• ZeroOne
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        23 months ago

        Ratan Tata, I guess

      • Call me Lenny/LeniM
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        13 months ago

        George Lucas comes to mind as an example this week. Am amazed he’s going out of his way to buy back a franchise that almost did him in, all for the fans.

        • @theparadox
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          33 months ago

          So instead of more evenly distributing the profit from the franchise to everyone who contributed, he’s going to hand the wealth to an already obscenely wealthy corporation so that he can have control over it again?

            • @theparadox
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              23 months ago

              Where do you think he got his billions?

              He owned the IP. He ensured that he’d retain merchandise rights and sequel rights via his contract for the original Star Wars film. He made his billions off of that. Mostly merchandise. Then he sold his company LucasFilm (along with those rights) to Disney in 2012 for a few billion in cash and a few billion in Disney stock (making him one of the largest shareholders).

              So yeah, he did own the franchise first.

              • Call me Lenny/LeniM
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                13 months ago

                I wasn’t saying he didn’t, in fact that’s a part of the point. If doing all that and selling to Disney was advantageous, buying it back would not be. As it stands right now, he’s going against the billionaire director playbook here.

                • @theparadox
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                  23 months ago

                  Or he could have distributed the billions he made, as he was making them, to more equitably pay everyone who’s work generated that wealth.

                  That’s my point.

          • Call me Lenny/LeniM
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            23 months ago

            Disney messed up so bad with Star Wars, especially with The Acolyte, that he’s talking about buying back the franchise, something that seems to run counter to his wealth (since he sold it to Disney in the first place) and his patience (considering, say, the reaction to the prequels at the time he had the full helm). It comes off as an entirely popular demand move.

          • Call me Lenny/LeniM
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            23 months ago

            He didn’t direct E.T. or remade it and didn’t remake any of the Star Wars movies. And people are really going to hold Howard the Duck as a personally defining misdeed, aren’t they (ignoring that his first associated movie was American Graffiti)? The Star Wars prequels didn’t really ruin anything, they just added to it in a way that wasn’t as interesting as hoped.

            Disney, who bought it all, was the one who made the Star Wars sequels (episodes 7, 8, and 9), that and the various TV series, all of which milked opportunities that did not technically exist, which might be indicated in the fact that the sequels looked almost identical to the original trilogy plot-wise. The thing to remember here is George Lucas is willing to go against his better judgment and his own indulgence so-to-speak to prevent further collapse.

            And this is coming from someone who didn’t care for any of the movies.

      • @LovableSidekick
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        13 months ago

        I don’t know him personally but Warren Buffet drives a car he’s had for like 15 years, has been married to the same woman for 52 years until she died, and AFAIK still lives in the neighborhood house they bought in the 1950s in Omaha. He’s known for philanthropy and outwardly seems decent.

          • @LovableSidekick
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            33 months ago

            “He got a bargain with that publicist for sure.” What does that even mean? “Let’s have a look at the berkshire hathaway stocks history.” But then you don’t. And finally “I’m not gonna waste my time.” LOL too late dude, you’ve wasted both our time. I won’t waste any more of mine reading anything more from you.