Reborn in Hong Kong as a Tycoon

Chapter 594 TV Network, Atari Follow (two in one)

The time has stepped into the 80s.

A few days after New Year's Day in 1980, Lin Baicheng boarded a private jet and flew to Los Angeles.

Over the past few trading days, the international gold price has been rising every day. It is nothing more than a day that rises more and another day that rises less.

Now, the international gold price has broken through the price of 500 US dollars per ounce, which is only a 600% increase from the price of 20 US dollars per ounce.The higher the price of gold, the higher the price for every 1% increase.

Lin Baicheng is very clear that the reason why the price of gold has risen so much is because of the news of Hongsu and the war in Afghanistan.This kind of gold price that has been soaring due to news stimulation will not last for too long, and it will fall back soon.

Therefore, the price of gold is likely to rise and fall sharply in the next period of time, and Lin Baicheng has a huge investment in the gold futures market, so of course he will go to the United States to sit in charge during this period of time.

The reason why Lin Baicheng went to Los Angeles instead of New York is mainly because the time of the two places is about the same, and the distance is not very far. If necessary, he can go to New York from Los Angeles on the same day.

When the private plane arrived at the airport, Catherine Jackson took someone to pick up Lin Baicheng at the airport in an extended Lincoln.

On the way to extend Lincoln's drive to the Beverly Hills villa, Catherine reported to Lin Baicheng.The arcade performance of Xinghe Game Company, the sales of Xingyue consoles and cassettes, the current box office of "Home Alone" and so on.

Lin Baicheng listened carefully, and at the same time read the relevant documents.

The performance of various companies on Christmas days is very good. Lin Baicheng knows this. What he is looking at now is the specific data. Before that, he only knew the general situation.

Before Lin Baicheng had finished reading it all, the car arrived at the villa, and Lin Baicheng had no choice but to go back to the villa and continue watching.

"Catherine, it's getting late now, go back and rest first, we'll talk about it tomorrow if you have anything to do."

Lin Baicheng told Catherine Jackson that it was already eleven o'clock in the evening when his plane arrived at the airport, and it took more than half an hour in the middle, and it was almost twelve o'clock.

Catherine responded: "Chairman, then I'll go back first."

In order to adjust the time difference, Lin Baicheng just took a nap on the plane, so he is quite tired and sleepy now. After letting the bodyguards who followed him to rest, he also went upstairs to rest.

The next morning, while eating breakfast, Lin Baicheng read the documents he hadn't finished last night.

"Brother, why did you come here suddenly?"

Lin Qin walked into the restaurant in her pajamas.

"I have something to do here, so I came here."

Lin Baicheng replied casually, looked at her and said, "It's you, today is Saturday, why did you get up so early?"

Lin Qin said, "I've invited friends to go camping, today and tomorrow."

"Lijun and Qingxia?"

Lin Baicheng thought of Deng Lijun and Lin Qingxia immediately after hearing the words, and immediately realized after speaking: "It shouldn't be them, otherwise you wouldn't call them friends, but your classmates?"

Lin Qin nodded: "Yes! My classmates and her friends."

"There are men and women, right?"

Lin Baicheng immediately said: "Although I have no objection to your falling in love during college, your partner must be checked by me and my parents, do you know?"

Lin Qin explained, "My friend is a woman. Although she invites men, I don't know them yet."

"Remember to bring bodyguards, don't try to get rid of people, otherwise she will be unlucky, and you will be unlucky too."

Lin Baicheng reminded aloud that this is the United States, both men and women are more precocious, and men are more daring, it is possible to use force. Lin Qin and his friends went camping together, and Lin Baicheng was really worried if he didn't bring a bodyguard.

"I know, brother, don't worry."

Lin Qin made an OK gesture, she knew that her brother was warning her, and she didn't dare to mess around.

"You're good to know."

Lin Baicheng nodded, thinking for a while that he should tell Lin Qin's bodyguards to let them know that they must follow Lin Qin at all times, and ignore Lin Qin's threats, so that Lin Qin will not obey others.

It is better to take precautions against some things. Once it happens, it will affect your whole life.

Lin Qin also sat down to eat breakfast, seeing that Lin Baicheng was looking at the document seriously, he didn't bother him.

