America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 339 337. The Richest Man in the World

New York, NASDAQ, one of the world's largest stock trading centers.

There are countless companies in the world who dream of ringing the bell here, but the threshold is there, and you can't enter just because you want to.

The so-called ringing the bell is actually a Chinese term.

Because in the 19th century, the opening and closing of stock trading was achieved by human knocking.

At first, it was a small wooden hammer used by judges, but the sound was too small.

The second floor knocking on the first floor may not be heard, so later it was replaced by a large copper gong brought by Chinese and overseas Chinese.

After entering the electronic age, it was changed to an electric bell, but the term ringing the bell was still passed on to China and is still used today.

For example, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is a real big bell, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a copper gong.

The United States naturally does not use these objects, but holds a ceremony, and then the Nasdaq big screen counts down, which is equivalent to an official announcement.

Today, there are crowds of people here, including not only countless stockholders, but also reporters from all over the world.

The reason is self-evident, because Facebook is going to officially enter the stock market.

As a country with an extremely developed financial industry, New York cannot say that there are stocks listed every day, but the frequency is still relatively high.

It can attract so much attention and make such a big scene. It is one of the few big scenes in recent years.

At least it is much more impressive than when MGM re-listed.

Unlike those companies that are trying their best to squeeze in.

Since last year, countless institutions and groups have persuaded Facebook to go public quickly.

Especially after the collapse of Myspace, there are more lobbyists around Eric, but they are all rejected by him mercilessly.

Facebook is like an unattainable goddess, and today she finally walked down the palace and unveiled her veil.

Eric took Fitz out of the car and went straight to the gate of the stock exchange.

Seeing the real owner appear, the reporters who were squatting outside immediately surrounded them.

Swish!

Flash lights kept on, and all kinds of long guns and short guns were aimed at them.

"Mr. Cooper, can you talk about your feelings now?"

"Mr. Cooper, how much do you think Facebook's market value can reach?"

"Mr. Cooper, how is Facebook's business progressing in South America?"

...

Fitz pointed to his watch: "Sorry, everyone, please make way, time is almost up."

Walking through the aisle, the two of them stood at the front as representatives.

When a general company goes public, if there are dozens of people less, hundreds of people more will attend the ceremony.

Because companies that can go public often go through many rounds of financing.

The boss wants to come, and the major shareholders also have to come.

Facebook has no such considerations, which is almost equivalent to Eric's sole proprietorship.

The reason is that the fewer people, the more powerful the person standing on the stage.

After speaking for a few minutes, Eric pressed the button.

"10!"

"9!"

"8!"

Numbers appeared on the Nasdaq screen, and countless people looked at this at the same time, counting down in their hearts and mouths.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

As the last number fell, the Facebook logo was projected on the big screen.

At the same time, the GG language: "Facebook, connect you and me!"

The stock code symbolizing Facebook lit up, and almost all traders in the exchange entered the market at the same time and began to buy frantically.

This is an incredibly thick cake, and countless people want to take a bite.

The 3% internal shares were not digested in the end.

There are no rich second-generations among Facebook's staff, and at most they are an elite class.

The richest Fitz scraped together less than 50 million US dollars.

According to him, this is already maxed out credit, relying on his identity to overdraw from major banks.

This is the case for him as a CEO, and even less for others. In the end, only about 1.3% of the shares were bought internally.

In other words, almost 60% of the shares in this wave were put on the market, and the opening price of 56.6 US dollars was calculated, with a value of nearly 70 billion US dollars.

And as the transaction started, the stock price was jumping up as fast as a kangaroo climbing a mountain.

"Mr. Cooper, how much income do you expect the listing to bring you?"

As soon as the ceremony ended, a reporter from the Financial Times rushed forward to ask.

Eric smiled. This is a very gimmicky topic.

He naturally didn't know how much income he could bring to himself in the end, but he estimated that even if it didn't reach the level of 100 billion, it would at least be 80 or 90 billion.

