My Age of Investment

Chapter 1611 The Battle of Succession

Los Angeles.

Located in a luxurious estate in Beverly Hills, a grand celebration party was being held.

Under the bright lights, the female stars who usually live aloof from the world and have high-spirited eyes are all smiling brightly and trying their best to show off their charms to the great directors and producers who are drinking and drinking.

However, the focus of the audience at this moment is not on them.

 Because everyone focused on the middle-aged Chinese man who appeared in the finale who was not tall and had an ordinary appearance.

Wearing a tailored dress, Liu Hai walked slowly, accompanied by his widowed sister Scarlett Johansson, and calmly raised a glass to the people around him who came up to say hello.

For the great housekeeper of the new Hollywood God of Wealth, whether it is an actor, director, producer, or a film company owner, they are all happy.

Because the other party not only controls the mysterious and huge Daxia Capital, but also has a significant influence on the Marvel Group, which is rising like the sun.

 To put it harshly, as long as a little bit leaks out from the cracks of the other person's fingers, it will be enough for them to eat.

On the other side, seeing bangs finally appearing, Kevin Feige apologized to the people around him, walked quickly to bangs, and said softly: "Mr. Egger arrived ten minutes ago, but he doesn't like the noisy environment outside. , I arranged him in the room."

Liu Hai smiled and said: "He is a busy man and I can't always make an appointment with him. If he hadn't happened to be free tonight, I wouldn't have wanted to meet him on such an occasion."

Kevin Feige didn't know what Liu Hai was going to talk about with Robert Iger, but he knew it was a big deal without having to guess. He didn't ask any more questions and just explained: "Tonight is a party to celebrate the successful release of "Captain America." Disney, the publisher, is also responsible.

 Mr. Robert Egger is willing to attend in person because he values ​​the performance of our partner. "

Liu Hai smiled slightly and did not answer. After confessing to Scarlett on the side, he let Kevin Feige lead the way and they entered the villa together.

In the quiet study room, Robert Egger was reading quietly with coffee in one hand and a book in the other. It was not until Liu Hai and Liu Hai knocked on the door and entered that he put the book down slowly.

After Kevin Feige brought Liu Hai, he left to greet the guests on the lawn outside. Only Liu Hai and Iger were left in the room.

Egg looked at Liu Hai with a warm smile and said straight to the point: "William, Darren has any new instructions, and I need you, an important confidant, to talk to me in person."

Liu Hai was not in a hurry to reveal his true purpose, but laughed and joked, "'Captain America' did well at the box office on its first day. Darren instructed me that if the conditions remain the same, the next movie 'Avengers' will continue to be distributed by Disney." .”

“Wise choice! Redstone is not an easy person to get along with. If Paramount continues to control the distribution of Marvel Studios’ films, it will be a huge constraint for you in the future.”

 Liu Hai smiled and didn’t answer. Just kidding, wouldn’t it be a hidden danger if Disney has an exclusive monopoly on the distribution of Marvel Studios movies?

But there is no way. Although Marvel Studios is a rising star in Hollywood in the eyes of outsiders, compared with several Hollywood giants who control the distribution network, it is really just a small Kalami.

Let’s just make do with cooperating with Disney for the time being. Everyone gets what they need. Anyway, they only control Marvel Group in the form of fund holdings.

  To run Marvel for a long time and build it as a core enterprise does not exist, nor does it have the political conditions to do so.

After briefly chatting about the film distribution cooperation between Marvel and Disney, Liu Hai got to the point: "News Corporation has been in bad luck recently. Disney is watching from the sidelines, but you don't have any ideas?"

"what idea?"

Iger pretended to be dumb and spread his hands, "We at Disney are a law-abiding company and have never engaged in eavesdropping."

Liu Hai laughed and said, "Yes, that's why we are willing to cooperate with you!"

Egg understood the pun and stopped doing Tai Chi. He smiled and took a sip of coffee and said, "Let's be honest, what do you want to cooperate with?"

