Do you think Carl had anything to do with Gordon's decision?

I thought that Gordon was interested at first because Bud talked him into it, but after Carl ran his mouth off he took another look at it and changed his mind, he knew that it would be costly and these people would be a pain in the ass for him to deal with and put up with, Carl made it worse by telling them what he really thought about Gekko too and Gekko didnt deny it at all but justified it by saying that anything worth doing is worth doing for money.

So at the end of the day Gordon followed his own advice and started to sell Bluestar because he was in it for the buck and didnt care about those people of Bud's father Carl at all, i think that he didnt do it because of Carl telling him off, hes had a hundred guys give him that BS speech that Carl did, he just took a second look at it and decided to sell it off without telling Bud, more money in it for him in the long run and he wasnt about to meet with those people or Carl again at all anyway.

And most people wouldnt call him out on selling Bluestar like that at all either, they would just take it and move on to another business deal which he expected Bud to do, Bud only gave him grief over it because he was personally friends with all of the people that worked there and his father worked there too, beyond that Bud had no right or reason to complain about the sale because it was about business and money, Gordon was a prick but he was right it was about the money and keeping Bluestar would not make him money long term.

Interesting question!

I think it's both. Gekko is definitely ruthless and only in it for the money. However, if Carl had kept his mouth shut, it's possible Gekko would have sat back and just watched to see what happens for a little while. Who knows - maybe Bud was right and in the end keeping Bluestar alive could have earned Gekko more money in the long run. It would be additional evaluation of Bud as company chief. And if Bud truly was successful, not only would Gekko make a lot of money, he could have even further connections into other companies.

But once Carl shot off his mouth, Gekko probably wanted some payback on a personal level plus may have realized on a business level that someone like Carl could be a thorn.

So if Carl had kept quiet I don't think it would guarantee that Gekko would not have sold out but I think it definitely pushed him over the edge.

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Are you eople serious? Did you not see the movie? Gekko knew exactly what he was doing from day one. He was not going to keep Blue Star around for years to recoup his investment. He was going to break it up and sell it in pieces for profit. He was going to make 70 million dollars in a month rather than in five years. He cared about Bud only as long as Bud could make him money. He did not give a crap about the airline employees.

I think Carl's trash talking and disrespect must have made him decided to liquidate the company or else why would he even bother having the meeting?....as a favour to Bud? I dont think so, GG wouldn't waste his time on such matters if he had already made the decision....it actually shows he was prepared i think to make Blue Star into a long term profit making business but good ol' Pa went n ballsed that right up!

Of course the beauty of this deal is the over-funded pension. Gekko makes 75 million dollars there. 15 million buys him the minimum annuity for 6,000 employees and he walks away with the rest - I figure he'll clear 60-70 million dollars. Not bad for a month's work.

Gekko obviously never forgot a slight in his life that he didn't plan on settling later, but in this case he was always chopping up Blue Star.

As others have pointed out, the meeting at Spader's office details how much work has already gone into not only appraising Blue Star's assets(to the resale value of typewriters), but also, major real estate deals had already been negotiated and agreed to in principal.

As soon as Gekko decided on moving-in on the company, his whole team was probably let loose to have every cent of the breakup accounted for. This was probably weeks before the meeting with the union reps at Buds.

Gekko had no problem using Bud in the moment, because he thought he was bringing along a like minded protege, and he figured a "well, it's just business, sport" speech afterwards would be enough. He would totally have given Bud a share of the profits, in the $5-10million range, and that would be that.

And in fairness to Gekko, that's exactly what Bud seemed to want before his crisis of conscience.

I don't think it had anything to do with Carl at all. Gordon was used to being yelled at and being disrespected (by people who don't work for him), so Carl's tirade meant nothing to him.

Gordon probably did intend to do it Bud's way at first, but just like he said, he took another look at it and realized it was more profitable to liquidate the company.

Remember the meeting Bud unexpectedly got to sit in on with James Spader? They said they weren't going to loan Gordon the money unless Gordon liquidated Blue Star after acquiring it. That could've been a contributing factor in what changed Gordon's mind.

As far as betraying Bud, Gordon thought as long as Bud comes out of the deal rich, and able to support Carl financially, that Bud would just get over it.

I think it was more about the over funded pension fund that weighed heavily on his decision to liquidate it. Also, if you recall, in the jet coming back from the meeting with the Teldar investors and Bud runs the idea by him he says" What the heck do I want with a Dink airline?" But, when the over funded pensions are mentioned, his eyes kind of light up.