America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 201 200. Billion dollar baby, it’s time to divide the pork

Taylor Swift is undoubtedly the best female singer after the millennium, or absolutely, she is also fully qualified to be the best singer.

Because her shelf life is too long, she was still at her peak before Eric traveled through time, and the stars of her generation competed with her.

For example, Britney Spears, Teardrop Gaga, Justin Bieber, etc., all of them have gradually faded away in popularity, or occasionally shocked the world, but then disappeared.

Only Swift is always looking for new things, always walking on the road of innovating and surpassing herself.

A few years before her debut, her singing skills and style were not yet perfect. Although she was popular at that time, she was still some way off from reaching the top.

Especially when trying to hit the most authoritative B-list, I often come across all kinds of divine songs, and then get knocked out, which is a bit unlucky, so I am nicknamed "Misfortune" by fans.

Of course, this nickname also means to praise her as a beauty, and beauty is replaced by mold.

And she is also the one who opened the door to the era of digital payment for songs. The prerequisite for this is that someone is willing to pay for your songs, which shows her appeal.

The number of fans on major social media and video websites, as well as the total number of MVs and songs played are among the best.

The key is that she has always focused on making music. Unlike some artists and singers who use their fame to develop brands, sell cosmetics and goods, etc., I have built your business empire just by relying on the income from concerts and albums.

Although she has a dozen ex-boyfriends, it does not affect the number of her male fans at all, because the songs are suitable for all ages, with many fans ranging from those in their 60s and 70s to children.

A global concert can drive more than tens of billions of dollars in direct consumption, and indirect consumption can reach tens of billions of dollars. Therefore, leaders or senior officials from Mexico, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and other countries have invited her to hold concerts.

If MJ was the undisputed number one superstar in the world in the 1980s and 1990s, then Taylor Swift is the undoubted superpower after 2010. Her emergence has plunged global music into a super-powerful situation.

In the world of movies, the world's last superstar is Leonardo DiCaprio, and in the world of music, it's Taylor Swift.

As for whether the next world-class superstar will emerge, I'm afraid it's already difficult.

At most, it is influential in one's own country and surrounding areas. It is almost difficult to reach the whole world.

"How's this little girl's singing skills?" Eric asked, pointing to the photo of Qing Sushi.

Maikou took a look and said: "Not bad. She is taking the rural route. She is not the top among this group of students. She is above average."

"The main reason is that she is still young, and her body and voice are not fully developed at the age of 14. Some people will be amazed because of their young age, and some people will be limited by it."

"The players in front didn't see you being serious. Do you think this little girl has a future?"

Eric nodded, thinking that she was so promising, she was a walking money printing machine.

"Very good, I like her name, Taylor, Taylor, tiger, tiger, a strong girl, hahahaha."

Maikou was amused by the homophony and laughed, then waved his hand.

"No, no, no, Swift doesn't look tough at all. She is a cute little girl. When I first saw the photo, I felt like a field girl who walked out of a remote village."

"After listening to her song demo, a set of images emerged in my mind."

"I usually sleep on the grass, or hold a wooden guitar, occasionally holding a dogtail grass in my mouth, and then softly hum the songs I wrote."

Eric took a closer look at Swift's photo, and he did feel that it was a bit rustic and earthy, and her facial features were not as three-dimensional as in later generations.

It must have been under the knife, at least the corners of the eyes were opened, and the nose and mouth were done, but this is nothing, they are all micro plastic surgery, which celebrity doesn't do it?

When Jackie Chan was young, he would still be interested in acting. As long as he was successful, he would still be popular.

"In short, we must sign Taylor Swift. I have a feeling that she will become a big hit in the future and become a world-class singer."

"Eric, do you think so highly of her?"

"Well, my hunch has always been accurate. No matter where she gets on The Voice, we must sign her."

"I listen to you, but there is a little trouble at the moment. Taylor Swift is currently signed to RCA Records. If you want to sign her, you need to get her consent, as well as the consent of her parents, and pay a liquidated damages."

