Then came the third announcement.
"James Shawn will be stepping down as the president of the SpongeBob stores," Zane said. "He will now be the new 'head' of the stores. The position of president will be taken over by Mr. Taro Hashimoto."
As Zane's voice fell, everyone was stunned.
James? He was the boss's oldest friend! He was an 'original,' one of Zane's most trusted people. And he was being... demoted? How could the bosses in the room not be shocked?
What they didn't know was that James himself had asked Zane for this. Because he was Zane's best friend, he hated the idea of people whispering that he only had his job because of who he knew. He felt he wasn't good enough for the president title and wanted less pressure. Zane understood and respected his friend for being so honest.
Stephen, the animation boss, leaned over to his partner, David. "Wow," he whispered. "I can't believe he'd even demote James."
David nodded. "It shows the boss isn't playing favorites. But... it also means we all need to be careful and do our best work."
Donna, Martha, and the others were just as shocked. They were all smart. They saw this as a message: Zane was making an example out of James.
They all thought: If he would do this to his best friend, what about us?
Zane saw the nervous looks on their faces. He knew exactly what they were thinking. And he let them think it.
He would never embarrass his friend by telling a room full of people that James had asked to step down. He would rather his team think he was being a tough boss than let them think his best friend was a failure. He would protect James's feelings, always.
"If you don't keep working hard," Zane thought to himself, "you might be replaced. The workplace is a tough place, and I have to be fair to everyone!"
...
Zane clapped his hands. The meeting room door opened, and a short, middle-aged man with very sharp, smart eyes walked in.
"Hello, everyone. I am Taro Hashimoto," the man said. "Mr. Blackwood has invited me to be the new president of the SpongeBob stores. I look forward to working with you." He then gave a little bow, as was the custom in his home country.
"Everyone, this is Mr. Hashimoto," Zane said with a warm, welcoming smile. "This is his first time meeting you all. I want you to know that I spent a lot of money to hire him from another company. He is one of the best."
It was true. Taro Hashimoto was from Japan. At first, Zane had been a little unsure about hiring him, but after they met, Zane had to admit the man was a genius. When it came to selling toys and running retail stores, Taro was one of the most talented people Zane had ever met.
Zane had also found an old report about him. In the future, Taro would become the vice president of the giant 7-Eleven store chain.
Zane knew he had to hire him. He didn't care where Taro came from; he just knew he was the best. And wasn't it cool to have smart people from all over the world working for him?
...
After the big announcements, the bosses of each company began their reports.
Donna, Kevin, and all the others reported on how their companies (UPN, Wald Pictures, the animation studio, the music company) had done.
Overall, the news was great! All the companies had made a lot of money, and they were all doing much better than the year before.
"Everyone!" Zane said, his voice full of pride. "From your reports, I can see you have all been doing an amazing job. But we can't get lazy! We have to keep growing."
Everyone nodded. They were all excited and wanted to do even better.
"Right now, Wald Pictures can get our movies into theaters all across America. This is great," Zane said. "But it's not enough. In the next two years, I want us to be in all of North America. That means getting our movies into Canada and Mexico, too."
"Kevin," Zane said, "is this going to be hard?"
He answered his own question. "Yes, I know it's not simple. But we can't back down just because something is hard. We can always find a way. And for other places, like Europe and Asia, we can partner with local movie companies. It's okay to share the profits to get our foot in the door."
Getting his movies into other countries was a top goal. He didn't want to be stuck cooperating with Paramount forever.
Next, Zane gave new goals to the TV network, the animation studio, and all his other companies.
Finally, he saved the best for last.
"Option dividends!" he said, and the room went silent. "Yes, stock options!"
"In the next year or two," Zane announced, "I will start giving you all stock options based on how well you do. And if you do a really good job, you could even get permanent rewards."
The room exploded with excitement! This was what they all wanted. For a big-shot manager, their main salary was nice, but the real money was in stock options. It was a sign that they were true partners in the company.
For a moment, Victor, Donna, and all the others were too excited to speak.
"If you want a horse to run, you have to feed it," Zane thought with a smile. He knew he was careful with his money, but he also knew this was the right thing to do. If he wanted to keep all this amazing talent, he had to reward them. He had to make them feel like this was their company, too.
...
The next day, Zane didn't rest.
He started making new plans: to buy a book publishing company, a video game company, and to get into the world of sports.
His empire was growing, and he couldn't wait.
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