Chapter 432: Resolution

Chapter 432: Chapter 432: Resolution

Until this moment, the centre of this storm, Marvel’s current CEO Isaac Perlmutter, remained completely unaware of the impending catastrophe.

He arrived late, as he did for every shareholder meeting, stepping in just before the deadline. With a tall posture and an arrogant demeanour, carrying the self-confidence and composure of someone long accustomed to being in a high position, he sat down in the main seat.

In his inherent perception, Marvel had been losing money for years, the situation was stagnant, and the shareholders were already accustomed to the decline. Even if there was slight dissatisfaction, they could not stir up any trouble.

It had been like this in previous years, and this year would certainly be no exception.

The meeting started on schedule, with the process almost identical to previous years.

The CFO took the stage, reporting on Marvel’s overall revenue, project income and expenses, copyright earnings, and loss data for the previous year according to the established procedure.

Marvel had spent 2004 in a steady, uneventful state. No new reforms had been launched, no major new projects had been implemented, and there were no groundbreaking copyright partnerships. The overall business was stagnant, without a ripple.

Boring data reports, bland business summaries, hollow future plans—the annual report ended hastily in just over ten minutes.

Finally, Isaac Perlmutter took the stage himself, painting a rosy picture as a matter of routine, talking empty talk about future layouts and promising subsequent reforms, perfunctorily dealing with all the shareholders in an attempt to end this annual meeting quickly.

In previous years, by this point, the meeting would have been nearing its end. Shareholders would at most ask a few inconsequential questions before adjourning.

But today, the deathly silent venue did not show the slightest loosening. No one echoed him, no one left. Everyone sat quietly, their gazes locked heavily on Isaac Perlmutter in the main seat, with suppressed anger ready to explode.

The routine appeasement and reporting ended, and the real reckoning had officially arrived.

Just as Isaac Perlmutter was preparing to announce the end of the meeting, several professional legal and financial analysts in formal attire and with serious auras suddenly walked in from outside the conference room, stepping steadily as they entered in formation.

The sudden intrusion of outsiders instantly shattered the false calm of the venue.

Isaac Perlmutter’s brows knitted tightly, his face sank instantly, and a flash of anger crossed his eyes. He was about to open his mouth to sternly question the identities of the newcomers and the reason for their intrusion.

Before he could speak, a veteran major shareholder with significant Marvel shares, the most seniority, and the most influence stood up first. His tone was cold, his words sharp: "Everyone, do not be confused. These people are legal and financial auditors I invited. In today’s meeting, we have another crucial document concerning the rights and interests of all shareholders that needs to be made public. Let everyone see clearly what our Marvel CEO has been doing behind our backs all these years!"

As the words fell, several neatly bound, clearly organised, and well-evidenced top-secret audit documents were distributed one by one to every shareholder—one for each person, none left out.

Irene Coppola calmly accepted her copy, flipped it open with her fingertips, and scanned the content on the paper casually.

Admittedly, these veteran shareholders who had been in Wall Street for many years and were deeply involved in capital games had channels and connections far more powerful than she had imagined.

This document was more detailed, more straightforward, and more lethal than the information she had collected and organised initially.

It not only clearly recorded all the contract details, loan amounts, mortgage terms, and interest clauses of Isaac Perlmutter’s unauthorised mortgaging of Marvel’s core Hero copyrights, but even included complete records of his stock trading losses, details of overdue debts, and all evidence of his private assets being trapped. Every item was precise and lethal, with ironclad proof, leaving no room for rebuttal or prevarication.

After the documents were distributed, within a few seconds, the originally deathly silent conference room fell into an extreme, pin-drop silence.

All the uninformed small and medium shareholders bowed their heads to read the materials, their pupils suddenly contracting, and their faces instantly filled with unbelievable shock, anger, and astonishment.

Baker, who had been ignorant and curious, was completely stunned the moment he finished reading the content. With a face full of horror, he looked up at Isaac Perlmutter in the main seat, his eyes full of disbelief.

