Ron Meyer：The President of Universal Studios坚忍、品质、天赋——环球影城总裁罗恩·梅耶尔

Gumption and Guts

Ron Meyer was 14 when a friend gave him his first tattoo, a crude design done with ink and a needle. Like many of the guys he hung out with in West Los Angeles, Meyer was a high school dropout, a kid quick with his fists who seemed to get into fights somewhat regularly.

Today, Meyer is the president and COO of Universal Studios. As one of the most successful business leaders in Hollywood, he heads up Universal Pictures and Universal Parks&Resorts.He's the guy who oversees the production of multimillion-dollar extravaganzas like“King Kong”and“Cinderella Man”.

Even though Meyer could easilly afford it, he has no interest in getting his tattoos removed. They symbolize just how far he has come, and they remind him of the choices he made-good and bad-along the way.

Meyer's story sounds like the plot of one of his motion pictures. The son of German immigrants, he grew up in a modest home where there was little disposable income.It was a big deal to go to a restaurant.At 15，he quit high school and spent his time shooting pool, boxing at a nearby gym and hanging out with the neighborhood toughs.With little education or direction and few options, he figured he'd be drafted.So when he heard about a boxing program in the Marine Corps, he signed up.

At one point, he was quarantined with the measles, with no TV and nothing to do. His mother sent him two books.One was The Amboy Dukes, a novel about kids in street gangs.The other was The Flesh Peddlers, now out of print, about a guy in the talent-agency business who was living a glamorous life.“I realized，”he says，“that I was no longer that idiot kid I had been, and I wanted to change my life.”

Meyer knew he was up against considerable odds, but he finally had a goal:to become an agent and live the sort of lifestyle described in The Flesh Peddlers. He says he must have been interviewed at all of the major talent agencies.“Everyone said no to me.I didn't have a formal education.l came from no influence, no money.There was no obvious reason to give me a job.”

Meyer took any job he could get. He worked as a busboy and short-order cook.He cleaned grease off duplicating machines.He sold shoes.“Once I got a job, I put all I had into it，”says Meyer.“When I was a busboy, l wanted to be the best busboy.”That attitude made an impression on people.While he was working at a clothing store, the Paul Kohner Agency called.Their messenger had quit, and they remembered the guy named Ron who was willing to take whatever job they offered.At the clothing store, he was making$35 a week.Kohner was going to pay him$75.That was on a Friday.He started the next Monday.

Luck and a Winning Attitude

Meyer's messenger job included chauffeuring Paul Kohner, a successful agent who represented stars like John Huston, Billy Wilder, Charles Bronson and Lana Turner. Meyer kept his eyes on the road-and his ears on the conversations in the backseat.“Paul would have meetings in his car and talk about deals.I learned the business, and got to know a lot of people.”Meyer was lucky to work with a good boss-and he had the brains to make the most of that experience.In nearly six years of driving for Kohner, Meyer became his right-hand man.By that time, though he knew the business, he still had to learn a lot about the process.

He pretended he was an agent and landed a job at Super agency William Morris in the TV talent department. After everyone left at night, he would analyze his mentor's deals and figure out how to do them.

By the 1970s, Meyer had built a lot of relationships in the business. His clients included Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner.Clearly, Meyer was becoming a leader in his industry.

He stayed at William Morris for over five years and would happily have stayed longer, but fate intervened when his mentor was fired. That presented an opportunity to start his own operation, Creative Artists Agency.Founded in 1975 with four colleagues from William Morris, CAA became a huge success, representing Hollywood legends like Cher, Madonna, Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise.In the beginning, though, the staff of five struggled—18-hour days, seven days a week.They didn't draw any money out of the company for the first two years.

