Chapter 106: The Wealthiest Family in the World

William White was having a difficult time; there was always someone trying to tell him how to make movies.

The Hunt family was already like ants on a hot pan, but the Chicago Board of Trade finally lost its patience, taking the lead to adjust the margin requirement for silver futures to six thousand dollars. Although that was six times higher, it was still absolute nonsense. It was hard to fathom how these people thought—could they not simply set a proper leverage ratio? Was it really that difficult to just ask for more margin when it fell short?

William White did not realize that this was their tradition, one they would not easily abandon. Without the real-time computerized clearing systems of the future, the methods of the later eras were simply not viable here. Moreover, there were far too many vested interests involved; if such a scheme were implemented across the board, trading volume would be slashed by at least half.

William White found it ridiculous, but the Hunt family was in a state of utter panic. They needed to scrape together more capital, or they would face a total collapse. In a sense, this was akin to shutting the door to beat the dog; aside from the Hunt family, everyone else had already withdrawn. The soybean futures victory back then was only possible because the rules hadn't been changed. Had they been required to increase their margin back then, the Hunt family would have been finished, with absolutely no chance of liquidating their positions.

You crushed the bulls in the soybean market, so who was left to take over your positions now? The bears had also been liquidated by you, leaving you performing a solo act. With neither bulls nor bears, the trading volume would soon evaporate entirely. As to why they were holding on for dear life, there were no logical explanations even in future generations, let alone now. William White’s level was not quite high enough to do anything but watch from the sidelines.

The waters of the American financial market were deep; it was essentially a game played at the national level. Take oil, for instance—the U.S. would never allow the pricing of futures to slip from its grasp. Some said America fought in Iraq for oil, which was both true and false. They had no interest in the oil fields themselves; control over oil pricing was their true objective. Never underestimate this power; it was far more important than any oil field.

Gold reached its peak in 1980 and then began to decline year by year, while the U.S. dollar once again solidified its throne as the global reserve currency. In more extreme years, the price of gold plummeted by seventy percent, and the U.S. returned to an era of a strong dollar. If you have a printing press that can command the world’s resources, why bother seizing oil fields? They were too lazy to even drill for the ones in their own backyard.

The world’s wealthiest family? The Hunt family had held that crown for quite some time. This was not sarcasm; they truly had the capital to show off. How about the American Super Bowl? They were the ones who organized it. Holding at least two hundred million ounces of silver—mostly in futures, granted—the corresponding value was chilling. They were also massive landowners in Texas and oil monopoly oligarchs. This title of the world’s wealthiest family was well-deserved. The richest man in the world who had passed away a few years prior had assets of only about two billion; even after deducting bank loans, the Hunt family remained incredibly wealthy. Unfortunately, paper wealth is only theoretical; the true result would only be known once this storm had passed.

Richest family? William White couldn't help but sneer. Don't talk about whether they really had that much money; even if they did, they would by no means be the richest family. Did he really think those legendary, well-established dynasties were dead?

William White didn't have the time to worry about that for now. He had to finish shooting quickly, as the post-production schedule was also very tight. He didn't know yet how the publicity for this *Star Wars* installment would be handled. If they spent over ten million on marketing as well, the entire summer box office might just explode. Money is a wonderful thing, but for Lucas, parting with his wealth was inevitable. Despite the massive success of *Star Wars*, there was still a great deal of outside investment. There is a saying in Hollywood: never invest in your own movie. This is a place where capitalism is thoroughly entrenched. If your box office prospects are good, the investment terms will be harsh; it is impossible for you to fund it entirely yourself.

William White was different, mostly because his productions were small-scale. If he were to encounter a hundred-million-dollar film, he would also need outside capital. Do not think the producer is the one losing out—this is actually a responsible attitude. Many films flop in Hollywood, yet you don't see production companies going bankrupt every day; it is only the investors who suffer. Relying on robust outside capital, Hollywood has survived one crisis after another. Of course, there are downsides: once you take someone's investment, you absolutely cannot do as you please. They might not have a say in the filming, but publicity and distribution are matters for discussion—there is absolutely no one-man rule. Even Lucas and Spielberg combined had no power over that.

Many people felt there was no need for publicity, as commercial surveys showed audiences were highly anticipating the film. Lucas, of course, wanted publicity. His interests went beyond the box office; the bulk of his money came from merchandise. If the film reached another level of success, he could just lie back and collect the money. Through various efforts, Lucas managed to secure less than five million, and he refused to produce a trailer, citing concerns about leaks. "White Pictures is just a small-budget operation, so it doesn't matter, but ours is a massive production. We absolutely cannot have any accidents."

Upon hearing this bizarre reasoning, William White nearly burst out laughing. He finally didn't have to worry anymore; he figured this film would perform just as it had in his past life—about two hundred million dollars at the North American box office. With *Beverly Hills Cop* opening more than a month later, it likely wouldn't be affected too much.

William White’s career was developing rapidly, and his own time for directing would decrease. As a film series, he also had to find suitable directors. This was like being a chef: if you made a good change, the restaurant business would be even better than before; if you made a bad choice, you would lose your old customers. The constantly rising salaries were truly speechless. If his memory served him correctly, there was also a major actors' strike this year. He simply couldn't understand it: with the economy in such a poor state, why were they making such a fuss? This was the most ridiculous thing about Americans; it certainly didn't happen in other countries—well, except for the French.

Labor certainly had conflicts with management—that was true all over the world—but in terms of timing, Hollywood was truly brainless. Once in 1980, once in 2008—these were the worst economic times. If management had agreed to their demands, they might as well have just declared bankruptcy. In any case, he didn't plan on starting any new projects this year. It was a damn election year, so politicians would naturally express all sorts of support. Politicians, actors, unions, studio heads. Ha! It was practically a four-way war.

It wouldn't affect the bosses. No matter how much the flops kicked up a fuss, it was ultimately determined by demand; A-list stars' salaries were never cheap. This was the greatest fear for film series. Why couldn't *Mission: Impossible* keep going? Tom Cruise's asking price was over a hundred million—who the hell had the ability to shoot that? By the end of the *Fast and Furious* series, Vin Diesel was the producer himself; no film company would agree to his asking price. Why did *The Avengers* end early, even though it was so profitable, when they could have kept going? Robert Downey Jr. was asking for nearly a hundred million. If just one film flopped, Marvel would have to start selling off its assets. It was better to write these characters out and revive a younger version a few years later.