Top of the big era

Under the economic crisis, the world is introducing various good policies to attract investment, attract funds to restore the economy and stabilize employment.

Perhaps Zhou Buqi and Sun Zhengyi teamed up to develop the big project "Purple Star Global", which stimulated the US authorities and made them feel that they should express their encouragement. By mid-May, some surprising good news came.

The U.S. regulatory authorities have approved the split of Ziweixing.

A full month earlier than expected.

Domestically, Zhou Buqi had already smoothed the relationship and there were no obstacles. As for South America, Australia, Africa, India, Russia, etc., you don’t need to care at all. Next, as long as we wait for EU regulatory approval, everything will fall into place.

It is expected that Ziweixing will be officially split by mid-June.

May 16th is an exciting day.

Manchester United won the Premier League.

My parents and Zhu Jun have all gone to Manchester to witness the championship process live.

Zhou Buqi also wanted to go, but he didn't make it.

There is new news in Hollywood.

"What? MGM?"

"Yes, after MGM released the news that it would seek to sell it, it is said that many companies have contacted them."

Zhen Yu stood at the door of the study, like a secretary.

Zhou Buqi was a little funny, "What are you doing standing there? Come here."

Zhen Yu rolled her eyes at him and stood still.

Zhou Buqi patted his thigh and said, "Come on."

Zhen Yu bit her lip and said, "The servants are cleaning the floor outside."

"Lock the door."

"Don't go too far."

Zhen Yu bit her lip and warned, then turned around, locked the door of the study, and walked slowly to his seat.

Zhou Buqi was not polite at all, he immediately hugged her over and let her sit on his lap. He put his left hand around her waist and slid his right hand up her nightgown to caress her delicate and soft thighs. .

Zhen Yu was used to it. She placed her hands on her thighs and drew a line, "No crossing is allowed until here."

"Why?"

"Men and women are not allowed to be intimate."

"Ahem..."

Zhou Buqi was amused and laughed.

Zhen Yu's pretty face was flushed, her eyes were shining, and she couldn't help laughing. She pursed her lips and said, "Anyway, I can't let you succeed like this in vain."

Zhou Buqi heard something in her words, "Huh? What do you want? Tell me, I can even pick the moon out for you!"

Zhen Yu hesitated for a moment, spoke softly, and asked in a low voice: "Boss Zhou, what is our relationship now? You always do things like this."

"No!"

Zhou Buqi was surprised.

Zhen Yu gritted her teeth and said, "You haven't confessed yet!"

Zhou Buqi coughed and said awkwardly: "Senior Sister Zhen Yu, you have to consider my difficulties. I am not a scumbag. I can't tell you that I only like you in this life. We will be together for the rest of our lives." ? This is all to coax the little girl, I am a real person and will not lie to others."

"I won't hug you anymore." Zhen Yu squeaked and went to sit on the sofa on the side. "Go and ask, what's going on here at MGM? Don't let others take advantage of our layout. ."

Zhou Buqi felt more at ease, "It shouldn't be a big problem!"

Masayoshi Son is responsible for the MGM case.

Zhou Buqi called him and got confirmation. Son Zhengyi said: "Indeed, three or four companies have consulted MGM's board of directors and seem to be interested in acquiring it."

"This is not okay!"

Zhou Buqi frowned.

Son Zhengyi said with a smile: "According to your theory, aren't the leaders in Hollywood all low-level and unable to see the times clearly?"

"Is it a Hollywood company that made the offer to MGM?"

"Yes, it seems there is Time Warner."

"Um……"

Zhou Buqi became much quieter.

When Hollywood companies acquire MGM, they still look at the business's ability to make money. They consider it from the perspective of industry integration and the business model of the traditional film industry.

If this is the thinking, the value of MGM is very low.

Over the past two decades, MGM has been ruined by capitalists and is no longer viable. From a traditional perspective, MGM no longer has much value.

Therefore, to acquire MGM using the traditional business model, the price must be very low!

If you invest in the future and seize the trend of the era of "content is king", you may be able to charge a sky-high price for MGM. Just like Marvel, normally, before the release of "Iron Man 2", the company's value was only 1.5 billion to 2 billion US dollars. But Disney knew the right direction, directly offered $4.2 billion, and succeeded in one fell swoop!

Then, only half a year later, "Iron Man 2" became a global hit.

Disney's acquisition of Marvel became an epoch-making success story.

Zhou Buqi said "Yeah", "My theory must be right. As long as Disney doesn't take action, other companies will not dare to invest too much in MGM."

Masayoshi Son said: "It is impossible for Disney to make an offer for MGM. The corporate cultures of both parties are too far apart."

Zhou Buqi agreed with this point of view. He got up and went to the sofa, sitting next to Senior Sister Zhen Yu. He put his arm around her waist and turned his phone on speakerphone, "How was your discussion with Sony? What did they think? ?”