After this wave, it is a foregone conclusion that he will surpass Buffett and Bill Gates.

"I know everyone has a lot of questions to ask. It just so happens that in addition to what I said just now, I also have something to say."

"There is limited space here. Let's go outside and share this moment together. You all bought stocks, right?"

Everyone at the scene smiled knowingly and followed Eric out of the exchange.

Seeing that he came out so quickly, most of the media who were not allowed to attend the bell ringing ceremony gathered around again.

Not far away, many passers-by in Times Square were also waiting.

"Quiet down, everyone, quiet down, Mr. Cooper has something to say." Fitz shouted loudly.

Facing the gaze of thousands of eyes, Eric cleared his throat.

"Today is a special day. Facebook's current step is related to every user."

"Just like our GG language, Facebook connects you and me!"

"Going public is just the first step for the company. Next, we will continue to expand our business globally and serve everyone with a better attitude."

"I also hope that you can continue to support Facebook and let us grow together. Thank you!"

Clap, clap, clap!

Many people spontaneously applauded.

"This is the first part of what I want to say. Here is another major decision."

After a pause, he fully mobilized the media's attention and announced loudly: "I will initiate an acquisition of Time Warner Group and plan to acquire Warner Bros. Pictures in full!"

When this was said, the scene was stunned at first, and then there was an uproar.

Everyone thought he had some plans for Facebook, but he didn't expect to get a more explosive news.

Admittedly, there are countless film and television companies in Hollywood. It is exaggerated to say that there are bankruptcies and new ones every day.

But that is Warner Bros., a time-honored brand with a history of nearly 100 years, one of the world's top film and television companies, with a market value of nearly 20 billion US dollars, and it is definitely not a nobody.

Everyone knows that MGM won the battle, but directly acquiring Warner is a big step.

And you have to pay a premium when acquiring, 1.5 times or even twice is not impossible.

If this deal is done, it is likely to be as high as 40 to 50 billion US dollars, which will become the largest acquisition in recent years.

Reporters picked up the microphone and asked questions, and the scene instantly became chaotic.

Eric did not stay for long and left quickly under the escort of bodyguards.

But although he left, the turmoil caused by the listing ceremony did not stop, but intensified.

The headlines in the Internet, finance, and entertainment fields were all occupied, and even social news was no exception, and the discussion was unprecedentedly high.

People are speculating how much Eric's net worth will reach, and whether it is possible to surpass Bill Gates to become the world's richest man.

The answer to this question came at the close of the afternoon market. After a day of trading, Facebook's stock price began to stabilize.

The final market value reached 153.3 billion US dollars, far exceeding the initial valuation of 114.5 billion US dollars, fully demonstrating the market's optimism about Facebook's future development potential.

This figure directly surpassed Oracle, IBM, Apple, ExxonMobil, Samsung, Berkshire, JPMorgan Chase and other companies, and became the runner-up in the technology category and the third place in all categories.

The second place is Saudi Aramco Group. As the name suggests, it is a big dog in the Middle East and an energy giant company with a market value of 216.9 billion US dollars.

The technology category is also the first in all categories. The company with the largest market value in the world is Microsoft, with a market value of more than 240 billion US dollars, which is still a big difference.

But don't look at Microsoft's market value is much higher than Facebook, but as the president, Bill Gates, because of the relatively small total share, his assets are not as good as Eric.

According to the latest Forbes statistics, Bill Gates' personal net worth is 57.1 billion US dollars.

Eric has made a profit of 82.4 billion US dollars just by today's stock trading.

Even if Gates has more hidden wealth, it is impossible to exceed this number, not to mention that he also has companies such as MGM and Hasbro.

Even if it is publicly available wealth, Eric's net worth has exceeded 100 billion.

It can't be compared, it can't be compared at all.

Beverly Hills, Cooper's house.

A grand celebration party is being held. In addition to family members, some close friends have been invited.

Looking at Xiao Liu who is chatting with Gadot, and Avril who is whispering with Elizabeth.