But Meyer had an advantage：Few people knew the business as well as he did, and few were as good with people. He built CAA client by client.He was always networking, attending anything he could get invited to-parties, dinners, screenings, and tapings.His first major clients included Charlie's Angels Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson.But his big break came when he signed Sylvester Stallone during his“Rocky”and“Rambo”years.“Everyone wanted Syl，”says Meyer.“It was a big deal to be his agent.That became my entree to representing people like Michael Douglas, Goldie Hawn and Jessica Lange.”

Twenty years later, Meyer was tapped to run Universal Studios, a position far beyond his youthful dream. But once he saw success was possible, he was driven to achieve it.It was important to him, though, that he was trusted and well-thought-of.In looking back, Meyer allows that he's never forgotten his humble beginnings.

Today, colleagues regularly attribute his success-and theirs-to his humility and perseverance. It's a level of success that takes a certain tenacity, a certain personality, a certain kind of intelligence, whether it comes from a college education or from the street.

It takes guts to make a choice and gumption to stick with it.

进取心和勇气

罗恩·梅耶尔第一次文身时只有14岁，那个文身是朋友用墨水和针完成的一个粗糙设计。像很多混迹于洛杉矶西部的孩子一样，梅耶尔高中就辍学了，那时的他，还是一个似乎随时都会迅速握紧拳头面对打斗的孩子。

今天，罗恩·梅耶尔是环球影城的总裁和运营总监。作为好莱坞的杰出商业领导人之一，他统领着环球影业公司、环球公园及度假村。他还负责监制了像《金刚》和《铁拳男人》那类百万美元巨制的奇幻大片。

尽管梅耶尔能轻易支付清除文身的费用，但他并没有那么做。这些文身时时刻刻告诉梅耶尔他走了多远，同时也提醒他这一路走来所做的选择，不管是好的还是不好的。

罗恩·梅耶尔的故事听起来像他所监制的动作片里的情节。作为德国移民的儿子，他生长在中等水平家庭，收入刚刚够维持生计，去餐馆吃饭就是很大的奢侈了。15岁那年，梅耶尔高中辍学，他常在台球厅、周边的拳击馆和一些附近的小混混闲混来打发时间。没受过太多教育，既无目标也无选择，他觉得他的人生也就这样了。所以当听说海军陆战队有拳击项目时，他就报名参加了。

有一次，梅耶尔因为得麻疹而被隔离，没有电视，也没什么别的事情可做。他母亲给他带了两本书去，一本是关于街头暴力下的孩子们的小说《安博公爵》。另一本是《人肉贩子》，这是一本关于一个有着天才代理才能、过着精彩生活的人的小说，不过这本书现在已经不再出版了。“我意识到，”他说，“我不能再像以前那么无知了，我要改变我的生活。”

梅耶尔知道他面临的困难很多，但他最终确定了一个目标：他要成为一个经纪人，要过上《人肉贩子》里面描述的那种精彩的生活。他说他拜访过所有大型人才机构。“每个人都对我说不，我没受过正规的教育，也没什么影响力，更没钱。没有任何理由能让我得到一份工作。”

梅耶尔愿意接受任何他能找到的工作，他在餐馆打过工，也做过快餐店的工作。他擦过机器上的油，卖过鞋子。“一旦得到一份工作，我就会全身心地投入，”梅耶尔说，“即使做餐馆工，我也要努力成为最好的餐馆工。”

他的这种态度给人留下了深刻的印象。他在一家服装店工作的时候，保罗·科赫纳代理行给他打来电话。他们那儿跑腿送信的人辞职了，他们想起了有个名叫罗恩的人愿意做任何工作。在服装店，他的收入是每周35美元，而保罗·科赫纳会给他75美元。那天是周五，下一个周一他就开始了这份新的工作。

运气和成功的态度

梅耶尔做跑腿送信的那份工作也包括为保罗·科赫纳开车，他是一位成功的经纪人，约翰·休斯顿、比利·怀尔德、查尔斯·布朗森和拉娜·特纳都是他代理的明星。梅耶尔专注开车，双耳就留意后座的谈话。“保罗会在他的车里开会，并讨论细节，我学会了生意上的很多东西，也认识了很多人。”

