God of NBA point guards

Chapter 498 Golf Masters Championship + NBA League is about to go bankrupt
On February 2, Zhou Quan and Zeng Li received good news. The Exquisite Coffee Company’s listing application was approved, and the listing date was March 22.

"Chels!"

"Chels!"

The two held a party at the villa, inviting company executives and the listing advisory team, as well as minority shareholders Jeff Bezos and his wife.

On March 3, Exquisite Coffee began to subscribe for shares, and the listing underwriter was Rebes Investment Bank.

To be listed on an IPO in the United States, account funds must reach US$25, so new stock subscription is a game for rich people and has nothing to do with small retail investors.

Friends like Roberts and Stallone also prepared funds early in the morning and prepared to participate in the subscription of new shares.

On the 14th, good news came from Rebes Investment Bank. The subscription of 6000 million new IPO shares has been completed.

This news means that the company's IPO plan is basically successful, as long as the stock price does not collapse after the listing.

Time flies to March 3. Zhou Quan and Zeng Li, as well as the Bezoses and some company executives, came to New York.

The two also invited Roberts and a group of friends to New York to attend the bell-ringing ceremony as guests.

At 21:[-] a.m. on the [-]st, the bell-ringing ceremony began.

"Husband, I was nervous when I attended Amazon's bell-ringing ceremony last time. Why are I still nervous now?" Zeng Li said with a smile after taking the hammer handed by the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.

"Because this bell-ringing ceremony is dominated by you. You are the chairman and have great responsibilities." Zhou Quan joked.

"Whee!"

Zeng Li laughed excitedly.

Friends such as Roberts and Stallone are not shareholders and executives of the company. As guests, they are not qualified to ring the bell. They can only stand in the back and look at Zhou Quan and Zeng Li with envy in their eyes.

"I knocked."

When the time came, at the signal of the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, Zeng Li cheered and then knocked gently.

Zhou Quan, Bezos and his wife also knocked down together.

"when!"

As the melodious bell rang, it meant that the IPO of the fine coffee company with the code JZKF was officially launched successfully.

At 09:30, US stocks opened.

Everyone was staring at JZKF's data, especially Zeng Li, who didn't dare to blink.

"18, 18 dollars, hubby, the opening price is 18 dollars, it's high!" She immediately cheered.

"awesome!"

Zhou Quan, Bezos and others were excited.

"Clap clap clap..."

This opening price means that the listing of Exquisite Coffee has truly been successful. Warm applause immediately erupted in the trading hall below. The traders applauded the successful listing of Exquisite Coffee.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the US stock market closed. Exquisite Coffee closed at US$21.56, reaching a maximum of US$23.1. At the close, the company's market value reached nearly US$26 billion.

Zhou Quan held a celebration party at the hotel and invited a large group of friends in New York. These friends also bought more or less fine coffee stocks today.

"Congratulations, Zeng, chairman of a listed company, a real billionaire, so enviable." Roberts said with a smile, raising his champagne glass.

After clinking glasses, Zeng Li took a sip, and then asked with a smile: "Julia, you are a celebrity partner of the company, how much did you buy?"

"I won 100 lots when I subscribed. My broker just informed me that I won another 600 lots today. I plan to continue buying and try to join the board of directors." Roberts said seriously.

"The company has raised US$9 million in funds and will accelerate its expansion to the world. If you are optimistic about the company's development, you should be careful." Zeng Li said in a low voice.

"of course."

This was the most inside information, and Roberts nodded quickly.

The successful launch of exquisite coffee made Zhou Quan and Zeng Li successful people in the American business world in one fell swoop, and their social status increased sharply.

"This guy, how did he do it?"

After Jordan saw the relevant news, he felt hit again.

This season, the league's ratings have dropped significantly. Even the Bulls' national live broadcasts have been affected, but not as much as other teams.

This shows that after Zhou Quan left, he could not handle the development of the alliance alone.

And now, Zhou Quan has also launched a listed company. The gap between him and Zhou Quan in all aspects is getting wider and wider. For him who has a strong desire to win, it is a huge blow.

"Forget it, there is no comparison with him in business. I majored in geography and history, and my strength is tour guides."

Fortunately, he is a rational person. If he can't compete, he won't compete. He only competes with those who can, such as who can pee farther.

……

On April 4, when the NBA regular season was coming to an end, Zhou Quan received an invitation from the tournament committee to participate in the Masters Golf Tournament.

The Masters is one of the four major golf tournaments in the world. It is one of the four major championships. It was founded in 1934. It is the highest level, the most famous, the most influential, the most attractive, and the earliest held every year among the four major championships. The Grand Slam professional event is also the only professional event among all professional golf tournaments.

This event is held every year in April and is also held at the Augusta National Golf Course in a small valley in South Carolina, Georgia, USA.

In last year's Masters, the fledgling Woods won the second championship in his career. Because of the influence of the Masters, he is now famous all over the United States.

Moreover, the Masters championship prize money far exceeds that of the previous U.S. Open, reaching as high as 300 million US dollars this year.

Zhou Quan was very surprised when he received the invitation, because the Masters Tournament is not something you can just participate in if you want to, and the conditions for participation are very demanding.Celebrities in the Masters do not refer to celebrities in general, but celebrities in the golf world. No matter how famous a Hollywood superstar is, there is no possibility of participating in the Masters.

The U.S. Golf Masters has a total of fourteen entry rules, all of which are related to the players’ previous records, such as the champions of the four major professional events in the past five years, the U.S. Amateur Golf Champion of the previous year, and the top 24 players in the Masters. Ranked among the top 16 in total money earned on the PGA Tour and the top [-] in the U.S. Open the previous year.

