America's Road to Fame

Chapter 205 Wedding
Friday, April 2.

Amid Murdoch's troubles, Trucker's "Avatar" premieres.

The film, which Murdoch and 7300th Century Fox had high hopes for, grossed $[-] million in its opening weekend.

Although "Avatar" became the box office champion after its release, this box office opening is actually very, very average, so when the media reported it, they used the word "top" implicitly.

If we make a comparison, the global box office of "Avatar" premiere is 2.32 million US dollars. At this time, it is not as good as the two "Harry Potter", "Spiderman 3", "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End", "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Heath", "Twilight Saga: New Moon", "Raiders of the Lost Ark: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" Ninth place at the box office in film history.

It can be said that the current box office has also disappointed Murdoch's greatest expectations. Therefore, after he returned to the United States, Chen William learned that the other party took the initiative to start negotiations to sell [-]th Century Fox.

It is also understandable that Twentieth Century Fox has been losing money for the past two years. They had high hopes for "Avatar", which was originally produced with a lot of money, but the box office of the premiere is now lower than expected.

Therefore, News Corporation is currently in a very critical situation. It has been strictly regulated by many governments including the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, the subprime mortgage crisis has affected the company's financial situation and bank financing is difficult. This has led Murdoch to sell some assets. Ideas to ease the financial situation of the group.

Of course, Murdoch is old and cunning, and naturally he will not just negotiate with William Chen. After returning to the United States, he instructed the news of his intention to sell [-]th Century Fox, waiting for quotations from various companies.

Now that he is determined to sell the company, he must hope to sell it for a good price.

Soon, in addition to Chen William, Disney also made an offer, and they were interested in buying: Twentieth Century Fox Films, Twentieth Century Fox Television Company, Fox Searchlight, Fox Cable Network, National Geographic, Hulu Video The 30% equity of the website and the equity of some regional sports channels have given a packaged price for these assets - 200 billion US dollars.

In this regard, Murdoch's response is that he does not want to sell so many businesses.After all, if these are really sold to Disney, it can be said that News Corporation’s film and television media resources are only Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox News Channel, Sports Channel and other TV broadcasting networks, plus News Corporation’s news media business, the entire group The sale of nearly half of the business is unbearable for the current Murdoch.

The reason why he is preparing to sell assets is that he hopes to sell some loss-making assets to maintain the cash flow of the group, and he does not want to sell assets with good profits, such as TV channels and local sports channels.

In this regard, Nelson and Camillo Hagan of Goldman Sachs began to act, representing Chen Williams, quoting 60th Century Fox (including film and TV drama companies) and Fox Searchlight for US$[-] billion.

Compared with Disney's bid, their bid made Murdoch feel even more excited, because the valuation of those sports channels alone is nearly 100 billion U.S. dollars, and in Disney's 200 billion U.S. dollar offer, the twentieth century The quotations of Fox and Fox Searchlight are both less than 50 billion US dollars.

It is also understandable that Disney is the strongest of the six major Hollywood film companies. In their eyes, the value of [-]th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight is far less than that of other assets. The acquisition of [-]th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight will only increase them Some library resources and IP, such as channels, are of little significance to them.

But getting a 30% stake in the hulu video platform will allow them to increase their shareholding in the hulu video platform to 60% (they originally held 30% of the shares), thus completing their holding of the company.

Disney owns the Entertainment and Sports Network (ESPN), a 24-hour American cable TV network dedicated to sports programming. If it can acquire Fox Sports' regional sports network, its volume will be further expanded, strengthening the company's reputation. Market share and profitability.

William Chen knew that negotiations involving such a large scale would not be reached in a short period of time. Even if the current situation of News Corporation is not good and urgently needs funds to save itself, this time will be shortened by a lot compared to usual, but the back and forth Negotiations, together with asset audits and appraisals, will take nearly a month at the fastest.

Taking advantage of this time, William Chen was going to fly to England.

Musk is getting married, and he is planning to hold a wedding with his fiancée Talulah in England. As a good friend in his heart, he naturally invited William Chen to attend.

Their wedding was held in Scotland, which is also Talulah's hometown.

It can be seen that Musk’s wedding also attracted many reporters. After all, it is said that many Silicon Valley leaders will attend his wedding, including Google founder Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg et al.

Ever since William Chen appeared, some reporters had recognized him and rushed to ask questions.

"Mr. William, it is said that you intend to acquire Twentieth Century Fox from Murdoch. Has there been any progress?"

"What do you think about News Corporation's wiretapping, can you tell me?"

……

A large part of the reason for this situation is that Murdoch's News Corporation is too popular in the UK because of the bugging.Therefore, it is now rumored that he is going to sell part of his assets to raise funds and ease the tight cash flow situation. The two most likely sellers are Disney and Chen William’s Meta Investment Company. He was chased and intercepted by reporters like this.

This scene made Fan Bingbing beside Chen William speechless. It was the first time he saw Chen William's popularity overseas.She has experienced this kind of situation many times in China, but when she was overseas, there was no such situation. At this time, her popularity is still mostly within the scope of Greater China, and Europe and the United States really don't have a face for her. What recognition.

Fan Bingbing met Chen William in England. On the one hand, Chen William wanted to make up for the regret that he didn't have the opportunity to go out with her when he was in France before, and this time they came here, they can also discuss investing in Fan Bingbing The studio then invested in Huaguo Film and Television Company.

After accompanying William Chen to Musk's wedding, Fan Bingbing will go to France. She also has a catwalk agreement with Hermès, and then she will go directly to Cannes. She will bring the film "Guanyin Mountain" The film participates in the Cannes Film Festival.

Just seeing Musk, he came over to give William Chen a big hug, and said:
"William, it's great to have you here. I heard that you're going to buy Twentieth Century Fox? That's not a good idea. Only technology can change the world."

Because of the subprime mortgage crisis, Tesla, which was planning to go public this year, had to postpone the listing time, because looking at the current US stock market, it is easy to think that now is not a good time to go public, and the company's valuation will definitely be greatly reduced.Seeing what Musk said, is he short of money again?

"Elon, today is your wedding day, we shouldn't be talking about work, and congratulations, you married one of the best women in the world."

"Haha, I think so too." At this time, Musk also noticed Fan Bingbing next to William Chen and asked:

"William, this beautiful lady, why don't you introduce me?"

"This is my friend, Fan Bingbing. Like Talulah, she is also an actress, and she is one of the most famous actors in Huaguo."

"Oh, then you and Talulah should have a lot in common. Nice to meet you, Ms. Fan Bingbing."

……

The wedding between Musk and Talulah was held at Dornoch Cathedral. Talulah looked very beautiful in a white wedding dress, and she was able to show off her excellent figure. I have to say that it is worthy of doing A woman who has been an underwear model is indeed an unusual figure.

Musk, on the other hand, was wearing an English-style dress and a top hat. He looked in a good mood, always smiling, and looked at Talulah with love in his eyes.

Seeing this scene, William Chen felt quite embarrassed. If the historical trajectory is followed, the two people may break up soon and divorce. Talula received 2500 million US dollars and left Musk.

Not long after that, the two remarried again, trying to change each other, but in the end it was futile and they only ended up breaking up.

It's just that at this moment, they are still immersed in happiness and look very much in love.

And Fan Bingbing next to William Chen silently looked at the couple on the field, his eyes fell on the wedding dress on Talula's body and her sweet smile, with a bit of envy in his eyes, he silently held William Chen's hand. hand.

　ask for a ticket~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)