A FRENCHMAN TICKLED MESSIER HIGH ON VIVENDI FUTURE.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer BEVERLY HILLS Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. - Calling Vivendi Universal ``a very young one-year baby,'' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marie Messier Jean-Marie Messier (born December 13, 1956) is a French businessman who was Chairman and Chief Executive of the multinational media conglomerate Vivendi SA (formerly Vivendi Universal) until 2002. said Thursday that the French conglomerate conglomerate, in business conglomerate, corporation whose asset growth, often very rapid, comes largely through the acquisition of, or merger with, other firms whose products are largely unrelated to each other or to that of the parent company. will continue to surprise as it moves aggressively to win a bigger market share in such key areas as movies, music and personal electronics. Mixing humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was with unabashed enthusiasm over Vivendi Universal's upcoming slate of projects, Messier Messier is the name of :
``You may have noticed that I'm quite enthusiastic,'' an upbeat Messier told the crowd. ``I'm enthusiastic about our business, about our people, our talents. I love our business.'' Messier, speaking with a thick French accent that he vowed to never lose, repeatedly stressed that the key to Vivendi Universal's future success is being global as well as local when developing product for consumers. ``Being global is a key advantage,'' Messier said. ``But you have to try to be local and understand the culture and why people are acting a certain way.'' Messier said the multimedia giant is ``strongly committed to the entertainment industry'' which is the reason why the company agreed last month to buy USA Network Inc.'s entertainment assets for $10.3 billion and to invest $1.5 billion in EchoStar Communications, the second-largest satellite company in the country. ``Where we can't work out acquisitions, let's work out alliances,'' Messier told the mostly industry crowd which included most of Universal Studios' top executives. The deal with USA Network Inc. combines USA's entertainment assets with Hollywood-based Universal Studios. As part of the deal, USA Chairman Barry Diller Barry Diller (born February 2, 1942 in San Francisco, California) is an American media executive responsible for the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company. Biography became the new chief executive of Vivendi Universal. With the hands-on, hard-driving Diller aboard, there had been widespread speculation in the industry about how his presence would affect the studio operation. ``I was shocked when we made the acquisition of USA to hear questions of how are you going to manage Barry?'' Messier said. ``The answer is clear. I don't mind. I don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. about egos. I do care about talent. Barry is a very strong, talented man, and Vivendi Universal is better with him than having him on the outside.'' Diller was not present Thursday. Messier made a point of praising the top executives of Universal's film and music divisions, particularly Universal Studios President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Ron Meyer Ron Meyer (born February 17, 1941) is a former college and professional football coach. He is best known for being the head coach of the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Meyer's head coaching career began at UNLV, where he coached from 1971 to 1975. , who now reports to Diller, and Universal Pictures Chairman Stacey Snider. He said the team has done an ``absolutely outstanding job'' in running the film division that delivered a string of crowd-pleasing hits last year, including ``Jurassic Park III,'' ``The Mummy Returns'' and ``The Fast and the Furious.'' Meyer and Snider, who have enjoyed tremendous autonomy in leading their studio to major box office success in recent years, recently extended their contracts with the studio. Messier said it gave him the ``highest pleasure that they were ready to commit a little longer to the futures of Vivendi Universal. That's good news.'' Also Thursday, ING Barings Ferri dropped Vivendi Universal from its list of recommended French stocks reportedly because the bank believed the media giant needed time to digest its recent acquisitions and resulting synergies. Messier did not address that development in his remarks. Vivendi Universal shares were up 13 cents Thursday closing at $51.10 a share on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. . CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Vivendi Universal Chairman and CEO Jean-Marie Messier grins Thursday at the Beverly Hilton. (2) Media tycoon Jean-Marie Messier, right, addresses a packed ballroom at the Beverly Hilton as the featured speaker at a luncheon sponsored by Town Hall Los Angeles. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer |
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