The Masters, also known as the Masters, refers to a professional event that only master golfers are eligible to participate in.

He had only occasionally played a dozen PGA Tour events before, and had never participated in the four majors or other events, and could not meet any of the requirements.

"Roger, did the tournament organizing committee send the wrong invitation letter?" He asked with great confusion, looking at the invitation letter in his hand.

Roger Philippe was also confused. He began to wonder when he received the invitation letter. Was it really sent to the wrong person?
"Call and ask." Zhou Quan said.

"OK."

Philip immediately called the event organizer's phone number. There was a contact number on the invitation letter.

"Hello, this is the Masters..."

"Hello, I am the agent of Iron Fist King Zhou Quan. I have a question..."

"Oh, that's it, we have added a new entry rule..."

"what?"

Phillip put down the phone in a daze.

"What's going on?" Zhou Quan asked curiously.

After Philip came back to his senses, he said excitedly: "Zhou, they specially added a 15th rule for you. The athletes who were the highest-paid athletes in the world last year and have won the top five in a single PGA Tour event are Qualify for the Masters.”

Zhou Quan was stunned, what does the organizing committee of the Masters Tournament mean?If we talk about influence, is the influence of the Masters already big enough?

"Iron Fist, the organizing committee is still waiting for your answer. If you are determined to participate, you need to reply to them." Philip said excitedly.

"Roger, the Masters Tournament is so influential. They added rules and invited me. What's their plan?" Zhou Quan asked.

Philip smiled and said: "The influence of the Masters is indeed great, but Zhou, don't underestimate your own influence.

You currently earn hundreds of millions of dollars from a boxing match, while the Masters this year only earns $300 million. Who has more gimmicks?

Your boxing match has millions of PPV sales, tens of millions of ratings for the NBA Finals, and is watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. This is something that is impossible to achieve in the current celebrity game, but the ratings are not that high.

Moreover, golf is an aristocratic sport and it is difficult to popularize it among ordinary people. Your influence in the world is definitely far greater than that of the Masters. Maybe the organizing committee hopes to expand the influence of the Masters among ordinary people. "

Zhou Quan nodded thoughtfully and said, "Then participate. There is nothing to consider. You should inform the organizing committee immediately."

"OK." Phillip nodded.

He couldn't help but said: "Actually, even if you are not qualified to participate in the Masters this year, as long as you are among the top [-] in total prize money on the PGA Tour this year, you will still be eligible for qualification next year. It is not difficult for you.

The Masters Tournament Organizing Committee must know this. I think they specially came up with this rule to allow you to participate in the Masters Tournament a year in advance. I'm afraid it's just a gimmick to increase your popularity. "

The next day, the Masters Organizing Committee held a press conference and announced the 15th qualification. At the same time, it was announced that Iron Fist King Zhou Quan would participate in this Masters, which shocked the golf community in the United States and the world.

"This is a rule specially set up for the Iron Fist King. Our Masters has bowed its noble head to the Iron Fist King." The New York Times.

“The Masters Game Has Fallen!” Washington Post.

"The King of Iron Fist competes in the four major golf professional events for the first time, which is a historic event." The Seattle Times.

“The Masters took first place with King of Iron Fist, and we believe that the other three major professional Grand Slam tournaments will also extend an olive branch to King of Iron Fist.” Los Angeles Times.

Amid all the hype about Zhou Quan, the Masters Tournament started on the 16th, with one round every day for a total of four rounds, and ended on the 19th.

The time is also right, the NBA regular season has also come to an end and will end on April 4.

In the first three rounds, Zhou Quan shot a good score of 210, 6 under par, ranking No. 4.

In the final round on the 19th, he was in pretty good condition. He made a birdie on the first hole, and then kept up his efforts and made another birdie on the seventh hole. The nine holes in the morning were two strokes under par, and he had already reached the top. When we reached No. 2, we were only one stroke behind No. 1.

In the afternoon, his form broke out again. He made an eagle on the No. 11 hole, two strokes under par, and another birdie on the No. 16 hole.

Finally, in the fourth final round, he shot a super-explosive score of 67, 5 under par, and won the 277 championship with a total score of 11, 98 under par. Masters champion.

This is his first professional golf championship and his first four major championships, which means a lot to him.

At the same time, his championship also stimulated the media. Countless media rushed to report the news of his championship, which lasted for several days.

"Basketball, boxing, and golf, King of Tekken spans three realms and is the undisputed king of crossovers." Los Angeles Times.

"The Iron Fist King, the most influential Masters champion is born." Russian Newspaper.

"After basketball and boxing, the greatest crossover king Tekken King Zhou Quan officially started his golf career." German newspaper Bild.

Suppressed by the news of his championship, the NBA regular season of the 97/98 season ended quietly. A few days later, when the playoffs began, some of the attention of the American media began to turn back to the NBA.

However, these media reports on the NBA are all negative news.

The New York Times reported: “According to statistics provided by NBC, in the 97/98 season, the average ratings of the NBA regular season live broadcast across the United States dropped significantly by 185% from last year, to only 126 million, setting a record low in ten years.

At the same time, the NBA's operating income this year is expected to plummet by about [-] million U.S. dollars, and the league will be in a difficult operating situation.

The league's labor negotiations have broken down many times without reaching any valuable agreement, and the probability of a lockout next season is very high.

Various data show that the NBA continues to taste the consequences of driving away the Iron Fist King. David Stern's purge in the league has not changed people's bad impression of the NBA's racial discrimination. "

The Los Angeles Times reported: “The NBA must bring back the Iron Fist King as soon as possible, otherwise starting from next season and after the next television broadcast contract is implemented, the league’s operations will fall into greater difficulties, and small teams may even go bankrupt. .”

(End of this chapter)