梅耶尔很幸运，可以与一个好老板共事，同时他也很聪明，充分利用了那段经历。在为保罗·科赫纳开车近六年后，梅耶尔成了他的得力助手。那时，梅耶尔已经了解了商务上的往来，但他仍要学很多关于过程、细节方面的内容。

他佯装成一个代理人，并在电视台人才部的超级代理威廉·莫里斯那儿找了份工作。等晚上大家都离开后，他就开始分析他师傅的生意并研究应该怎么做。

到了20世纪70年代，梅耶尔的人际关系已经很广了。他的客户包括莎莉·史特瑟斯和罗布·赖纳。梅耶尔在他的行业里已经是一位领军人物了。

他在威廉·莫里斯代理行待了五年多，并很乐意待更长的时间，但命运弄人，不久他的师傅被解雇了。这使他有机会开始他自己的公司——创意艺术家代理行。1975年成立初期，公司只有四个从威廉·莫里斯代理行出来的同事，但创意艺术家代理行却获得了巨大的成功，为好莱坞传奇人物雪儿、麦当娜、汤姆·汉克斯和汤姆·克鲁斯等巨星代理。在最开始，只有这五个员工共同奋斗，一天18个小时，一周工作七天。他们在头两年里没向公司要一分钱。

梅耶尔有一个优势：很少有人能像他一样了解生意，也很少有人能像他一样与人为善。梅耶尔逐渐地建立了创意艺术家代理行的客户群，他总在与人拉关系，参加他被邀请的任何活动——聚会、会餐、电影、录音。

他第一位重要的客户有《查理的天使》的主演费拉·福赛特和凯特·杰克逊。但他的重大转折点是他签下了西尔维斯特·史泰龙——在他拍《洛奇》和《第一滴血》的那几年。“每个人都想做西尔的代理，”梅耶尔表示，“作为他的经纪人实在是太棒了。那成了我能够代理迈克尔·道格拉斯、歌蒂·韩和杰西卡·兰格等巨星的开始。”

20年以后，梅耶尔被任命经营环球影城，这是一个远超出他梦想的职位。但一旦发现成功变得有可能，他就感到有一种力量驱使他去获得成功。这一点对他来说很重要，尽管他已经是一位受大家信赖和尊重的成功人士了。回顾过去，梅耶尔始终铭记他最初那段卑微的时光。

直到今天，同事都一致将他和他们的成功归结于梅耶尔的谦恭和坚定。这是一种需要坚忍、某种品质和某类天赋才能取得的成功，不管你是大学毕业生还是来自街头的混混。

做一个选择需要勇气，而坚持下去则需要毅力。

实战提升

核心单词

dropout['dropaut]v.漏失

disposable[di'spəuzəbl]adj.可支配收入

glamorous['glæmərəs]adj.富有魅力的；迷人的

intervene[,intə'vi:n]v.干涉，干预；调停

财经知识一点通

代理行（correspondent bank）

是指与其他国家建立往来账户，代理对方的一些业务，为对方提供服务的银行。对一家银行来说，代理行实际上不附属于本银行，代理行关系就是不同国家银行之间建立的结算关系。

运营总监（Chief Operating Officer，缩写COO）

该职位要全面负责公司的市场运作和管理；参与公司的整体策划，健全公司各项制度，完善公司运营管理；推动公司销售业务，推广公司产品，组织完成公司整体业务计划；建立公司内部信息系统，推进公司财务、行政、人力资源的管理；负责协调各部门工作，建立有效的团队协作机制；维持并开拓各方面的外部关系；管理并激励所属部门的工作业绩。

翻译练习

With little education or direction and few options, he figured he'd be drafted.

But Meyer had an advantage：Few people knew the business as well as he did, and few were as good with people.

But once he saw success was possible, he was driven to achieve it.