Although they are still unclear about their relationship with each other, Eric feels more and more confident in bringing these women together.

Maybe this is the confidence that wealth and fame bring to men.

Standing by the swimming pool with his arms open, he suddenly thought of Iron Man Tony Stark.

"Stark, I'm afraid Stark is not as rich as me, and he will envy my life."

In stark contrast to the enthusiastic celebration in Beverly Hills, Warner is already in a state of panic at this moment.

When Eric said he wanted to acquire the company in front of the media, Barry Meyer suddenly felt his hair stand on end and his heart tightened instantly.

He fell directly on the sofa. His wife wanted to send him to the hospital, but he didn't care about that.

He ran to the company as soon as he could walk.

During this period, MGM gave up its schedule to other companies, and Warner and Disney didn't release many new films.

This was agreed upon by Barry Meyer and Michael Aeneas. They would definitely not be able to swallow this breath if they gave up hastily.

They must accumulate strength to fight with MGM again and take back the first place.

But they never expected that Eric would play this trick.

Acquisition, and the acquisition was announced just after Facebook went public.

It came with a rolling trend, and it was clear that he wanted to cut off the source of funds.

"Charles, don't you usually have the most ideas? I need your advice! Say something!"

The middle-aged man who was named sighed: "I've said enough, Barry, this is not a situation we can control."

"Didn't you see the market value of Facebook? Eric Cooper, the guy, the last thing he lacks now is money."

"If Eric Cooper throws out 30 billion US dollars, Richard might laugh at him."

"But at $35 billion, he will feel that this deal is worth it."

"Once it's increased to $40 billion."

"Bang! He will run to Eric Cooper overnight and beg him to sign quickly."

Hearing this, Barry Meyer pointed at his nose and shouted angrily: "I don't want to listen to your complaints, I need a solution. If he really succeeds in acquiring it, we all know what the outcome will be."

"I will definitely get out, but you don't have an easy time either."

"Think about it, when that guy took over MGM, he almost cleared out the old people in the company as soon as he took office."

"Everyone, who among you hasn't done anything against him? This is a battle to defend our interests."

A senior executive took off his glasses in distress: "But what can we do? You know the decision-making power is not in our hands, Barry."

"Everyone knows the current situation of the group, hundreds of billions of dollars of debt are waiting to be repaid."

"We are meeting here to discuss, I'm afraid they are also meeting at the headquarters to discuss."

"It's just that we are discussing how to save ourselves, while they are discussing how to sell Warner and how to sell it for a better price."

At this time, the door of the conference room was pushed open, and another senior executive threw his mobile phone on the table.

"I just inquired. After Richard got the news, he flew back from Europe urgently."

"Just a while ago, an emergency meeting was held there, and the content was what we guessed."

"I can't count on those old foxes. They want money more than anyone else, especially cash transactions."

"The only thing that can save us is the government's antitrust investigation."

"Eric Cooper already owns MGM. If he controls Warner, it will put pressure on other Hollywood companies to dominate."

"Is it feasible? This reason is a bit lame no matter how you look at it. After all, Sony took the lead in acquiring MGM a few years ago, but Cooper and his son got there first." Barry Meyer was a little worried.

"We should give it a try whether it is feasible or not. This is the best solution we can find at present."

"No, wait a minute, let me think about it again."

"Maybe starting from the film and television is not a good idea. We should consider the comic business."

"What? Comics?"

"It is comics. We have overlooked a very important point. Eric Cooper, don't forget that he has Marvel in addition to MGM."

"Now Marvel's comic sales account for about 35% of the market, and DC's market share is similar."

"The two together have occupied 70% of the comic market, which is more terrifying than the market share of MGM and Warner. It is definitely expected to form an industry monopoly."

Barry Meyer slapped the table heavily: "You are right, this is a very good point."

"Hahaha, who would have thought that a useless comic business would become our life-saving straw."

"Everyone, we must hold our ground, and victory will belong to us!"