“Although Disney is one of the six major Hollywood companies, it also faces competition from the other five giants.

If we can take this opportunity to swallow up 20th Century Fox, it will be enough to overwhelm the remaining four giants. "

Iger nodded, "This idea sounds good, but will Murdoch hand over the film and entertainment industry so easily?"

“That’s why I came to discuss it with you! If Disney is willing to acquire 20th Century Fox, we can help.”

Egger did not appear too tempted and said calmly: "Then what do you want to get?"

“We don’t ask for much, just give us the hero IPs such as “X-Men”, “Fantastic Four”, and “Deadpool” that Fox has in hand for development.”

Hearing Liu Hai's understatement, Aige felt a little suspicious. It wasn't that the other party wanted too much, but that he wanted too little.

Although superhero movies have continued to become popular in recent years, and each film makes a profit, but the income is only a drop compared to the tens of billions of dollars in mergers and acquisitions.

For such a small profit, Darren Xia is willing to enter the murky waters of acquiring Fox. Isn't it too hasty?

Egger believed that it was not that simple and continued to ask: "What else?"

“If Disney is willing to let us acquire 5% of the shares and give us a board seat, that would be even better.”

 Hearing this sentence, Ige felt a little more at ease. He knew that things would not be that simple.

 “I need to report to the board and seek input from other shareholders.”

As an ambitious CEO who wants to dominate Hollywood, Iger has a certain interest in acquiring Fox, but he dare not make any guarantees about it, especially when Daxia Capital wants to invest in Disney.

Liu Hai smiled and said: "Don't worry! I know that your major shareholder is not in good health, so I can give you time to discuss it slowly."

Iger said nothing, because the other person obviously meant what he said, and his idea was to wait until Steve Jobs died before investing in Disney.

As we all know, Derencia and Jobs have an incompatible relationship, and Jobs happens to be Disney's largest individual shareholder.

 This is the biggest obstacle for Daxia Capital and Disney to establish a deeper cooperation.

I’m afraid we really have to wait until Steve Jobs gets his hair out of the way before the two parties can establish closer cooperation.

As a good friend of Steve Jobs, Robert Iger should have been furious at the words that cursed his friend's death, but driven by interests, he remained silent. Because what the other party said is also true. Jobs is indeed in poor health, and it is indeed unknown how long he can last.

An acquisition of tens of billions of dollars cannot be completed in a short time. When everything is settled, maybe Steve Jobs has returned to the embrace of his master. By then, Daxia Capital will bring capital to invest in Disney, which can be called Seamlessly.

 How can I think that? A bit too shameless.

Egger quickly dismissed the thoughts in his mind and said seriously: "Are there any other conditions?"

“No, the board seats must be reserved for the Rockefeller family, and we at Daxia Capital don’t need them.”

A glimmer of light suddenly flashed in Egger's eyes. He understood. It turned out that these guys had colluded for a long time.

The Rockefeller family is shouting at Congress to kill News Corporation, while Daxia Capital is hiding behind the scenes to stir up the storm.

If coupled with the energy of Disney, it is really possible to win over Fox, which is already in deep quagmire.

Looking at Iger's thoughtful look, Liu Hai followed Xia Jingxing's instructions and added another weight: "If Disney is open to Daxia Capital for equity participation, then Marvel's financing will also be open to Disney."

Egg opened his mouth slightly. He was a little surprised by the sincerity shown by the other party.

You know, he has always regretted missing out on Marvel, but he never expected that he would have the opportunity to pay for it later.

From this point of view, Dai Lunxia has indeed spent a lot of money to promote this cooperation.

Liu Hai and Xia Jingxing have exchanged opinions with each other and do not have much objection to the plan of cross-shareholding with Disney.

The acquisition of the Marvel Group was originally just a financial investment, and it was run for ten and a half years. When the Marvel Universe is fully formed, this golden chicken can almost be slaughtered and eaten.

