America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM.

Chapter 340 338. Acquisition of Warner
"Surpassing Bill Gates, the world's new richest man is born!"

"Breaking news! Facebook successfully went public, with a market value of $1533 billion on the first day. Eric Cooper's net worth skyrocketed, and he was crowned the world's richest man at the age of 25."

"A new miracle for technology stocks. Facebook's listing has driven the entire technology sector up, and the shadow of the Internet bubble has been completely cleared."

"This article reviews the history of Facebook's development, from its birth to the world's third largest company!"

"Eric Cooper's Path to Genius, How Did He Become the World's Richest Man?"

"From film and television to technology, from the best screenwriter to the world's richest man, this young man has shocked the whole world!"

"Eric Cooper's brilliant idea: Why is Facebook so valuable? How much impact does Facebook have on people's lives?"

"The world's richest man is going crazy. The biggest acquisition since the new millennium is about to start."

"MGM acquires Warner. History repeats itself. The Lions are going to take back their own wealth."

"Eric Cooper announced that he would acquire Warner Bros. in full, and Hollywood fell into turmoil, ushering in an era of major reshuffles in the industry."

On the second day after Facebook went public, related news had already spread beyond the United States and completely dominated news pages around the world.

And it became a hot topic of conversation among people after dinner for some time.

Whether it is Canada, Europe, South America, Australia, Asia, the Middle East, or even backward Africa, people are quite sensitive to the term "world's richest man".

People like this kind of impactful news. It is no exaggeration to say that for ordinary people around the world, it attracts more attention than the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Just like a super advertisement, it instantly sparked discussion among people.

Whether in private or on the Internet, many people who had never heard of Eric's name have also noticed this young man who is changing the world.

"Eric Cooper is actually going to acquire Warner. He is preparing for revenge. I heard that it was Disney and Warner who took the lead in launching the action against MGM."

"It's definitely revenge, but why not buy Disney?"

"Disney is too expensive. After all, it still has the strength to compete for the throne."

"Come on, use your brain. It's obviously more difficult for Disney to acquire it. They can even use a poison pill plan to sabotage it."

"But Warner Bros. can't. Once Time Warner makes the final decision, it has to sell it."

"If tens of billions of cash were placed in front of me, I would sell it without hesitation. It would be impossible to wait for Warner Bros. to make tens of billions of dollars from copyright resources in 20 years."

"Besides, it doesn't matter if it's sold. Time Warner still has HBO, Time magazine, CNN, and a lot of high-quality resources."

"If I were the decision maker, I would buy another medium-sized film and television company."

“Although resources such as copyright, equipment, and distribution networks are gone, invisible resources such as personal connections cannot be lost.”

“Even if we can’t create a new Warner Bros., it shouldn’t be difficult to create a New Line or Lionsgate in ten years, but can we make tens of billions of dollars in ten years? Don’t be ridiculous!”

"Wow! It looks like classic movies like Tom and Jerry, Gone with the Wind, and Ben-Hur are going to be back in the hands of MGM."

"I don't care about the others, but I hope Tom and Jerry will have a new version soon. The Warner version is really unbearable. I still miss that hand-painted feeling."

"You're right, Warner's Tom and Jerry is simply ruining the classics, the style of the flash animation makes me feel like eating shit, ugh!"

"That's because it's cheaper to make animations this way. Hand-drawing is too difficult and too inefficient. The development of the times will inevitably abandon that model. Businessmen pursue profits."

"But Hayao Miyazaki has always insisted on hand-drawing, so he has become a world-recognized animation master."

"Yes! But that's also why there's only one Miyazaki in the world, because it's too difficult. And look at Miyazaki's production speed, he can't adapt to the increasingly fast-paced times."

"It has just been announced that Eric Cooper has arrived at Time Warner headquarters."

It has been nearly half a month since Eric announced his intention to acquire Warner.

During this period, Time Warner made a statement on this matter, which was neither good nor bad, and its attitude was ambiguous.

