Purchasing Property and Spider-Man

The film shoot was complete.

The subsequent work naturally involved post-production editing, scoring, and other related tasks.

Although Wald Pictures was small and lacked much presence in Hollywood, it still had its own editing studio. With the "cheating" Zucker personally taking the lead, combined with experienced post-production staff, the work proceeded extremely rapidly.

In just one week, the final cut was finished, waiting only for a release date. The speed far exceeded that of other films in Hollywood at the time.

A life with cheats needs no explanation!

As for the "film genius Zucker" that everyone was talking about, let it drift away with the wind.

Cheating is fun, but it comes with risks.

"Damn it, it's finally done. From now on, I'm never going to do it all myself again, even if I have to pay someone else to do it."

The fact that Zucker, a total bloodsucker, could utter the words "pay money" showed just how grueling the director's job was. Run Lola Run was the first film Zucker had directed, and it was very likely the last one he would ever helm personally.

"I think I'll just go back to being a handsome man in peace!"

Zucker, who was busy fantasizing about his future life of luxury, was suddenly startled by a phone call.

Ring, ring, ring~~~

"Hello, Mr. Wald, this is your lawyer, Zhang Wei." A voice came through the phone.

"Uh..."

Hearing this, Zucker was stunned for a moment, taking a full few seconds to realize who Zhang Wei was.

He was the tax-avoidance lawyer he had hired, of course.

Zucker asked, "Lawyer Zhang, this is Zucker Wald. Are you calling about the tax-avoidance plan?"

"Yes, your tax-avoidance plan has been designed, and the copyrights for SpongeBob SquarePants and Teletubbies, which you applied for, have been registered with the Copyright Office. If you have time, I can come over to provide my services now," Zhang Wei said over the phone.

"Good, good, good. I'm free now, so let's meet in a bit."

After hanging up, Zucker immediately shouted "Yes!" and jumped up, punching the air repeatedly.

How could he not be happy?

Those were SpongeBob SquarePants and Teletubbies! They were incredibly influential series in the children's market, especially when it came to the merchandise sector, which was absolutely insane!

With two gold mines in his hands, how could Zucker remain calm?

It was no exaggeration to say that as long as these two series were produced and successfully released, Zucker could spend the rest of his life just coasting, easily amassing a net worth of several billion dollars by 2020.

Soon.

Half an hour later, lawyer Zhang Wei arrived at his door.

"Mr. Wald, today is March 16, 1996. With less than 45 days left until the tax filing deadline, we need to hurry."

Zhang Wei was an elite lawyer who did things with meticulous care, something Zucker greatly appreciated.

"Don't worry, Lawyer Zhang, I will cooperate fully."

Zucker placed extreme importance on legal tax avoidance. He wouldn't skimp a single cent on the lawyer fees and service charges he had agreed to pay; he had spent a fortune on this. No matter how stingy Zucker was, he knew this commission was not something to save on, or things might go wrong.

In the time that followed, Zhang Wei explained the tax-avoidance details to Zucker in exhaustive detail.

Zucker had a relatively clear understanding of these matters; after all, he had worked in logistics in his past life and was quite sensitive to tax issues.

Understanding was one thing, but after hearing what Zhang Wei had to say, Zucker still couldn't help but gasp.

"Damn the American tax authorities! If I don't engage in legal tax avoidance, I'll have to pay over 5 million dollars in taxes," Zucker cursed.

"Mr. Wald, please don't be angry. If you hadn't acquired Wald Pictures, you would likely have had to pay nearly 500,000 dollars more in taxes. After all, you must realize that the vast majority of your wealth comes from the stock market," Zhang Wei said slowly.

Zucker nodded.

He knew his own situation best. Of his nearly 30 million dollars in net worth, 75% came from the stock market, so the tax bill was indeed terrifying.

"Then what do I need to do now to legally avoid taxes?"

Zucker asked hurriedly.