Son Zhengyi smiled and said: "If you have any ideas, just accept your fate. Just take off the responsibility."

MGM's current debt is 3.7 billion US dollars. It is insolvent, its cash flow is cut off, and it cannot produce new films. It has to continue to borrow money to pay interest, which can only get worse and worse.

For the major investors in the leveraged buyout of MGM back then, this was a hot potato. Not to mention making money, it would be great to be able to give away this burden for free.

If it is not handled well, all parties will be offended and may fall out and file a lawsuit.

Zhou Buqi said: "That's right, there is one thing that needs to be done in advance."

"What's up?"

"Repurchase issuance rights."

"What's the meaning?"

"The purpose is to buy back the distribution rights of MGM movies over the past twenty years. Content copyright is the right to earn income, and the right to distribution is the right to control."

Zhou Buqi saw that he didn't quite understand, so he explained more.

For example, the production company of MGM's movie "GoldenEye" ten years ago was MGM. But at that time, MGM no longer had a distribution company, so it sold its distribution business to others. Theatrical distribution was sold to Universal Pictures, and peripheral copyright distribution such as DVD and TV was sold to Warner.

Distribution rights are the real control rights.

If Netflix wants to put "007: GoldenEye" on its own platform, it will be useless to deal with MGM, because the distribution rights are not in their hands. You have to contact Warner and rent digital rights from Warner. After Warner receives the rent, it charges a commission of about 8% and transfers the remaining 92% to MGM.

In the early years, MGM's movies were basically distributed by Universal Pictures and Warner.

By 2005, Sony led a consortium to acquire MGM, and Sony controlled MGM. Since then, the distribution rights of MGM's film and television dramas have fallen into the hands of Sony Pictures, and this part of the distribution rights must also be bought back.

Zhou Buqi said: "It shouldn't be difficult to buy back the distribution rights from Sony. Sony doesn't have a TV business, and the distribution rights only have financial significance, not strategic significance. But it's a little difficult for Warner."

Son Zhengyi asked: "Strategic significance? How to say it?"

Zhou Buqi said helplessly: "Look at Warner's TV business, including Turner Television Network, CNN Channel, HBO, and dozens of affiliated stations. Warner controls the distribution rights, so isn't it a case of left-right and right-hand? "

"Hiss!" Masayoshi Son took a breath of surprise, "The previous management of MGM was so stupid!"

Zhou Buqi said: "Isn't it true? Excellent film and television works cannot be broadcast frequently, which will lead to a decrease in the appeal to the audience. As a distributor, how can Warner consider the long-term interests of MGM? It will definitely be done one after another. Play without interruption.”

This is just a lack of respect for copyright.

There are also business complications!

Warner's television stations lease MGM rights from Warner's distributors... Damn it! Can this price be high enough? For a copyright with a market price of US$1 million, Warner Distribution Company may sell it to Warner's TV station for US$200,000.

Son Zhengyi had a headache, "I regret it!"

Zhou Buqi laughed and said, "No, they don't have many film sources with the distribution rights. They can buy them back with a little more money."

Son Zhengyi said: "Let me ask. If you ask me, it's better to find people in the industry to take charge of the detailed arrangements. Recently, someone took the initiative to contact me."

"who?"

"Jeffrey Katzenberg."

"oh!"

Zhou Buqi couldn't laugh or cry.

This Son Masayoshi is really unwilling to give up. Well, it also shows that he has a big appetite. Universal, MGM and Marvel are not enough, this time they are eyeing a new company - DreamWorks Animation.

Jeffrey Katzenberg is the current boss of DreamWorks Animation.

This is a veritable boss in Hollywood, the most senior animation boss at the moment!

Even the "teacher" of current Disney Chairman Robert Iger.

By the way, in the 1970s, Disney hit rock bottom. The emergence of two people saved Disney, one was CEO Michael Eisner and the other was President Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The latter, in particular, single-handedly saved Disney's animation industry and produced a large number of excellent Disney princess cartoons.

In the 1990s, Michael Eisner found that Jeffrey Katzenberg threatened his rule and fired him.

Jeffrey Katzenberg was unwilling to give in, so he joined forces with Spielberg and David Geffen to form the Big Three and founded DreamWorks, hoping to compete with Hollywood giants.

It's a pity that DreamWorks, which lacked distribution channels, failed.

DreamWorks was split into two parts, one was DreamWorks, which was packaged and sold to Paramount, and the other was DreamWorks Animation, now a public company under the leadership of Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Son grew up in Japan, was deeply influenced by animation and animation culture, and was very interested in the animation industry. When Zhou Buqi invited him to invest in the entertainment industry, his first focus was DreamWorks Animation.

After some thought, Zhou Buqi felt that this idea was very good, "Okay, let's meet him together when we have time."