This night, Hastings finally figured everything out. He absolutely could not become the boss of Magic Lottery, but had to remain as the CEO of Netflix until Netflix collapsed.
The reason was simple: the benefits of being the CEO of Netflix were greater than those of being the CEO of Magic Lottery.
Firstly, Hastings didn't really need to be the CEO of Magic Lottery. Whether he sat in the CEO position or not was essentially meaningless. The CEO position could easily be filled by a puppet. He just needed to secretly issue orders to the puppet and ensure they fully executed his instructions, and that would be enough.
This way, even while sitting in the position of Netflix CEO, he could still remotely control the entire Magic Lottery company. Whether he was CEO or not made little difference.
However, if Hastings continued to serve as Netflix CEO, the benefits would be too numerous to count. First, all of Netflix's resources could still be secretly channeled to Magic Lottery to help his own company grow.
Even if visible resources were restricted under Huang He's supervision, invisible resources, such as intelligence, the overall industry trend, internal dynamics of the Jiangnan Group, and Netflix's future development direction, could all guide Magic Lottery onto the correct path.
Secondly, Hastings could slow down, or even directly reverse, Netflix's development. If Hastings was willing, he could hire a few idiotic planners and specifically devise plans that would anger users. Then, Netflix's loyal users would collectively flee, and the best company to receive them would naturally be his own Magic Lottery.
Finally, as long as Hastings occupied the CEO position, he could cover up all the messy things he had done, preventing Huang He from finding any leverage against him. Otherwise, if Netflix completely fell into Huang He's hands, and he dug three feet deep for clues, it was truly unpredictable whether he might find evidence detrimental to Hastings.
In summary, the more Hastings thought about it, the more he felt that his earlier decision not to be persuaded by Huang He and foolishly exchange his Netflix CEO position was an incredibly wise one.
Hastings made up his mind to be a stubborn nail, firmly embedded in Netflix, until he completely nailed the coffin shut on the company he created.
Just as Hastings himself had said earlier, the company he created could only be destroyed by his own hands.
Perfect!
Hastings was so excited by his thoughts that he could hardly sleep that night, but the next day he still arrived at the company with full energy. He had already thought of more than ten methods to boost Magic Lottery's development while simultaneously sabotaging Netflix's progress.
However, when Hastings arrived at the company, he found that although it was still quite early, there seemed to be many people inside the company, and many of them were people he had never seen before, moving about with purpose.
“What’s going on? Are those armed bodyguards here again!” Hastings asked fearfully, grabbing one of his subordinates and demanding sternly.
“No, the armed bodyguards aren’t here, but a lot of people from PwC have arrived. They’re collecting information all over the company. They…” The subordinate’s expression was very flustered.
“People from PwC? Oh, I understand. Huang He is still not giving up. He’s trying to find trouble with me financially!” Hastings sneered upon hearing this news.
PwC, like Chenghua Avenue, seemed to be a single path. But they were entirely different. PwC was the number one accounting firm in the United States, with over 860 branches and offices in 152 countries, and more than 155,000 professionals dedicated to providing specialized financial services to various international enterprises.
Some people might find it strange that every company has its own finance department, so why hire an accounting firm like PwC?
This is because a company’s own finance department is naturally controlled by the company itself and serves only the interests of the company or its leaders.
However, once a company goes public, it includes the interests of a large number of stock investors. If the entire financial operation is left to the company's own finance department, there are countless ways to transfer all profits to the hands of a few actual controllers, disregarding the interests of the vast majority of investors.
Therefore, securities regulatory bodies worldwide have explicit regulations requiring all listed companies to hire third-party accounting firms for annual audits.
These accounting firms operate independently and audit the finances of various companies. Companies cannot refuse these auditing departments; they can review any company's financial records and then publicly release the investigation results.
For instance, the financial reports that major listed companies disclose annually must either be reviewed and audited by these third-party accounting firms after completion before publication, or they can be directly investigated and published by these third-party accounting firms themselves.
