Rebirth of the Tech Madman

...

Tang Huan's appearance on the Time Warner Turner board of directors can only be described as a "rare customer".

After Turner Broadcasting Company and Time Warner got married, they got two board seats, one of course was reserved by Ted Turner himself, and the other was given to the richest man who provided long-term support.

Compared to Ted Turner who has been protecting his three-acre land in Time Warner Turner in recent years, Tang Huan is like an "invisible man"-there are meetings, either by telephone or by commission. A representative came over, it can be said that the dragon sees the head but fails to see the end.

However, this kind of "absent-minded" performance is not uncommon on the Time Warner Turner board of directors-after all, several of them are also "multi-tasking."

"Old and pretty" Murph Edelson greeted first: "Tang, has the box office of "Titanic" passed $2 billion?"

"It shouldn't be a big problem." The richest man nodded slightly, and then casually asked Beverly Sears Glinuff, "Madam, are the preparations for the renovation plan of the Lincoln Performing Arts Center going well?"

"Work can start as scheduled next year." Beverly Sears Glinuff replied with a smile, "Thank you Tang for your help."

"I'm very willing to help." Tang Huan took a stab at it, and then talked to Kara Hayes about his business in China.

Of course, no matter how charismatic the richest man is, he can’t take everyone. Robben Mark, who is often ridiculed by Ted Turner as a layman, hates the house and Udino and said, "Don, how come I have time to personally? Come? Could it be that the antitrust lawsuit of Zheru Software Company is over?"

"Of course it's not that easy?" Tang Huan shrugged. "You may have heard that the Ministry of Justice asked Zheru Software to keep any paper information. As a result of the piles of files, I was so crowded that I had no place to sit, so I had to run. Come here."

Everyone was amused by the humor and exaggeration of the richest man, and Robben Mark also put away the chase and fight.

Beverly Sears Glinuff asked curiously: "A company does not allow the use of shredders in daily office. Is the situation serious?"

"Perhaps, it varies from company to company." Tang Huan joked: "Why let Time Warner Turner do an experiment now."

...

Time soon arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon. All members of the Time Warner Turner Board of Directors were in their positions, and the meeting officially began.

Gerrard Levine, who appeared first, relied on the experience accumulated in previous rehearsals to perform cleverly.

Seeing that the old opponent said a lot of babbled opening remarks enthusiastically, Robben Mark finally couldn’t bear it and interrupted rudely: "It’s been a long time, you mean nothing more than Time Warner Turner, which has a history of more than 70 years. Sell ​​to AOL, which has been established for less than ten years-why are you doing it? Why is the other party?"

Gerald Levine, who was performing better and better, was so suddenly slammed that he was so frustrated that he was speechless on the spot.

Robben Mark, who succeeded in the raid, immediately became proud, turned his eyes to the richest man, and continued to ask: "Tang, I know you are also an important investor in AOL-can you tell me the real reason for this transaction?"

Tang Huan met Robben Mark’s aggressive gaze without a trace of firework, and said leisurely: "The founder of the era, Henry Luce, once said a famous saying-the 20th century is the century of the United States; I can now Tell you-the next century is the century of the Internet!"

Although everyone is a big boss, there is still a strong and weak aura-Robben Mark retracted his gaze and muttered angrily: "You are a veteran of computer and Internet business, of course, you must strongly promote them. The value of it."

"Of course, my opinion is just the words of the family..." Tang Huanchao Gerald Levine made a "continue" gesture, "So, I have to ask investment bankers to do professional analysis."

After scolding Robben Mark in his heart that he was "a idiot who bullied the soft and feared the hard", Gerald Levin stopped being verbose and directly moved out of the "fairness opinion" of the Wall Street Investment Bank.

The labor cost of 50 million US dollars per house is indeed extraordinary. The very hard work of Salomon Brothers and Morgan Stanley made all the directors' faces changed.

Among them, Mary Mikel, a well-known network analyst from Morgan Stanley, performed the most brilliantly.

She vividly portrayed the bright future after the merger of Time Warner Turner and AOL, and made fun of those financial laws that value assets in the future world, and ended with sensational words: "Henry Luce and Stie Steve Keys was separated when he was born, but after a series of hardships, failures and setbacks, Steve Keys and Henry Luce recognized each other through the marks on their seal rings, or other things. other side."

After Mary Mikel finished her interesting and enlightening speech, Paul Tumberman, M&A banker at Morgan Stanley's Media and Telecommunications Department, also began a passionate speech.

After these Wall Street elites completed their mission, the indomitable Gerald Levine re-entered the stage and continued to perform.

The meeting lasted from two o'clock in the afternoon to seven o'clock in the evening, and there was no end to it. Among the dozens of directors present, except for Tang Huan who belonged to the rich and powerful at the age of Shiju Lang, the others were basically the elderly in their 60s, or even more seniors, who were then "bombed by fatigue". His face looked tired.

During a short break, the richest man sat lazily in his place, answered a call, and even pressed the hands-free button without shy.

The content of the call is not a big secret to everyone present-it was held later than Time Warner Turner, but it took only two hours to end the AOL board of directors voting earlier. The result of agreeing to the transaction came out.

Compared with Time Warner Turner's stumbling, AOL's decision process can only be described as smooth.

Of course, there are also some doubts.

For example, Franklin Renis, chairman and chief executive officer of Fannie May, one of the board members, asked why AOL should buy Time Warner Turner instead of another cheaper media and entertainment company.

In his words: "What I don’t understand is, why did you pick Time Warner Turner? This is the most expensive company, and they get the highest multiple of the price. In my opinion, AOL is more expensive. Up!"

