughtfully, "not everyone inside the Bronfman family supports Edgar Jr.'s obsession with buying a Hollywood studio."
Aaron shook his head.
"That's different."
"Right now, Edgar Jr. is the one actually running Seagram. He's the CEO."
"Even though Edgar Bronfman Sr. remains chairman, he genuinely favors his second son and has always supported him."
Not long ago, Edgar Jr. had publicly announced plans to sell off Seagram's shares in DuPont in order to lead the company into new industries.
Back then, nobody inside the Bronfman family had openly objected.
Perhaps opposition would only emerge once the bidding for MCA exceeded what the rest of the family considered acceptable.
Aaron stood up and patted Jack on the shoulder.
"Enough business. Let's go grab a drink."
"I'm heading to New York tomorrow anyway."
"And while we're at it, we should talk about the Houston Rockets."
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