American Peanuts

Chapter 244 The successor of News Corporation, the giant behind the giant

The atmosphere in the 20th Century Fox office dropped to freezing point.

Rupert Murdoch, 79, looked at several 20th Century Fox executives standing in a row in front of him.

On the table in front of him is an analysis report on the development of "Sky Q" in the United States issued by a third-party research organization.

"Sky Q" is a streaming media project launched by News Corporation on a global scale in response to competition in streaming media. It was first operated in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

"Fifty thousand users? Tell me what is the average daily circulation of the Wall Street Journal this year?" Rupert looked at one of them.

This person was the former head of circulation at the Wall Street Journal and was later transferred to the newly formed streaming unit.

"It's 206 million copies, of which 90 are from the digital version." The other party said carefully.

"Tell me how many people are watching on average on FOX?" Rupert turned to another person.

"answer me!"

"The average number of viewers per day is two...200 million." It seems hesitant. He once worked in the Fox TV department and was also transferred to the streaming media department.

"Who can answer, with the help of a newspaper with a circulation of 200 million and a TV station with 200 million viewers, how did you manage to have only 5 users in two months!" Rupert threw away the analysis report When I got out, the pages were scattered and messy and slowly falling down.

Has he ever been so frustrated?After his father passed away in his 20s, he was appointed to take charge of an Australian newspaper. He has been in the media industry for half a century and established a huge media empire from Asia to Europe. Star TV and Sky TV are not famous giants in the industry. He changed the cover of the "Sun", which was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time, and this was the source of the "tabloid".

At that time, he could face the host and said righteously: "I don't think people who read The Times are nobler than people who read The Sun. In my eyes, they are just different types of viewers."

In the 70s, he entered the United States and acquired 20th Century Fox. In the 90s, he founded Fox TV, completing the last piece of the global media empire.

Just ask, who can do it?
And he had never experienced such a setback.

"Everyone was demoted, Maximo Ibarra stayed." Murdoch quickly calmed down his anger and became calm again.

Maximo once served as the CEO of Sky TV UK, and this time he was brought directly to the United States by Murdoch.

The results were also seen, and it was obvious that Murdoch was not satisfied, and could even be said to have failed.

Maximo did not make any excuses and took the initiative to resign and give up his position.

Murdoch didn't say anything, so he acquiesced to the other party's request.

After Maximo left, Murdoch leaned back in his chair and fell into deep thought for a long time.

After a while, the phone rang. Murdoch glanced at the phone, got up and left the company, and returned to a manor in a secluded part of Los Angeles. In addition to Ms. Deng, who was waiting for her husband to return, there were two less than The ten-year-old daughter, both of whom were born to Ms. Deng, is the fifth and sixth descendant of Murdoch.

"Rupert, are you okay?" Ms. Deng touched Murdoch's hand and asked with concern in her eyes.

Speaking of which, this woman is also a legend. She met a couple from California in medical school, and with the help of the couple, she obtained a student visa and was able to study in a community school.

Ten years ago, Ms. Deng, who worked at Star TV, served as the translator accompanying Murdoch during his trip to Asia.

Just a year later, Murdoch divorced and quickly married Ms. Deng.

"It's not great, it can even be said to be terrible. Netflix has 2000 million customers, while Sky Q only has [-] users. Have you seen the latest news from Netflix? They are preparing to film a network gathering, Invitation Starring Kevin Spacey." In front of his family, Rupert showed his truest side, and he looked a little discouraged.

"I'm going to ask James to come over." Rupert revealed his plan.

James Murdoch, Rupert's younger son, is currently the chief executive of Sky and oversees television operations in Europe and Asia.

Since Rupert's eldest son Lachlan Murdoch left the company a few years ago, James has been widely regarded as the future successor to News Corporation.

At that time, News Corporation had not yet separated its entertainment and news businesses. It was a global media behemoth headquartered in New York.

"Rupert, maybe you should consider retiring." Ms. Deng said with concern.

"This is absolutely impossible. I am in good health." Rupert immediately shook his head in denial.

"Moreover, the reality does not allow me to leave News Corp. James' ability has not been verified." Rupert shook his head.

"No, it's not that his ability has not been verified, but that he has no chance to be verified. Are you going to continue working until the age of 90?" Ms. Deng looked at her husband.

"If you can, why not?" Rupert said matter-of-factly, without any thought of retiring.

Three days later, at a public and private airport in Los Angeles, James landed in the United States again.

He grew up in the United States and majored in history and film in college. He left the family business and founded a music label in a rebellious manner. Later, he was appointed as the president of Asia Star TV when faced with a crisis, turning Star TV, which had been losing money for many years, into a profit.

Just as he got off the plane, he received a call from across the ocean. The British police on the other end of the phone asked him about the News of the World...

At the same time, in Pioneer's office, Charlie was having a secret meeting with Pioneer CEO John Brennan. This meeting was initiated by Charlie, and no one knew about it except John Brennan's secretary.

Charlie sent out the meeting invitation this time to discuss a major matter with him.

"I need your support, including all major shareholders of Time Warner and major individual investors." Charlie said extremely calmly.

"But I think it's a crazy plan." John Brennan shook his head.

"You know, less than ten years ago, AOL acquired Time Warner in a share exchange. As you can see, AOL reached a high of US$01 billion in 1500 and offered a very high premium. By the first two years, AOL's market value was only a measly US$30 billion, and Time Warner kicked the company out."

"Time Warner is like a beautiful girl who is attracted by a money-loving young man. When the other person is down, she kicks him away. No one will always be rich, but there will always be people who are rich. Maybe Time Warner needs The next destination, but I don’t think that person is you.” This investment management company, which owns hundreds of public funds, controls more than one trillion U.S. dollars in capital, and is the CEO of an asset management company second only to Blackstone and State Street Bank. In a special way, it expresses its unfavorable view of this merger.