Of course, it's not only public companies. If a non-public company's board of directors has doubts about the company's internal financial situation, or if a national relevant agency suspects the company of illegal activities, they can directly invite third-party accounting firms to review the company's financial status.
Therefore, when Hastings heard that accountants from PwC, ranked first globally, had suddenly appeared within the company, he knew that Huang He was unwilling to accept defeat.
Since no evidence was found in the technical departments, he intended to find evidence of Hastings infringing on the company's interests through financial means.
However, Hastings was not worried about this at all, because he was very confident that even PwC, ranked first in the world, would not be able to find any fault with the finances. This wasn't because Hastings was confident in his meticulousness, but because Hastings had never done anything illegal in terms of finances.
This was because Hastings had previously been wholeheartedly focused on developing Netflix, so from beginning to end, he had never considered harming the company's interests. It was only after he had completely fallen out with Huang He that he began to have these thoughts. However, time was insufficient, and he had not yet acted, so naturally, no evidence would be left for PwC to find.
However, he didn't say much, and didn't even comfort the panicked employees. He allowed them to remain in a state of panic, as this had many benefits for him.
Firstly, with employees in a state of disarray, the company's daily affairs would naturally not be handled well, which would help Netflix to go backward.
Secondly, when employees are in a panic, it makes it easier for him to poach employees he deems capable to leave the company and go to Magic Lottery to gather talent for his own company. This was a good thing from any perspective, so he didn't obstruct it at all.
Instead, he returned directly to his office, made himself a cup of coffee, picked up the day's newspaper, and began to read it, even letting out a happy chuckle.
Seeing this, many employees marveled at Hastings. He truly was their CEO; his style was so calm and composed. Their previously unsettled hearts seemed to quiet down as well.
PwC personnel spent a full day wrestling with various financial documents, packing them all up, and then leaving the company. Afterwards, Hastings made a few perfunctory remarks and left.
Over the next few days, Hastings continued to work normally, and Huang He did not bother him. Thus, Hastings prepared to set the company in reverse.
However, just as he was about to make a move, he found himself unsure of how to proceed. Hastings could articulate how to make a company advance very clearly.
But when it came to actually doing things that would hold the company back, Hastings was somewhat lost. Although he could issue orders, these secret orders were too foolish; any normal person would recognize the flaws in them.
While these orders would be legally sound, Hastings refused to have his reputation insulted by such foolish commands.
After much deliberation, Hastings decided to undertake a strategic direction adjustment for the company. Hadn't the company's strategic direction been pushed towards streaming for a long time?
Hastings decided to abandon this plan, completely cut off all streaming, and instead establish offline specialty stores, turning back the clock of history. This would surely doom Netflix!
So, Hastings immediately summoned the company's senior executives and announced his revised company development direction. The executives listened with bewildered expressions.
This was completely different from the company's previously established development strategy, a complete 180-degree turn. Upon hearing this order, they completely believed that Hastings had been possessed.
Possession, this was a recently popular term on the internet, originating from "Misty Journey," where a cultivator with only a Nascent Soul possessed the body of a young cultivator. This plotline was highly popular, and at the same time, a company had just announced its plan for brain transplant technology research. Thus, "possession," a standard Chinese spoken term, immediately became popular online.
“This is not my order, but Huang He’s order. He believes that Los Gatos Television is sufficient for the internet side, and we at Netflix need to strengthen our offline influence!” Hastings very nonchalantly shifted the blame to Huang He.
“Indeed, this is very clever. I am truly a genius!” Hastings praised himself in his mind.
“Mr. CEO, although I strongly oppose the decision made by Mr. Huang He, if he insists on doing so, then please have him invest another sum of capital into the company!” After Hastings repeatedly emphasized that the order must be executed, a woman stood up and said helplessly.
“What is it?” Hastings asked in return.
“The company’s accounts are depleted. There is less than 200,000 US dollars left, which is only enough to pay next month’s salaries. We have no funds to support the cost of opening numerous offline stores!” the head of the finance department stated.