"But the price is not high. After all, she is just a newcomer. It may be tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars."

"Then find a way to convince this little girl that you are not enough as an artist in art. We need more."

Eric continued to look through his resume, and soon another familiar name came into view—Katie Hudson.

Many people may not recognize this name, because she later changed her name to Katy Perry, also known as Fruit Girl.

Although her achievements are not as good as Swift's, she is still a first-rate female singer and has been very popular.

"This girl is not bad. She is from Santa Barbara. She is actually a girl from Santa Barbara."

Maikou nodded: "Don't be surprised, she is well-known locally and is a popular local singer. Even I have heard of it. If you go to a bar to spend money, you may meet Katie Hudson on stage."

"Does she have a contract with a company now?"

"No."

"I signed it, I have a feeling this girl will become popular too."

Maikou couldn't help frowning and asked hesitantly: "Eric, are you looking for a singer or a lover?"

"Huh? What?"

"Why are you only interested in women? These guys are pretty good too, like this Xilin, his rap is very stylish and sounds great."

"And this, he has a really good voice."

Eric curled his lips helplessly, thinking what can I do, other people don't know.

This is still very famous. If it were an ordinary singer who was only popular in the United States, he would not recognize it in front of him.

I continued to scroll down, until the last one, a third acquaintance appeared, finally a young man.

From the photo, it is obvious that he is of mixed race, with brown skin and a pair of big, piercing eyes.

The name column reads Peter Keen Hernandez. There must be many people who have not heard of this name, because he will also change his name later.

Bruno Mars, nicknamed Brother Mars, will be a popular male singer in the future and a frequent guest on the Grammy Awards.

The extremely sultry song "Uptown Funk", with its uptown funk and magical music video dance, made him a global hit.

One joke can explain his strength: Old Immortal Mars has boundless magic power.

"Mykko, I'm not looking for a lover. This young guy is also very good. Is he from Hawaii?"

"Born in Hawaii, currently living in New York, I prefer hip-hop rock, and I don't have a contract with a company."

"Very good, then we want it too. I feel like this kid will also become a big star."

"Well, you signed as you said, which at least proves that you are not choosing a concubine for yourself."

Unexpectedly, after Billy wandered around for a few months, he actually found a few rising stars. As expected, he had the same lucky constitution as Judy.

Friday afternoon, before get off work.

At the MGM Building, a meeting was being held. Except for the Coopers and his son, all the other attendees were company executives.

Everyone's attention was focused on the two father and son, with excitement faintly revealed in their eyes.

They had thought that this day would come, but they never thought it would come so quickly.

At first, many people chose to join the team because of Charlie Cooper's face. Unexpectedly, just over half a year after entering the game, Charlie Cooper had a faint tendency to retire and began to hand over all the power of the company to his son.

Even if many people don't say it, they are worried in their hearts, fearing that MGM, which is recovering, will collapse.

Until the past few months, movies such as "Happy Death Day" and "Breathless" have been successful one after another, winning a lot of box office with small gains.

With the release of "Transformers", the global revenue has exceeded 700 million.

Strength speaks for itself in any industry, and everything proves that Eric Cooper is an extremely wise leader, and his decisions almost never fail.

Now, everyone is following his leadership with sincerity, hoping that he can lead everyone to a brighter future.

Today is the time to witness the results of more than a year of hard work, referred to as the Pork Sharing Conference.

Eric looked at Charlie Cooper: "Say a few words, Dad."

Although he is no longer involved in the business, dad's current position is still president.

He nodded slightly, and first took a long breath, as if he wanted to completely spit out the accumulated siltation for many years.

After sitting in this position for so many years, I finally got what I wanted and saw the rise of MGM.

Although it was not me who did it, what is the difference between my son and myself?

If I hadn't believed in him and given him $10 million, I wouldn't be in the current situation.

In other words, he is equivalent to an angel investor.