Before Lin Baicheng had finished his breakfast, Bill Hawes and Catherine came over one after another, and Lin Baicheng asked them to wait for him on the sofa in the living room.

"Chairman, President Lansing said that Warner, MGM, and Paramount, among the top eight in Hollywood, have contacted Morningstar Pictures and want to buy the overseas distribution rights of "Home Alone" from Morningstar Pictures except for the North American market. , or agency distribution is also possible, and Paramount even revealed that it wants to buy all the copyrights of the movie "Home Alone."

After Lin Baicheng finished his breakfast and went to the living room, Bill Hawes reported something to Lin Baicheng.

Lin Baicheng was a little surprised when he heard the words: "Home Alone is not out yet, right? Why does Paramount want to buy all the copyrights?"

"The main reason is that the film's box office performance is too good."

Bill Harveys explained with a smile on his face: "The domestic box office of the current film has exceeded 2.5 million. According to the forecast of professional companies, the domestic box office of "Home Alone" will fall to 2.5 million US dollars. In terms of overseas box office, the film The box office performance in the English-speaking region will not be bad, and it is expected to have a box office of [-] million U.S. dollars."

"If the Big Eight are allowed to release the film, the box office of 2.5 million U.S. dollars will eventually get at least 1 million U.S. dollars. This does not count the profits of the film on other authorizations, and the profits that may be brought by the second or even third part of the film. "

"What does Shirley Lansing think?"

Nodding his head, Lin Baicheng asked aloud.

"President Lansing believes that the overseas distribution rights of "Home Alone" can be sold to Bada, and whoever bids the most will sell it. If it is distributed by agency, the payment will be slow on the one hand, and on the other hand, we should worry about Bada's financial manipulation , there is no safety from selling distribution rights directly.”

"President Lansing also said that Morning Star Pictures will establish an overseas distribution channel, but it cannot delay the good results of "Home Alone". The box office share that "The Head" can get overseas will be greatly reduced."

Bill Hawes answered aloud, and then expressed his own point of view: "Chairman, in fact, if you value the development prospects of Morningstar Pictures more, you can hand over the overseas distribution of "Home Alone" to Morningstar Pictures Do it, expand the influence of Morningstar Pictures, and help Morningstar Pictures to establish overseas distribution channels."

"I can still accept some short-term losses. What's more, "Home Alone" will definitely make a lot of money. It's just a matter of earning more and earning less."

Lin Baicheng immediately said: "The overseas distribution rights of "Home Alone" will be handed over to Lansing. You can communicate with Lansing and ask her to seize this opportunity to build Morningstar Pictures' overseas distribution channels. If the company's funds If there is a shortage, you can go to the bank to get a loan, and don’t be afraid to spend money.”

"Good chairman, I think President Lansing will be very happy when he knows your decision."

Shirley Lansing would certainly be happy if she found out. She is the president of Morningstar Films, and the more the company develops, the more rights she has to make an appointment with her, and the more bonuses she can get.What's more, the management of Morningstar Pictures has 10% of the options. The larger the company is, the greater the value of the option rewards the management will receive.

"By the way, I asked you to send someone to contact Barry Diller from Paramount. Is there any progress?"

Barry Diller, the president of Paramount, under his leadership in the past few years, Paramount, which was originally a bit outdated, has gradually improved in performance and has a tendency to make a comeback, which shows how capable this person is.

What's more, Barry Diller was born in the TV industry. He wanted to build a new TV network, but Paramount's parent company, Gulf West, didn't have the idea and didn't want to take such a risk.

And Lin Baicheng wanted to have his own TV network in the United States, so he asked a headhunter to find suitable candidates for him. Among them, Barry Diller was the most suitable person in terms of qualifications and abilities.

Bill Harveys said: "Barry Diller does have an idea for a network, but he wants to meet you and talk to you personally."

"Well, you can make an appointment for me, preferably in these few days."

Lin Baicheng immediately said that he can be sure that he will have time in the next few days, but after the price of gold rises sharply again, his focus will shift to investment, and he does not have much time and energy to deal with other things.

Bill Harveys replied: "Okay, after I have communicated with Barry Diller, I will report to you."

"Then I'll wait for your good news."

