America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 208 207. Ranking of the world’s richest people

The Nasdaq Stock Exchange is one of the world's stock trading centers, with thousands of stocks traded here every day.

Although it cannot compare with the New York Stock Exchange in terms of history and depth of foundation, as a rising star, Nasdaq is the first stock exchange to adopt electronic trading.

And the growth rate is amazing, especially after entering the 1990s, the Internet exploded.

As the main battlefield for technology stocks, Nasdaq soared into the sky, racing like a wild horse, unstoppable.

Of course, investors all over the world have seen the end result. If it goes too far, it will become a bubble, and then the bubble will burst, leaving a field of chicken feathers and flying trapeze artists.

That is to say, the capital market does not engage in macro-control. Otherwise, if the state intervenes forcefully, the collapse will not be so severe.

Just like the real estate and infrastructure fields, using policies to prevent a big drop can at least temporarily hold the bottom of the real estate and related infrastructure fields, and the decline will not fall so fast.

If we can hold on to this bottom, we can hold on to the bottom in fields such as steel and cement, wood and building materials, quarrying and smelting, and many people's jobs will not be destroyed.

In the past few years, new economic growth points have been found and gradually replaced areas where the bubble burst. As long as the fiscal system can recover, there is hope for a steady landing.

It's just that the process will cause a lot of dissatisfaction. After all, it involves issues of fairness, and another group of people may suffer.

Since Nasdaq is the main battleground for technology stocks, and film companies are also classified into high-tech fields, they are generally listed on Nasdaq.

As for why film companies are classified into the technology field? This is best understood by people who like to do special effects, such as Industrial Light \u0026 Magic, Weta Digital, and James Cameron.

Many of the technologies innovated in this field have been fed back to military, civilian and other fields, and of course they are technology companies.

New York, Manhattan, DC, not far from Times Square is the NASDAQ stock exchange.

A black Lincoln sedan drove slowly down the street and finally stopped at the entrance of the exchange. The Coopers got out of the car.

Looking at this familiar building, Charlie Cooper felt a little emotional: "I left here more than a year ago, MGM's stock disappeared from the big screen, and everyone was laughing at me."

"I'm afraid they never imagined that after just a short period of time, MGM would already be making a comeback."

Eric smiled: "Dad, those people who laugh at you are just clowns. There are countless people looking at us now. Even if they are not here, I can still feel those expectant eyes."

"Haha. Are you talking about the people in the company?"

"Not only that, there are hundreds of thousands of shareholders, and now we are a blue chip stock."

"Eric, it's actually not wise to write your prospectus like that. It directly announced that the money will be used to repay debts. We still owe Kerkorian and the three major banks US$2.1 billion."

"This is a huge amount of money. Investors buy our stocks because they want us to use the money to expand our operations, not because they want us to use it to pay off debts."

"Even if you do this, it's not good to say it publicly. At least don't pay back so much at once. The bank can continue to owe money."

Eric didn't agree with this: "Dad, you told me that movies are a storytelling industry, and our stories are wonderful."

"The internal offering a few days ago raised US$520 million. I thought Judy and the others could take more."

"But let alone 15%, they couldn't even take 10% of the shares, and in the end they only took 8.7%."

"What does this mean? It means that the market has high expectations for us and our stocks are very valuable."

"This number was estimated before anyone thought that Transformers could exceed 900 million at the box office, otherwise it would be even more exaggerated."

"Then what do you do with the remaining 6.3% of the shares?"

"Originally we planned to put it on the market together, but later I decided to forget it and sold the shares to some good friends."

"A good friend or a girlfriend?"

"Good friend and girlfriend."

Eric sold this 6.3% stake to Theron, Nicole, Gadot, and the Olsen sisters at an internal price of 1% each.

But Gadot has just become famous and is still very poor, so Eric gave her the money.

With this 1% share, it is enough to make them billionaires instantly.

Even the richest Nicole was shocked by Eric's generous move and unlocked a lot of postures.

Eric's approach also paved the way for everyone to be honest with each other in the future.

The remaining 1.3% of the shares were sold to Michael, who spent too much money.

He is also responsible for the work of Art Records, and Eric still holds half of the shares. This 1.3% is considered compensation.