However, Richard Parsons, the current president of Time Warner, invited me a few days ago, hoping to discuss this matter in detail.

The purpose is self-evident. It must be to test the waters. After all, you only said you wanted to acquire the company, but didn't say how much money you wanted to spend.

"This way, Mr. Cooper."

I took Eric and his group to the 17th floor. As soon as I walked out of the elevator, I saw Richard Parsons and his men waiting in the corridor to greet me.

"Eric, long time no see."

"Yes, the last time we met was at a charity gala in Salt Lake City."

"Young people have good memories. Is your father okay?"

"Yes, he doesn't have much work now, and accompanies my mother on trips every day."

"An ideal life, this will be my goal in the future."

"It's still too early for you, Richard. I think it will take at least another thirty years of hard work."

"Hahahaha. Come in quickly."

Inside the conference room, both parties sat down and there was no more joking attitude.

Relationships are relationships, business is business, and everyone is now in opposing positions.

"Eric, we want to hear your opinion on the acquisition of Warner Bros."

Eric likes this style of getting straight to the point.

He glanced at the executives of Time Warner and raised four fingers without any nonsense: "400 billion US dollars, this is my price."

"This price is far more than the value of Warner Bros. You are insiders, so you must know better than me."

"What I want to say is that I am sincere in making this deal happen. What is your attitude?"

When everyone present heard the figure of 400 billion US dollars, their pupils trembled.

Judging from their personal abilities, except for Eric, they will never be able to reach the level in their lifetime.

Not astronomical numbers, but cosmic numbers.

But Richard Parsons shook his head slightly: "NO! The price you offered did not meet my psychological expectations."

"Eric, are you watching the stock price of Warner Bros.? It's approaching $300 billion now."

"A $100 billion difference, a 33% premium, that's not how business works."

"It's now $305 billion, the market value after the market opened this morning," added a middle-aged woman in blue clothes nearby.

"305 billion US dollars, what does this mean? It means that the stock price is still rising. Maybe it will rise to 350 billion US dollars in half a month. You need to bid more carefully, Mr. Cooper."

Hearing this, Judy let out a somewhat sarcastic laugh.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry I don't know your name."

"Danna."

"OK, Ms. Dana, what you said is very unscientific and very unrealistic."

"We knew exactly why Warner Bros.' stock price started to soar. It was because Eric expressed his willingness to acquire it."

"But this only represents the laws of the market, not the true value of Warner Bros."

"It's like a pig standing on the wind, it can fly without any effort." "If we give up the acquisition, everyone knows that it will only take half an hour for the stock price to return to its original position."

"We have shown great sincerity. If you want to make this deal, you need to show equal sincerity."

Richard Parsons looked at Judy and thought that although she was young, she was sharp-tongued and outspoken.

"Judy?"

"Yes, Judy!"

"Judy Newhouse, my love, will also be the future manager of Warner," Eric added.

"Warner's manager, you seem to be saying that Warner has changed hands."

"No, I just trust you to make the right choice, Richard."

"I don't need to tell you how much debt Time Warner still has."

"In fact, from another perspective, Facebook's IPO has brought the entire technology sector to life, and countless companies have benefited from it."

"Even AOL is the same, so you should be grateful to me."

"Accepting this money will benefit both of us. To be honest, I know more about making movies than you do."

This statement is indeed true. Everyone has to admit that Eric has brought MGM out of the quagmire and back to its peak.

"Eric, we can't accept a price of $400 billion. If you want to take Warner Bros. away, you have to pay at least $510 billion."

"And it's in cash. This is the result of our internal discussion and the bottom line we can accept."

Hearing this, Eric sighed: "It seems that Time Warner is not sincere. You take me for a fool."

"I do have money, but I don't like to waste it. I guess that's all for today."

After saying that, he stood up and prepared to leave.

Seeing this, Richard Parsons was a little speechless, thinking that asking for a high price and paying a low price, isn't that how all business talks are done?

