There was some drama and soul searching last week when it was revealed that Isaac and Laura Perlmutter had donated a cool $1 million dollars to Donald Trump’s mysterious veterans fundraiser. This was problematic because Perlmutter is Marvel’s CEO and Donald Trump is a racist, sexist demagogue who thinks Muslim people shouldn’t be allowed into […]
Yesterday was a gloomy day for the comics industry, as 15 Marvel staffers — including several popular editors and a couple of legendary Bullpenners — were laid off. This followed the recent layoff of COO Jim “Ski” Sokolowski. We all know the economy sucks, and that comics sales are down this year. But was that the reason for the cost cutting?
Or was it Disney? The Mouse purchased Marvel for $5 billion two years, two months ago and they are well known for being very budget conscious. Did some Disney suit look at revenue, say it wasn’t enough and order some budget cuts?
While both these scenarios sound plausible, according to Marvel insiders contacted by The Beat, neither seems to be the case. The budget slashing is the work of Marvel’s CEO, Isaac Perlmutter, an executive of legendary stinginess whose fanatical devotion to saving money —an increased interest in being hands on at Marvel — has led to the layoffs and other draconian measures inside the company.
Perlmutter and his then partner Avi Arad rode in to save Marvel from bankruptcy when they ran ToyBiz back in the late 90s. Keeping an eye on the bottom line was key to turning the company around. Bold moves like setting up their own $500 million movie studio took Marvel from penniless publishing company to a Wall Street darling with numerous stock splits. And of course, it led to Disney shelling out all that cash for a ready-made, boy-friendly franchise factory.
Although he no longer owns Marvel, Ike still runs it. And rather than sit back and enjoy his sunset years—he’s 68—with his $1.7 billion fortune, he’s chosen to keep a very active hand in running the company. In recent months he’s become even more active, showing up at the office daily. And it seems the only way he knows how to run a company is by increasing profits — not by investing in new businesses, but simply squeezing the bottom line for every last penny by any means.
If Ike thinks an expenditure is unnecessary, there’s no way around it, and anyone caught doing it is in danger of losing their job. Why did Marvel not have a booth at conventions for years? Ike wouldn’t allow it. Marvel got around this in various ways — one year at San Diego, a cookie giveaway was used to mask a barebones signing table. In other years, Marvel exhibited with its video game partner, Activision. Since becoming a movie studio, Marvel has been able to spring for more lavish and spectacular booths — remember Thor’s throne? But promoting comics isn’t in the budget.
The current problem seems to stem from a publishing forecast that didn’t get hit when the actual numbers came in. It doesn’t matter that Marvel is still a very profitable company. This is not a matter of losing money. It just wasn’t as profitable as it thought it might be. The shortfall in the margins wasn’t huge — it was less than 5% in an economy where that’s practically considered stable. But whatever the shortfall was, instead of looking at ways to build the business o
” I am going to continue to work on Ms Marvel, for the following reason: I have never, in my entire career, seen a character and a story fill up my pocket book the way this has, and I need to see it through a little longer, at least until I find some other job that pays as well”.
Just a little edit for you to consider.
Maybe if Obama was as judicious in his spending as Perlmutter was, he wouldn’t be out of a job next Jan…..
I don’t get why anyone is upset with anyone else for whatever stance they take up in response to the Perlmutters and their support of political parties. This goes for whatever direction.
Paperclip incident -> If I’d been Ike I’d have fished the letter out of the trash too and commented: “And this paper should go in the paper recycling… after you’ve used the back of it as notepaper.”
Then again, I’m not Ike and I’m not running Marvel.
Sean Howe’s “Marvel: The Untold Story” reported that Marvel employees were terrified of Perlmutter. The rumor was that Ike, a Six-Day War veteran, wore a pistol on his ankle. Howe describes him as the most hands-on owner Marvel has ever had.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9e3e42fa-fda7-11e4-b824-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3zEjW8C5F
Mrs. Jobs, George Lucas, and Ike Perlmutter are the largest individual shareholders.
Ike got $694 Million in shares at the time of the deal (plus $867 Million in cash). Approximately 21.5 Million shares.
Lucas received 37.1 Million shares.(plus $2.2 Billion in cash).
Jobs still owns 130 Million shares. (Originally, 138,000,007 in 2006, from the 60M Pixar shares he owned. 2.2 Billion total Disney shares at the time.)
Interesting… Mellody Hobson, aka “Mrs. George Lucas”, is chairman of the board of Dreamworks Animation!
Disney can’t really fire Perlmutter. Yes, he’s the CEO, but he’s not a board member. Fire him, and he could become one. Then Disney would have to deal with the politics…
What’s wrong with that? Its a business, you think Disney cares about diversity? They pretend to, its a tatic. They are trying to make the most money possible like Ike, and they’re using diversity to do that.
Most companies (and wealthy people) donate to both parties, as a way of hedging their bets. They’ll have to deal with whoever wins.
“Maybe if Obama was as judicious in his spending as Perlmutter was, he wouldn’t be out of a job next Jan…..”
American presidents get two terms max. You know this, yes?
HOW DARE HE SUPPORT A FUNDRAISER THAT TRUMP WAS IN CHARGE OF. THE GALL. HOW DARE HE HAVE OPINIONS DIFFERENT THAN MINE!!!!!!1
lol the fuck is wrong with people today. So he gave some of his own money to a cause that happens to be associated with someone you disagree with politically. So what? It’s his money to do with as he wishes, and his political beliefs are also his to do with as he wishes. All these gossip points about “someone said that he was MEAN to a WOMAN once omgosh” or “well I heard that he was meaniepants to a BLACK person once” are just laughable. You just sound like a mob psyching itself up for a lynching.