Hong Kong: Starting with 10 billion

Chapter 98 Media Empire
If you are threatened by ordinary rich people,
Ma Tingqiang might sneer at this.

By the way, use your own newspaper to mess with the other party.

But Fang Hexuan is not an ordinary rich man.

He is the richest man in Hong Kong, and a very unruly rich man.

This kind of person who is as rich as a country, once there are no rules and regulations to restrain him,

God knows what he dares to do.

Ma Tingqiang had heard about the disappearance of Zhang Zengjie from 14K.

Now that I think about it, there is a great possibility that it was sunk into the sea.

Call the police? There's no point in calling the police.

There is no evidence at all. Can talk be used as a camera and recorder?

And if that happens, his ending will only be more miserable.

A few days ago, three dogs in my house were beheaded.

He didn't dare call the police.

It was obvious that someone on the other side must be closely monitoring their family.

Even if you call the police, they will just come as a routine matter.

The police force will be withdrawn after a few days.

Hire a bodyguard? How many can you hire? For example, does the richest man still have money?
Besides, Ma Tingqiang was unwilling to endure this kind of life of constant fear.

Blame it on the Ma family who can only serve as dogs for the Taiwan authorities.

No free will of my own.

The newspaper has indeed offended Mr. Fang, the richest man, and is being retaliated against. Can it still find someone to seek justice?
After Da Yanming left, Ma Tingqiang immediately called his father and uncle who were far away in Taiwan.

"A Qiang, ever since I knew Fang Hexuan became the richest man in Hong Kong, I thought this day would come."

"Eggs cannot touch stones. Sell the newspaper to him. You are my only son. Your life is more important than the newspaper."

Ma Xiru advised her son in a bleak tone on the other end of the phone.

He was also reluctant to sell the newspaper, after all, it was the masterpiece of his and his brothers.

But this is the price of being a dog!

Da Yanming only gave Ma Tingqiang three days to consider.

But the next day, the other party responded.

Oriental Daily was sold to Fang Hexuan for HK$400 million.

This price is definitely a big loss, but the transaction between the two parties is not fair in itself.

Why was Fang Hexuan only willing to give 400 million instead of 600 million, 800 million or some other auspicious numbers?
The intention is very clear, which is to warn the Ma family to be sensible and take the money and get out!
Of course Ma Tingqiang felt very aggrieved, but there was nothing he could do.

In the current Hong Kong underworld, no one dares to touch the tiger's whiskers of Mr. Fang, the richest man in the country.

The 14K, which has the closest relationship with Taiwan, can only lie dormant for now.
Who can help the Ma family get justice?

Selling newspapers is not the end.
Da Yanming also sent people to keep an eye on Ma Tingqiang, and ordered him to leave Hong Kong with his family within five days.

As for some assets such as real estate in Hong Kong, you should find a way to deal with them yourself.

Oriental Daily News officially changed its ownership and became the first newspaper under the ownership of Mr. Fang.
It was also the first step in his media empire.

This acquisition did not cause any public opinion storm in Hong Kong.

At most, some people in the industry know some bits and pieces of inside information.

But dare not say anything.

Fang Hexuan did not carry out a major purge of the Oriental Daily.
Although the content of this newspaper is vulgar, it does sell well.

Only some editors and reporters who were upright and inclined towards Taiwan were fired.

Just having a newspaper is not enough.

Although Fang Hexuan's investment in Shenzhen was criticized the loudest by the newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Beggars' Gang,

But a few English newspapers criticized him for not investing in Hong Kong.

In fact, it was an indirect warning to him not to contact the mainland.

When it comes to English public opinion, he is indeed somewhat passive.

So, he also needs the English media to do some defense.

Therefore, his next target was the South China Morning Post.

The newspaper was founded on April 1903, 4.
It was founded on Duddell Street by Alfred Cunningham, the former editor-in-chief of the Daily Press, and Xie Zuntai and others.

It is a highly professional English newspaper in Hong Kong.

It is also one of the best-selling English newspapers in Hong Kong. Its competitors include The Standard, a newspaper under Sing Tao Newspaper Group of Wu Xian, and The Asian Wall Street Journal of the United States.

There is no way Fang Hexuan could get his hands on these two newspapers.

Therefore, the acquisition of the South China Morning Post was a natural progression.

After all, it went public in 1971, and its equity is dispersed, making it suitable for acquisition.

What Fang Hexuan didn't know was that if he didn't buy it,

The newspaper would be privatized by Murdoch in 1987.

It was not until 1993 that it was bought by Robert Kuok.

Of course, Robert Kuok's purpose is not simple.

He used this newspaper to show goodwill to the mainland and facilitate investment in his industries in the mainland.

Before he bought it, the editor-in-chief and many of the editors of the newspaper were British.

Its major shareholders are also British or American.

Therefore, for a long time, the South China Morning Post was regarded as the mouthpiece of the British Hong Kong government.

Often likes to point fingers at the mainland.

Fang Hexuan's purpose is much simpler.
He just needs to find his own voice to make his voice heard to the foreigners.

As for those disobedient British editors,

Do you think my knife is not sharp enough?
Whether the acquisition can be completed is not something Fang Hexuan is concerned about.

As a shareholder and board member of HSBC,

Ask HSBC to help invite shareholders of the South China Morning Post to buy shares.
Not too much, right?

The advantage of big banks is that
Many of its clients are shareholders, directors or senior executives of various companies.

Many of the South China Morning Post's shareholders are also HSBC clients.

What's more, HSBC is the newspaper's largest shareholder, a stake that has dropped from 1971% when it went public in 48 to 34% at present.

The second largest shareholder is Hutchison Whampoa, whose stake has dropped from 25% to 18%.

The third largest shareholder is Dow Jones of the United States, which currently holds 13%.

Through HSBC and Hutchison Whampoa, Fang Hexuan can get more than half of the shares.

There is nothing wrong with privatizing the South China Morning Post, as Murdoch did.

Murdoch valued the South China Morning Post at HK$1986 million in 8.21.
He also purchased 34.9% of the shares from HSBC and Hutchison Whampoa, becoming the largest shareholder of South China Morning Post.

After making up his mind, Fang Hexuan called Shen Bi and invited him to have afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel.

The two sides did not exchange pleasantries for long before Shen Bi got straight to the point and asked:
"Mr. Fang, based on my understanding of you, you must be looking for something bad, haha!"

"Haha, Chairman Shen guessed wrong this time. This is a good thing for HSBC."

"Oh?"

"To be honest with you, Chairman Shen, you know that I invested in building a factory in Shenzhen earlier this month, and was criticized by many Hong Kong newspapers."

"This is just a normal business investment. I would like to build a factory in Hong Kong, but does Hong Kong have such conditions?"

"So, in order to avoid being scolded less in the future, I just bought a few newspapers for fun."

".You want to buy the South China Morning Post?"

"Chairman Shen has a good vision. That's right. I hope to communicate better with foreign friends through this newspaper."

".I'm afraid this won't be easy."

"What do you mean?"

“The Hong Kong government may not agree.”

"Haha, please rest assured, Chairman Shen. I will go and explain to Governor MacLehose in person."

"As long as the Hong Kong government agrees, I have no problem with that."

"In addition to the shares held by your bank, I also hope that you can help me acquire the remaining shares from other shareholders."

“Do you want full control or privatization?”

"I haven't thought about this yet."

"Okay, you communicate with the Hong Kong government."

"Thank you, Chairman Shen!"

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(End of this chapter)