  It is impossible to leave the eggs for laying. Instead, be careful with the American-style butchering plate.

The United States has always kept a close eye on industries such as the media, film and television industry that spread American values. The acquisition of Marvel Group had already been under a lot of pressure. In the end, it was a compromise and adopted a fund acquisition to successfully calm down the public opinion storm.

  It’s an unfamiliar white-eyed wolf anyway, so it’s better to find a good home in advance.

 Disney is a good takeover man, with sufficient financial resources and the ambition to become bigger and stronger through mergers and acquisitions.

At the same time, this move can also give Murdoch a little color.

If the 20th Century Fox business were gone, the Murdoch family would still be rich by holding on to their ancestral publishing and news business, but their influence would be greatly reduced. If they can seize the opportunity in the future, they can continue to make money. foot.

 After another ten minutes, Liu Hai left the room with a smile on his face.

He knew that Robert Iger was already tempted. If he had the opportunity to win over Fox and better tie up Marvel Group, any ambitious professional manager would not let it go.

Once the plan is successful, Disney will have the opportunity to become the absolute king of Hollywood. As CEO, Robert Iger will naturally receive generous stock and option awards, as well as huge fame.

 After leaving the room, Liu Hai walked around the party scene holding a wine glass.

Not long after, Kevin Feige came over with two people.

 “William, let me introduce you to two new friends.”

"This is Adam McKay, who is currently working as a screenwriter on the "Ant-Man" project. He plans to adapt "The Big Short" written by Michael Lewis to the screen. He has also written a script for this. He would like to ask us Are you interested in investing?"

Following Kevin Feige's gesture, Liu Hai looked at Adam McKay, who wore round glasses and had a somewhat academic temperament, and smiled: "Dylan said before that if someone takes a photo of him and makes him handsome, One point, then whoever he invests in will invest in it. I wonder how you plan to make "The Big Short"?"

As soon as Adam McKay heard that there was something going on, he quickly talked a lot about it.

Liu Hai is not a professional in the film industry, but he is a professional in the financial industry. He listened to the other party speak a lot of financial professional terms, and he obviously put in a lot of hard work. He nodded and agreed: "Sounds good, Darren should I will like it. But I have a small suggestion. When filming the movie, give the first leading role to Paulson. His experience is more legendary and more attractive to the audience."

Adam McKay quickly said that this was a small matter and it would be enough to simply modify the script.

Then, Kevin Feige introduced Jesse Armstrong, a bald white man next to him.

Compared to Adam McKay, who has already gained a certain reputation in Hollywood, Armstrong, who came to Hollywood from the UK, is nothing short of a nobody and has no reputation at all.

However, Kevin Feige is willing to bring him to see Liu Hai, so he naturally has his own intentions.

I heard that Jesse Armstrong had written a very interesting script and brought it to the party. Liu Hai immediately asked him to take it out and take a look.

After taking the script and reading it for a few times, Liu Hai couldn't help laughing and said, "It's quite interesting. What's the name of the script?"

Armstrong, who had been in trouble for more than a year after being praised by the big boss, immediately blushed, puffed out his chest and said proudly: "It's called "Murdoch"."

"I finally understand why no one dares to take on your script. Whoever dares to film it will not be able to survive in Hollywood."

Liu Hai teased the other party for a few words, then said: "The name is not good, I have to change it, otherwise I will be sued."

Armstrong quickly hit the snake on the stick and said with a smile: "I have an alternative name here, called "Succession"."

 “That’s no problem, we have submitted this script.”

After finishing speaking, Liu Hai turned to look at Kevin Feige and ordered: "Arrange the project as soon as possible. If it is too late, the topic will not be so hot."

Liu Hai finalized the investment in just a few words without even asking Xia Jingxing for instructions.

This is not because he is good at it, but because of his understanding of Xia Jingxing, after seeing such a wonderful script, if he does not arrange to film it for four or five seasons, it would be a shame for Mr. Xia’s wallet.

 (End of this chapter)