The Man with the Most Power

Golden Dawn Entertainment Group headquarters.

Today, Zucker had convened the group's shareholders and senior executives in his capacity as chairman to discuss the Harry Potter Theme Park.

CEO Victor Jones;

Executive President Jack Dussen Smith;

Senior Vice President Marion T. Ford;

Senior Vice President Harry Quinn;

Kevin Feige, CEO of subsidiary Wald Pictures;

Hashimoto Taro, president of subsidiary SpongeBob House and head of the group's family entertainment division;

And more than thirty others. Every one of them had turned up for the meeting. After all, this was the first large-scale gathering at headquarters since the end of 2001, and nobody would miss it. Even those with busy schedules had hurried over.

Before the meeting began, Kevin Feige leaned toward Hashimoto Taro and said quietly, "Mr. Hashimoto, you're going to be busy for the next few years."

"Kevin-san, what do you mean?"

Hashimoto Taro asked, puzzled.

Kevin Feige rolled his eyes. "Hashimoto, can you stop pretending you don't know? You're in charge of building the Harry Potter Theme Park and running it once it opens. Don't tell me that's not your job!"

Hashimoto Taro gave an awkward smile. "I was just joking."

He really had been playing dumb!

At present, Hashimoto Taro wasn't a senior vice president at group headquarters, but his authority was considerable. He was arguably one of the most powerful executives in the company.

SpongeBob House had more than thirty-two locations across the United States.

And those were all company-owned stores.

Counting franchise locations and partner distributors, the total number of stores was certainly no fewer than 150.

In June 2002, Fortune teamed up with the investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to compile a valuation ranking of promising private companies across the United States.

SpongeBob House was on the list.

Valued at as much as $190