Next to him, seeing his son's high-spirited look, Charlie Cooper wanted to say a few words, but after thinking about it, he shut up.

Reality is the best evidence. MGM is thriving under Eric's leadership and is much better than it was under his own hands.

Looking at the rising sun in the distant sky, Charlie Cooper suddenly felt a little tired. Maybe it was time for him to retire.

"Eric, I suddenly had an idea. I can't say it was sudden. In fact, I have had this idea for a while, but I really want to tell you today."

"What?"

Eric looked at him, feeling that his father's tone was a little strange.

"I think it's time for MGM to be completely handed over to you. Although you already have real power, this title should also be given to you."

"Actually, I planned to continue working for a while, at least until your Lion Heart Network is online. Although my father's ability is not outstanding, he can at least help you shield yourself from some wind and rain."

"But it seems that it is not necessary now. I believe that with your ability, you don't need these. Those guys should be the ones you should worry about."

Eric didn't expect his father to come out of the blue.

Now MGM does have the final say alone, but deep down, he still hopes that his father will continue to sit in this position.

It's not important to attract firepower, but the key is that dad's presence can help you share a lot of chores.

For example, attending receptions, parties, charity events, etc. Anyone with experience knows that these things are very distracting.

If Eric were a little Karami, he would be looking forward to attending these events in the hope of expanding his network.

But in fact there were not many people worthy of Eric's personal acquaintance, and there were many invitations that he could not refuse without dignity.

Dad is equivalent to the King of England, and Eric is equivalent to the Prime Minister. This is probably the positioning.

"But isn't it great for us as father and son to cooperate?"

"But you can do just fine without me, right?"

"Decided?"

"Um."

"when?"

"Just for a few days. Anyway, the outside world now knows that you are the real leader of MGM. My continued dominance of the position may arouse suspicion."

"The market will definitely want you to become an absolute leader. When you become the president and chairman of the board of directors of MGM, the stock price will definitely rise sharply."

"This is my last contribution to the company."

"And it's not like you don't know Joshua's situation. He hasn't been able to play as the main force of the 76ers for half a year. It seems it's time to change the track."

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"Your mother warned me not to be partial, so I plan to give him $10 million to start a business,"

"I don't expect Joshua to be as good as you and have his own career, that's pretty much it."

After hearing what his father said from his heart, Eric knew that his decision had been made and his resignation could not be changed.

In this case, there is no need to force him to stay. It would be good to let the old man rest. It would be good to stay away from the temptation of Hollywood and spend more time with his mother in church.

Eric and Charlie Cooper stand on stage at the Nasdaq exchange.

Boom!

With the ringing of a bell, it symbolized the re-listing of MGM.

Click click click

The flash flashed, and a large number of media took photos of this moment. The news announcement had already been written, just waiting for the photo to be released.

Even though he is used to this scene, today's visit is not only in the entertainment field, but also in the financial and social fields. There are so many flashing lights that it still makes Eric a little blind.

And as MGM re-entered the market, investors who were almost starving and impatient immediately rushed in to buy, and the stock price suddenly began to rise like the Moutai line chart of later generations.

Many investors who did not pay attention to the entertainment field noticed this at this time. A stock that had disappeared for a long time suddenly surged into the first echelon of stocks.

"OMG! A high-quality stock suddenly appeared, buy it quickly, buy it quickly!"

"What's going on? Is this just a stock?"

"MGM? That movie company? Wasn't it acquired due to poor management?"

"Idiot! "Transformers," which sparked a movie-going craze not long ago, and "Adele's Life," which is currently in theaters, were both produced by this company."

"What! Buy it quickly!"

Looking at the spiraling stock price, Eric said confidently: "I said they won't care. Our story is wonderful."

"Yes, it seems that many millionaires are going to be born!" Dad exclaimed.

Word of what was happening in the stock market spread quickly as if it had wings.

Soon, related financial, entertainment and other sections began to be broadcast on the Internet and TV.

"On the morning of January 15, MGM Pictures, which had been delisted for 510 days, relisted on Nasdaq. The company's current president Charlie Cooper and vice president Eric Cooper completed the bell-ringing ceremony."