Why are you breaking up just because of a disagreement?

But he would not try to keep it. After all, it was Eric who took the initiative to acquire the company, not him asking others to do the job for him.

Seeing the other party's indifferent look, Eric realized that he had to use the stick, as carrots alone would not work.

"Judy, arrange to cancel the acquisition of Warner Bros. and re-plan MGM's film schedule this year."

Before Judy responded, Richard Parsons really tried to keep her.

"Wait, we have to reschedule again. It's been a year, haven't we played enough games? Vicious competition is good for no one. We have lost $10 billion."

Eric smiled and said, "It's not exactly the same as last year, because this time I will launch a precise sniper attack on Warner."

"One billion dollars was last year's figure. Unless your movie doesn't go on the big screen, the loss will be even greater."

"Just because I have more cards in my hand, I will do to Warner the same way you did to me last year."

"Also, these were originally prepared for Disney, but it looks like you guys have to enjoy them first."

"Are you threatening me? Cooper!" Richard Parsons was angry.

Eric shook his head: "I just hope that both sides can show equal sincerity."

The two just stared at each other, and the others in the conference room looked at them in shock.

After a moment, Richard Parsons patted the table and said in a more moderate voice: "Sit down."

The other party softened and Eric returned to the negotiating table.

He didn't want to be too humiliating: "Richard, $510 billion is not absolutely unacceptable."

"As long as Time Warner is willing to cooperate, I can pay the money."

Richard Parsons looked at Eric in disbelief: "What do you want to do? How do you need my cooperation?"

"The first thing is to speed up. I hope to complete the entire acquisition process as quickly as possible."

"Of course, I promise to pay the money right away, in one lump sum in cash."

"But inside Warner Bros., I heard that many people are resisting this acquisition. I hope you can manage your people well and prevent them from interfering."

Everyone knew who Eric was talking about.

During this period, the group represented by Barry Meyer has expressed its opinions to Time Warner headquarters many times, strongly resisting the transaction.

"Don't worry, we represent the opinions of the board of directors, and no one can stop us!"

"That would be the best. Secondly, I hope to buy New Line's shares as well. Time Warner still holds 28% of New Line's shares."

Richard Parsons realized what Eric was planning.

This means buying the shares of the new line as a bonus, which is equivalent to buying a big one and giving a small one for free.

If he also makes a public acquisition, the share price of New Line will also rise, and the price will be completely different.

"Eric, this is not part of our deal, and New Line is very valuable now, don't you know?"

“The Lord of the Rings trilogy is so successful that it is undoubtedly the world’s number one magical epic movie.”

"I know, but then what? Besides The Lord of the Rings and a few horror IPs, does New Line have anything else valuable?"

"Richard, let's be frank. Although you hold the largest share of New Line, you do not have the right to operate it."

"If you're lucky and The Lord of the Rings comes out, you'll make money from it, but what if you're unlucky?"

"Since Warner Bros. has decided to sell it to me, I might as well just pack it up and give away the film and television production business."

"Otherwise, what's the point of keeping New Line's shares? You can't participate in production management?"

"Do we need to find a new home for Barry Meyer? Although Bob Meyer also has the last name Meyer, I'm afraid he won't accept it."

Richard Parsons smiled at Eric and said, "But your price won't be enough if you include the new line, young man."

In fact, Time Warner has also discussed New Line's business.

As Eric said, without Warner Bros., New Line's value will be greatly reduced.

Although the two are independent, they are actually closely related.

"I'm not finished yet," Eric interrupted.

"I want the shares of New Line, but I'll leave the DC Comics business to you to avoid problems during the antitrust investigation."

"I just want the copyrights of existing DC characters other than comic book publishing, including film, television, animation, TV series, and peripheral derivative products."

"Even if DC creates new characters in the future, they will still belong to you."

"If you calculate it this way, one plus one minus, it's $510 billion, so no one loses out on this deal."

(End of this chapter)