"We have a completely different business from AOL. The next era is the era of sequels. There are fewer and fewer original movies, senior executives have become more conservative, and the screenwriters below have lost the driving force for creation. Do you know what this means? "Charlie asked rhetorically.

Without waiting for the other party to answer, Charlie continued: "This represents the end of an era. This is the last afterglow of Hollywood. Maybe in 20 years, maybe in 30 years, everything will cease to exist. Our competitors are growing at a rapid rate. Brutal The joy of life will end in violence." Charlie thought about Shakespeare's famous lines.

"This industry needs to integrate to deal with the upcoming risks. Even if it seems to be a trivial matter now, this is the only thing we can do before the arrival of an increasingly fragmented society." Charlie told the other party.

Obviously, John Brennan would not agree with his remarks.

"This sounds like a brand new movie, is this your latest script? Charlie Boy." John Brennan laughed.

"I'm not kidding," was all Charlie could say.

"Of course, I know you're not kidding, but I will definitely buy a ticket to support the movie when it comes out, and now I can give some suggestions. The movie is called "Hollywood's Messiah," what do you think?" he laughed. asked rhetorically.

Fortunately, Charlie had already anticipated the other party's reaction, so he changed his words.

"Instead of talking about the future, we can talk about short-term interests." Charlie leaned closer and whispered.

"Think about what happened when AOL and Time Warner merged. The new company once reached a market capitalization of 3000 billion. That was the market capitalization of 2002 billion in 3000. We can replicate such a miracle again, and everyone will make a lot of money. Bo Man, before I came here, I had already obtained the support of Dodge & Cox, as well as Legg Mason and Gordon Crawford. Calculated, I have obtained the voting rights of [-]% of the total share capital. No one has done this. It can be stopped.”

"If you agree, we can all make money together, and if you don't agree, I can let these people sell their stocks." Charlie said slowly.

There is no doubt this is a threat.

"You are manipulating the market. Do you want to be put in jail?"

"That's right, before I go to jail, Time Warner's stock price will completely rot, think about what these investors will do." Charlie said to himself.

Seeing Charlie Rossi's confident expression, John Brennan couldn't help but imagine the possibility of this matter.

"You can't take down Blackstone, especially when Victoria has cost Blackstone so much," John Brennan said of another incident.

As the world's largest asset management company, Blackstone owns many properties in the country, while the Rossi family is deeply rooted in Utah. Both parties are important conservative forces in the country, and there have been many frictions before.

Considering Charlie Rossi’s identity, Blackstone will certainly not be convinced.

Blackstone also controls nearly 5% of Time Warner's total equity, including preferred shares, considering that several other institutions related to Blackstone are also among Warner's shareholders.

If Blackstone does not nod, this merger will not proceed, and all previous attempts will be in vain, and even Charlie Rossi will have to take the initiative to pay Time Warner a large sum of money.

"Of course, I will convince the other party. This is why this meeting is so covert. You don't need to take any action until you get a definite answer."

"Then I'll wait for your news." He stood up and shook hands with Charlie.

·
That night, DiCaprio followed Charlie to a high-end, secluded, and unknown clubhouse.

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary luxury store, but it's something special inside.

"I don't think this is a good plan." DiCaprio said with some uneasiness, especially when he saw the dim lights inside the club, he was even more suspicious of what was going to happen later.

Charlie, who was walking in front, turned back at this time and took the initiative to put his arm around DiCaprio's shoulders.

"Don't be afraid, this is just an ordinary meeting. The other party is a loyal fan of yours. This time you just need to meet and chat with the fans. Of course, there may be some entertainment projects after the meeting. It depends on how to do it. Yourself." Charlie's voice appeared in DiCaprio's ear.

"But the other party is a well-known big shot. If you get into this relationship, you will be prosperous and wealthy in Hollywood for the rest of your life. You have to learn to take a longer view." Charlie said with a warning, and his tone was more like persuasion. It's a warning in a sense.

"It's right in front, do you want to go in?" Charlie stood still, looking at Xiao Li beside him.

Xiao Lizi looked at the ambiguous lights, gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and walked in on his own initiative.

Then I saw two ladies sitting in the luxurious private room. One of them, a middle-aged woman with a bob hair, was surrounded by two muscular men. The other one was sitting next to her, half of her body hidden in the darkness, unable to see clearly. face.

"Look who is here?" Charlie followed into the room and closed the door.

"DiCaprio!" Susan Wagner's eyes lit up when she saw DiCaprio.

"Thank you, Ms. Susan, for your support." Xiao Lizi opened his arms enthusiastically, feeling the touch, and Xiao Lizi's expression revealed a little helplessness.

"DiCaprio heard about Ms. Susan's deeds and couldn't help but admire her. This time, he even stopped filming suddenly just to come over and see you." Charlie said with a smile.

In fact, it was all done by him behind the scenes.

"You're here too, Charlie Rossi. I thought only Victoria would be here today." Only then did Susan notice Charlie's presence, and the smile on her face instantly weakened a lot.

"I just happened to be passing by, and I was just taking Victoria home later." Charlie made an excuse, and then sat next to Victoria.

"Have you two talked?" Charlie asked quietly.

Victoria didn't speak at all, just rolled her eyes.

Obviously, the result was not ideal. She didn't know about Charlie's plan until she came here. If not, she wouldn't have appeared here at all.

It seemed that he had to take action himself. Charlie shook his head.

"Now that everyone is here, let's talk about reconciliation between the two parties."

(End of this chapter)