Silent anger surged wildly throughout the venue, and everyone’s gaze focused squarely on Isaac Perlmutter.

Irene Coppola watched clearly as Isaac Perlmutter’s face on the main seat changed rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

From the initial nonchalance and disdain, to gradually stiffening, his expression grew grave, and finally, it twisted and turned pale.

That face, which was usually arrogant and composed, was filled with panic, fury, fear, and despair.

His eyes were churning with monstrous anger, yet also wrapped in extreme, unconcealable fear. His fingertips trembled slightly, his whole body was tense, and he had completely shed all the composure of someone in a high position.

He finally understood that today’s meeting was not a routine annual review, but a reckoning trial tailored specifically for him.

After a brief silence, the venue exploded, and the anger that had been suppressed for months poured out.

"Isaac Perlmutter! As Marvel’s CEO, holding the company’s highest management power, and bearing the trust of all shareholders, you actually dared to privately mortgage the company’s core assets!" The first major shareholder to stand up and attack spoke in a cold voice, each word piercing the heart, "Marvel’s Super Hero copyrights are the foundation of the company, the common assets of all shareholders, and the only hope for Marvel’s future! You dared to hide it from everyone, privately mortgaging the copyrights to exchange for loans, wantonly investing in stock market speculation, and gambling the entire company’s fate on your personal greed! Where do you place the rights and interests of all shareholders? Where do you place the future of the entire Marvel?"

Following closely, the second shareholder stood up indignantly, his tone becoming increasingly sharp:

"You lost money in personal stock trading, your assets are trapped, you are unable to repay high interest, and you are on the verge of a debt explosion! Once your personal debt defaults, Wall Street asset management companies will directly seize our Marvel’s core Hero copyrights! What does this mean?

It means that the core assets accumulated by Marvel over decades will completely become someone else’s property, and the entire company will be completely hollowed out and on the verge of bankruptcy! Such a heaven-defying risk, yet you hid it the whole time and did not mention a single word!"

Layers of anger erupted one after another, and countless shareholders stood up to challenge him. Questions and angry rebukes filled the entire conference room.

"For these years, the company’s revenue has been sluggish, struggling to survive. All of us shareholders chose to wait patiently and fully trust the management. We endured years of losses, hoping for the company to warm up and rise, but what we got in return was your crazy speculation and wanton hollowing out behind our backs!" ℴℴ𝘮

"The Perlmutter Family has controlled Marvel for generations, holding privileges and enjoying dividends. We respected the family’s heritage and trusted the family’s ability, but is this how you repay the shareholders and the company? Seeking personal gain by abusing power, taking risks, being selfish and greedy, and treating the foundation of all employees as your personal gambling capital!"

Amidst the public indignation, all shareholders quickly reached a unified front. No one would tolerate Isaac Perlmutter’s power anymore, and no one believed in the Perlmutter Family’s management ability anymore.

The core major shareholders immediately proposed a formal resolution in public, their voices resonant and unquestionable: "Today, all shareholders officially initiate a vote! First, immediately strip Isaac Perlmutter of his position as Marvel CEO, suspend all his company management authority, voting rights, and decision-making authority, and remove him from the management team immediately!"

"Second, demand that the Perlmutter Family come forward to provide a reasonable explanation in public, and make a public apology to all shareholders and take full responsibility for the acts of privately mortgaging copyrights, privately speculating on the market, and placing the company at risk of destruction!"

"Third, immediately establish a special audit team to comprehensively investigate all management accounts, capital flows, and asset changes of the Perlmutter Family in recent years, clear out all violations, benefit transfers, and private hollowing-out behaviours. All losses must be fully compensated by the Perlmutter Family!"

"Fourth, immediately freeze all subsequent processes of the mortgaged copyrights, launch the legal team to fully connect with Wall Street asset management companies, do everything possible to recover the company’s losses, preserve Marvel’s core IP assets, and prevent any risk of bankruptcy!"