"We are all sitting here together today, and we all know why."

"MGM is going to be re-listed, and it is impossible to achieve this without everyone's efforts."

"This is the result of our joint efforts and is inseparable from everyone's sweat, so you deserve everything."

"Here, I want to express my gratitude to everyone, thank you!"

Bang bang bang bang...

The conference room immediately burst into warm applause.

Dad looked at Eric, he nodded and said, "I won't say anything more. This time MGM will use 30% of its shares for listing financing."

"In addition, if you take out 15% of the shares for internal financing, the opportunity is here. How much you can take depends on your ability."

HO

There was a sudden exclamation in the conference room, and many people's breathing suddenly became rapid.

The 15% share was somewhat beyond their expectations. When everyone discussed privately, they thought that Eric would give up to 10% to put a larger share on the market.

There is no doubt that this approach can bring greater benefits to the company and himself.

But he chose to give more benefits to the guys who fought together to conquer the world. Many people suddenly had the consciousness that a person who is a confidant will die. This kind of boss is hard to find even with a lantern.

But what everyone doesn’t know is that the reason why Eric is so generous is because he holds a bigger trump card in his hand, which is Facebook and YouTube.

Even in 2023, Disney and Netflix will be strong enough. Looking at global film and television companies, they are two heroes competing for hegemony, and other companies are not strong enough.

Even so, the market value of the two companies fluctuates around US$200 billion, sometimes as much as US$250 billion.

On the other hand, how much is Facebook? It once exceeded one trillion, and all the film and television companies in the world combined were less valuable than Facebook.

Even though the stock price plummeted later due to various decision-making mistakes, such as investing in the metaverse and other confusing layouts, it was still able to maintain around 600 billion US dollars, which still exceeded the total market value of all film and television companies in the world.

YouTube has always belonged to Google and has never been listed on the market.

Countless people and institutions are waiting for it to go public independently, and its valuation is nearly US$400 billion, which is also far more than Disney and Netflix.

Therefore, the upper limit of setting up a film and television company is right there. Compared with social media, it is indeed far behind, and the status and voice of the two are not in the same class at all.

So Eric didn't feel bad about taking out 45% of the shares for financing, and he needed money, and 45% was just the first step.

The money exchanged this time will be used to repay debts and support the operations and development of Facebook and YouTube.

We will continue to raise funds in the future until the remaining shares in our hands are maintained at 10% to 15%.

In addition, 20% of the shares will be sold to AK Film and Television, leaving the left hand and the right hand.

When AK Film and Television becomes bigger in a few years, it will definitely take the road of listing. At that time, it will continue to use another company to hold part of the shares of AK Film and Television, and continue to nest.

And this time, although he sold 15% of his shares to this group of executives, they may not have the strength to take them all.

Although the value of these shares is not as valuable as after the listing, it far exceeds the period when Eric first took over MGM.

Film and television companies are different from the real industry. They are companies that rely on storytelling to increase their stock prices. The better the story, the higher the market’s expectations of you.

Judging from the current situation, MGM's story is obviously told very well, so the actual price of this 15% stake is US$800 million.

Don't think Eric's price is too high. The government's process has reached the end, and the price is close to double this amount. He is really conscientious in putting money-making opportunities in front of his subordinates.

However, even if these people have been executives for many years and can receive tens or millions of dollars in remuneration every year, even if they sell everything to get loans, Eric estimates that together they will not be able to make 800 million.

According to regulations, after the listing, if company executives want to sell their stocks to cash out, the ban will be lifted after one year, and the founders will be lifted after three years.

Within a year, you can only hold the shares in your hands and buy them with loans. If they fall, you may be in trouble.

The bet is whether you believe Eric can continue to create miracles.

And what they can't buy will naturally be put on the market for financing, so the probability of actually putting it on the market will exceed 30% of the shares.

The meeting didn't last long. After it ended, everyone immediately dispersed. Needless to say, they all went to think of ways to raise money.