In 1989, Vajna left Carolco and sold his interests to Kassar. "After "Rambo", we were trying to become a major studio. I felt that was the wrong direction," Vajna told "Entertainment Weekly". "My feelings were very negative and it caused a lot of friction between Mario, myself, and Peter (Hoffman), who was by then Mario's right hand. I disagreed with where they wanted to go, and Peter played our egos against each other. He wanted to be a partner." Kassar and Vajna's partnership had fallen apart that year, and the latter was paid approximately $100 million for his share in the company. Kassar carried on with Peter Hoffman, who was president/chief executive of Carolco at the time since 1986. Hoffman had been introduced to Kassar by Tom Pollock, who would later become head of Universal Studios.