Hearing such a description from the speaker of the mobile phone, Gerald Levine and Robben Mark, two rivals, spouted the coffee that they had just drunk in their mouths.

"What, there is opposition from AOL's board of directors?"

"What kind of miser is this, who actually feels that Time Warner Turner is expensive?"

...

After the resumption of the meeting process, the directors' enthusiasm for debating was obviously weaker. After a short time, they unanimously agreed-to vote quickly and get the results. It is too tired to resist!

When seeing the board of directors who were still in dispute before, without exception, they did not object to the deal between Time Warner Turner and AOL, Gerrard Levine was surprised and stunned.

Unexpectedly, the richest man was very dissatisfied when he saw everyone voting feebly, and he even proposed: "It's troubled that you don't think we should have a passionate vote?"

"This is a historic moment-AOL Time Warner Turner will grow at the same rate as the Internet."

"Come on, let's show our passion and vote for the second time."

Seeing Tang Huan's call for everyone to have a passionate vote again, Gerald Levine, who was full of joy in his heart, almost cried-finally got the result of "unanimous pass", can you go wrong? What if some people think about it and cause an accident in voting?

The richest man, who looked around at the directors present, raised his hand and said impassionedly: "The growth rate of the new company in the future will be like the Internet."

"The growth rate will be like the Internet!" As if they were hypnotized, everyone broke out in unison, and raised their hands in unison.

Seeing that the richest man successfully guided the directors and repeated the vote in a "convinced" manner, the stone in Gerald Levine's heart finally fell to the ground.

At the same time, Gerald Levin couldn't help but panic in secret-Tang Huan, who rarely appeared on the board of directors, had such a charisma, what if he entered the court personally to fight for power? It must be more difficult to deal with than Steve Ross, who has passed away! After all, the benefactor who promoted himself was also in the hands of the other party before he was alive, and he confessed. .

However, after another thought, he was relieved-the anti-monopoly lawsuit faced by Zheru Software Company is very tricky. It is better than the richest man, and it is impossible to distract his energy lightly. And his opponent is Steve Kay. S.

...

Although AOL and Time Warner Turner took various measures to block the news according to Tang Huan's suggestions, information about the merger between the two companies was inevitably leaked out.

I have to say that this is the credit of the "informants" developed by the media.

Think about the White House where Troangpu stayed in the original time and space 20 years later. News about various controversial decisions continued to flow out early, and you can know what kind of powerful combination the media and "informants" are.

The merger of AOL and Time Warner Turner cannot escape this pervasive tracking capability.

On the night after the most time-consuming and labor-intensive Time Warner Turner board of directors voting ended, Peter Gabel, the director of the Los Angeles bureau of The Wall Street Journal, was awakened by a phone call at home.

The other party is one of his most insightful news providers in Hollywood. He said in a hasty voice: "Peter, I have a very big exclusive news for you-tomorrow morning, Time Warner Turner and AOL, A deal will be announced."

Peter Gabel, who was completely awake, confirmed based on Time Warner Turner's past history: "Is it an operation like mergers and acquisitions?"

The informant replied without hesitation: "Although the two parties said it was an M&A, it was actually an acquisition."

"What?" Peter Gabel asked in surprise and anxiously: "Really? Who is going to buy whom?"

This informant who is very good at protecting himself asked, "Who owns the best currency?"

...

Peter Gabel rushed to the bathroom, washed his face with cold water, quickly returned to the living room, and listened to the telephone recording again.

He has been responsible for the Wall Street Journal's coverage of Hollywood since 1996. He has become an old partner with this informant and naturally believes in each other.

However, the level of information that everyone can access is different after all, and there are deviations.

The experienced Peter Gabel still couldn't believe that the information he received was completely true.

AOL actually wants to buy Time Warner Turner?

If this is true, it will be the biggest scoop in his career.

Thinking of this, Peter Gabel immediately called every "Wall Street Journal" reporter who was responsible for reporting on AOL or Time Warner Turner.

Almost all of Peter Gabel’s colleagues, including the East Coast of the United States, were awakened from their dreams.

Peter Gabel ignored this, but kept urging, "Now call all your informants-I want to know if this news is true!"

...

Kayla Swisher has been responsible for the Wall Street Journal's coverage of Silicon Valley ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and in 1997, wrote a book about the rapidly growing AOL.

After receiving the instructions, she immediately put down the phone, turned on the computer, dialed up the Internet, and activated the instant messaging software icq acquired by AOL. The "Friends" column showed that there were dozens of AOL informants, late at night. At that time, they were all online.

Kayla Swisher is keenly aware-something important has happened!

So, she started to send messages to informants, asking them to confirm whether the rumors were true, but they all went offline immediately, avoiding further questioning.

I have to say that this is the discipline of AOL, and the gap is still opened on the side of Time Warner Turner.

...

For many years, Martin Pias was in New York, reporting on Time Warner Turner.

When he was instructed, he also madly contacted his informant, but the method was changed from icq to the mobile phone of Datang Mobile Communications Company.

In the end, the credit for confirming the news fell to Martin Pias-a senior Time Warner Turner public relations official who was still in a meeting at three o'clock in the morning picked up his call.

Martin Pias, who almost fainted, quickly asked: "We just heard that AOL is going to buy Time Warner Turner-can you confirm it?"

"Yes, it's true-but don't say it, I said it." After the other party answered, he quickly hung up the phone.

...

Peter Gabel, who compiled the news, enthusiastically called the night shift editor of the Dow Jones News Agency, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, "I have a major exclusive news to tell you! Listen, it will catch you by surprise. But it’s definitely not a prank prepared for April Fool’s Day, let alone a scam! Because we have been confirmed through multiple channels."