"It is reported that since Cooper and his sons took over MGM, their business conditions are good and almost all the works produced by the company are profitable, so market expectations are very good."

"After evaluation, MGM's market value will reach US$7.127 billion, 2.3 times that before delisting."

"In this re-listing, MGM will issue 30% of its shares for financing and debt repayment, with a total of 100 million shares issued, equivalent to US$21.35 per share."

"After the market opened, investors were extremely enthusiastic, and the stock price continued to rise. As of press time, it had risen 31% to US$27.96 per share."

"MGM's market value has followed suit and increased by 31%. The company's market value has surpassed Paramount, becoming sixth among the seven major film and television companies."

Yeah!

Yeah!

The MGM building instantly fell into a sea of ​​joy.

The listing of a company is good for everyone. The moment you buy the shares in advance, your net worth soars, and it is still rising.

Although those who did not buy stocks will earn less, a salary increase is certain.

The bigger the company becomes, the higher the employee's salary will naturally be, and the year-end bonus will also increase.

Under the excited gaze of countless pairs of eyes, MGM's stock price gradually slowed down to its daily limit until noon.

At this time, the stock price has reached US$33.73 per share, a 58% increase from the opening, and the market value of MGM has also expanded to US$11.26 billion.

Not only more than Paramount, but also Universal and Sony Columbia.

Second only to 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers, the former has a market value of US$11.988 billion and the latter has a market value of US$13.56 billion.

However, it is still a bit far away from Disney. Although Mickey Mouse's market value is far less than that of later generations, it still has 22.7 billion US dollars thanks to more extreme copyright development and park revenue.

MGM can only reach half of others for the time being, and even this half of its market value is artificially high.

After all, movies are a storytelling industry. A Transformers movie can make the stock price take off, and a big-budget hit can make the stock price fall quickly.

Perlmutter shook his fist vigorously. This time he made the right bet, even though he only held 3.6% of MGM's shares.

But according to the current stock price, if you sell it, you can cash out more than 400 million US dollars in an instant, but only fools will cash out now.

Kevin Feige's eyes widened. No wonder his boss was so generous and launched three projects at the same time. Because he really didn't need money, he felt that his future was brighter.

Women are cheering, close friends are cheering, best friends are cheering, employees are cheering.

Of course not everyone is happy, and if anyone is unhappy, Harvey Weinstein is one of them, as is James Murdoch.

There are also Emmy, Sony Group and other people who have hatred against him.

It's a pity that they were unable to do anything in the face of MGM's rise.

At this time, NBC's financial channel was broadcasting a Forbes rich list inventory program.

"Hello everyone, the 2003 Global Billionaires List selected by Forbes magazine has been announced. There are 476 billionaires in the world with a net worth of more than US$1 billion, from 43 countries and regions."

"Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates continues to top the rich list with a net worth of $40.7 billion."

"Financial investor Warren Buffett continues to rank second with assets of $30.5 billion."

The male host was carefully taking stock of the list. A small piece of paper was suddenly handed to him. He took it and looked at it before continuing.

"Sorry, we seem to have encountered a special situation."

"Just this morning, MGM Pictures was relisted on Nasdaq, and we calculated a new super-rich person based on the current stock price."

"Eric Cooper, the vice president of MGM but the actual controller of the company, directly owns 27.7% of MGM's shares, worth $3.119 billion."

"But the equity description shows that a company called AK Films holds 20% of MGM's shares, worth US$2.252 billion."

"AK Films and Television was actually established solely by Eric Cooper, so Eric Cooper actually controls 47.7% of MGM's shares, with a total value of US$5.371 billion."

As he spoke, the male host spread his hands exaggeratedly and made a "Wow" expression in great surprise.

"If MGM went public 20 days earlier, as long as it wasn't December, he would definitely be included in last year's Forbes rich list."

"But the list has been released, so it cannot be changed."

"However, as the first super-rich person to appear in the world in 2004, we still sorted out and ranked him."

"If the assets of 5.371 billion were placed in 2003, he would occupy the 77th place on the world's richest list."

"The one ahead of him is Amazon founder Bezos with $5.44 billion."

“But if the age is limited to those under 30 years old, Eric Cooper will undoubtedly become the world’s youngest richest man.”