In America, where tax audits are extremely strict, whenever someone mentions tax avoidance, people often wonder if it's illegal.

In fact, there is a popular saying in the United States: "Pay taxes according to the law, avoid taxes legally."

Therefore, legal tax avoidance is permitted in America.

"Generally speaking, the main methods for legal tax avoidance include establishing overseas accounts, making good use of gift tax exemptions, and setting up trust funds or family charitable foundations. However, considering your personal situation, Mr. Wald, and the time constraints, the methods I have chosen for you are primarily investment and consumption. By reducing your liquid assets as much as possible, we can lower your book value to achieve the goal of legal tax avoidance," Zhang Wei explained.

In the time that followed.

Well, for a full hour, Zhang Wei detailed exactly how to legally avoid taxes.

The next day.

Waking up early, Zucker contacted a real estate agency, planning to buy a property in the Burbank area.

For one, it served as a tax-avoidance and investment strategy;

And for another, it would be closer to the film studio.

Although Burbank is technically part of the city of Los Angeles, it is a full 20 kilometers away from the city center and serves primarily as the gathering place for many Hollywood entertainment companies. That's right, the world-famous Hollywood actually has very few film companies left today; they have all moved to Burbank.

(This is a fact: among the six major Hollywood studios, only Paramount remains in Hollywood proper; the others moved to Burbank long ago.)

Zucker's Wald Pictures is also located in the Burbank area. For the sake of proximity to the company and tax avoidance, Zucker bought a villa in Burbank.

That's right, a villa.

A large two-story villa with an additional basement, featuring 320 square meters of floor space and a 400-square-meter yard complete with a lawn, a swimming pool, and other amenities.

It cost a total of 4.6 million dollars.

Of course, Zucker took out a bank loan; after all, as a transmigrator, he knew that the dollar would only continue to depreciate in the future.

"Since I've bought a villa, I might as well buy a building for investment."

Buying property for investment is a risky business in America. If you choose a bad location, you might end up stuck with it, but if you choose a good one, it is an incredibly profitable venture.

As it happens, Zucker was certain of one place where buying a building would be a guaranteed win.

Silicon Valley!

That's right, with the booming development of the internet, Silicon Valley has created one wealth myth after another. Before the dot-com bubble of 2000, land and property in Silicon Valley were becoming increasingly valuable!

Moreover, land in Silicon Valley isn't actually that expensive right now—at least, it is much, much cheaper than in the Los Angeles and Burbank areas.

For an outlay of 6 million dollars, Zucker acquired an eight-story office building on the outskirts of Silicon Valley. Coincidentally, it wasn't far from the Apple headquarters; he could see it just by looking up.

(The Apple headquarters mentioned here refers to the old Silicon Valley site, as many people know that the current Apple headquarters is in Cupertino, California.)

"From this day forward, this building shall be called the Wald Building!"

"Hahaha, I really am a genius!"

For a moment, Zucker was overjoyed.

"Ding-dong!"

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a piece of future information.]

Zucker shivered instantly. This trash system had been silent for over two months, and it was finally handing out a reward again. He hurriedly opened it.

[Message: In June 1996, MGM and Sony Columbia will compete for the film and television rights to Marvel's Spider-Man.]

Holy crap!

Spider-Man!

Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3, including The Amazing Spider-Man and even the rebooted versions, were all box office bombs—in a good way. Furthermore, in the DVD, gaming, and merchandise licensing markets, they were massive hits, involving a market worth tens of billions of dollars.

In his past life, Sony Columbia relied on this franchise just to keep itself alive.

Spider-Man 1 grossed a cumulative 930 million dollars at the box office, and its gaming and merchandise markets brought Columbia over 1 billion dollars in profit in just one year. It was impossible for Zucker not to be excited.

If not for the system's reminder, Zucker, who had been so busy lately that he barely had time to touch the ground, would certainly have been unable to get a piece of the action.

<> Sorry, the second update today is a bit late. I've been really busy today, my apologies to everyone.