Publishers Weekly Has Story on Platinum Financials
Good story (with some holes) on Platinum’s possibly shaky finances. We get to learn a lot about Platinum because it’s a public company. Other publishers and larger quasi-publisher like companies like Keenspot that are private – we don’t learn anything other than what the owners tell us, which isn’t usually much.
Key facts? Platinum is clearly spending money — but is it making any regular income? Platinum lost MORE than 5 million in 2007 and had less than $5000 dollars in cash on hand at the beginning of this year.
Platinum also points to a library of 5600 characters in its IP portfolio as having been recently valued at "about $150 million:" by a firm called Sanli Pastore & Hill, Inc. However, only two Platinum properties are currently under option for films: Unique at Disney and Cowboys & Aliens at Dreamworks. I’m really curious about this 150 million number — what is it based on (and how many of the 5600 characters are recognizable to the public in any meaningful manner?) and how much of it is actually realized versus theoretical.
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