Lin Baicheng nodded. If Barry Diller agrees to join him and do things for him, it will cost a lot of money to set up a TV network, and if nothing else, it will be an investment for several consecutive years, so it will be a lot of money invest.

Fortunately, the price of gold has soared. With the settlement of long gold futures, Lin Baicheng will get a lot of funds, and he will no longer be short of money in a short time.

"Chairman, regarding the overseas distribution rights of "Home Alone", at what price is it appropriate to sell to Morningstar Pictures? Besides, do you want to keep the copyright of the film yourself or sell it to Morningstar Pictures?"

Bill Hawes asked aloud, the movie "Home Alone" was personally invested by Lin Baicheng, and Morningstar Pictures was only the distributor, and the copyright of the film was in Lin Baicheng's hands.

The reason why the division is so clear is that Lin Baicheng promised 10% of the shares of Morning Star Films to executives including Shirley Lansing in the form of options. The company's interests and Lin Baicheng's personal interests still need to be calculated separately.

Lin Baicheng said: "You can discuss with Lansing and calculate a suitable price, then I will sell all the copyrights to Morningstar Films, and the next second and third parts of the film will be invested and shot by Morningstar Films. "

"Ok!"

Bill Harveys nodded in understanding.

Afterwards, Bill Harveys reported another matter to Lin Baicheng, that is, the clerk of the Starlight Company in Los Angeles discovered that in recent days someone was inquiring about the sales of the Xingyue mainframe and cassettes, as well as the information of the Xingyue mainframe manufacturing company. etc.

"what are you thinking?"

Lin Baicheng couldn't help raising his eyebrows after hearing this.

Bill Hawes said his judgment: "I think it should be that Atari sent someone to investigate the situation of the Xingyue mainframe. During Christmas, the sales of the Xingyue mainframe and cassettes were very impressive. more than us, but the sales of the Xingyue mainframe are already very conspicuous, and it is impossible for Atari to ignore it.”

Lin Baicheng quite agreed: "It seems that we have thought of it together. Apart from Atari, I really can't think of any other company that will investigate the sales of Xingyue mainframe."

It is true that Atari did not pay much attention to the Xingyue console at the beginning, but Atari's management is not all fools. With the Xingyue console selling more than 50 consoles in half a year, it is impossible for Atari to not noticed.

If Atari hasn't discovered the threat of the Xingyue mainframe under such circumstances, then the management of Atari is really a waste. Obviously, the management of Atari is not waste, and has already discovered The Xingyue host took the initiative to investigate the threat to Atari.

Bill Harveys said: "Chairman, I think that after knowing the sales volume of the Xingyue console this year, Atari will definitely regard the Xingyue console as its biggest opponent, and then target the company."

"There is one more competitor in the market, and any company will choose to kill the competitor."

Lin Baicheng didn't think there was any problem with this. If it were him, he would do the same thing, defeating his competitors and dominating the entire market.

"Since Atari has begun to investigate Xingyue Electronic Game Company, we can't remain indifferent. Bill, you arrange someone to investigate Atari, especially the sales of Atari VCS this year."

Bill Harveys immediately said: "Chairman, the sales volume of Atari VCS this year has exceeded 100 million units, which was announced by Atari two days ago. I think even if the real data is not as many as one million units, It won't be much worse."

"One million units is actually not much higher than the sales of Xingyue mainframe. This year, we will try to catch up with Atari and make Xingyue mainframe sales number one in the industry."

Lin Baicheng did the math and found that the difference between the sales of Atari VCS and the sales of Xingyue mainframe is not so big that it cannot catch up.The sales of the console and the quality of the games have a great impact, and he still has several good games that have not been released on the Xingyue console.

Take "Xiangjiang Cube" as an example. This game is very popular and very suitable for consoles. Lin Baicheng is going to sell this game on consoles today to increase the sales of consoles and sell cassettes to make money.

In addition to "Xiangjiang Square", there are also good games such as "Pac-Man" and "Tank War".

Currently, for the sake of the stability of the arcade market, it is not good to sell these popular games on the console platform immediately. Doing so will inevitably affect the interests of the game hall owner, which is equivalent to affecting the profit of Xinghe Game Company in the arcade.

(End of this chapter)