Chapter 313: City of Angels

……

"During the time I'm out, the family depends on you!"

Wendy nodded slightly, "Don't worry, everything is fine!"

Guo Shouyun nodded, stared deeply at the beautiful and elegant woman in front of him, and then turned around and stepped into the car next to him.

For a man, no matter how willing he is, he will not be able to return to the family 100%. The responsibility on his shoulders drives him to fight for this family. As many people often say: I can't support you if I put down the bricks, and I can't hold you if I pick up the bricks. Although Guo Shouyun is not like this, the reason is the same. Many times, he also gave up the so-called ideals and pursuits, and lived the rest of his life in peace and stability with everything now.

But no matter how much he thought about it, he also knew that this was destined to be just a pipe dream. Many things, once they start, are doomed from which there is no turning back.

After rolling down the window and waving at Wendy, Guo Shouyun sighed slightly in his heart.

"It's good to have a year of relaxation, you can't hope for more!"

The car carried him slowly out of the manor to the tarmac of the Kunpeng, where the ready-made private jet quickly took him to Los Angeles, hundreds of miles away.

Los Angeles' economic position in the United States is like the Magic City and the capital, Mumbai and New Delhi, and it is the second largest economic center in the United States after New York. Coming here again after a year, Guo Shouyun's mind didn't come back to the situation when he came here for the first time.

"Am I too long idle, isolated from the world?, how do you keep reminiscing about the past!" Shaking his head, pushing superfluous thoughts out of his mind, "Matthew, let's go to the Matrix headquarters in Santa Monica." ”

"Yes, boss!"

After nearly three years of development, the matrix is no longer the grass platform team when it was first established. Now, it has bought a modern 12-story office building in downtown Santa Monica. The company's personnel have also expanded from the initial 100 to more than 1,000 employees in the head office, all of which add up to more than 3,500 people.

Guo Shouyun, who used to learn more about the changes in the matrix through phone calls, videos and photos, is now on a field trip.

Still happy with what I saw.

"Boss!"

Buddy Morris, who got the news, hurried over with his assistant.

Guo Shouyun looked at the movie poster posted on the wall, ""Spider-Man is finished?"

"The first part has been filmed, and it is currently in post-production, ready for Christmas release!"

After nodding, Guo Shouyun waved his hand, "Let's go, go to the office and say!"

"Yes!"

"Sit down!"

After coming to the office, Guo Shouyun waved his hand.

"Boss, here are the financial statements of Matrix Pictures for the past three quarters, as well as the balance sheet. ”

Buddy Morris knew very well what Guo Shouyun was interested in, so he prepared the information he wanted in advance.

As he guessed, this was indeed what Guo Shouyun wanted to see. Of course, Guo Shouyun has already read the financial statements and balance sheet of Matrix Pictures for the third quarter by fax. These are the more detailed parts that Buddy has prepared.

After flipping through it roughly, after looking at a few key data, Guo Shouyun clasped his hands.

"I'll take this back to watch! By the way, are there any other movies we haven't released this year besides the first part of "Spider-Man"?"

"There are two more, "The Hangover 2" and "Saw 3"! The former will be released on November 15, and the latter will be released on December 5. ”

In fact, strictly speaking, "Spider-Man" is not a work of Matrix Pictures, but a masterpiece produced by Marvel Studios. However, as one of the distributors, Matrix Pictures belongs to the same company. Therefore, when making a report, it will be combined.

"Have you made a shooting plan for next year?" Guo Shouyun nodded and continued to ask.

"It's already done. A total of 11 films will be filmed next year, namely "Pirates of the Caribbean 2", "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", "Fifty Shades Darker", "Sweet Dance", "Smart: Ghost 3", "The Hangover 3", "Tales of the Night 1", "Spider-Man 2", "Fast and Furious 3", "Mr. Matchmaker", and an animated film "Finding Nemo". ”

Looking at the shooting materials prepared by Buddy Morris, most of the 11 movies are familiar to him, only "Sweet Dance" and "Mr. Matchmaker" are very unfamiliar. However, the total investment of these two films adds up to $40 million, which is not too high. So he didn't interfere with Buddy's filming plan either.

"What about TV dramas?"

"In terms of TV series, we are just getting started, so we only plan to remake the boss's "Prison Break" next year for the time being!"

Guo Shouyun nodded, "It's a good thing to be cautious at the stage of accumulating experience. By the way, has the casting for Prison Break begun?"

"Not yet! The production department plans to start casting after the script is ready. ”

"Hmm... After the role is chosen, remember to send me a copy!" Guo Shouyun said.

As the first TV series filmed by the matrix, and it is also his most impressive American drama, Guo Shouyun doesn't want to ruin it because of his appearance. Therefore, he hopes that the protagonists in the play will still be Wentworth Miller, Dominic Passel and other original cast members.

"Understood!"

"By the way, after the filming of "Prison Break" starts, the partners should not be in a hurry to finalize it first!"

"Are you going to...?"

Although Buddy is not too aware of the acquisition negotiations between Guo Shouyun and Vidiwang, he has long been very clear about Big Boss's ambition to build the matrix into a comprehensive top media giant in Hollywood such as Time Warner and Disney. Therefore, as soon as Guo Shouyun spoke, he already had a faint guess in his heart.

"Television is an area that we definitely want to cover. "Prison Break" has a deep readership, and if it is made into a TV series, as long as it is above the standard, it will definitely be a big hit. When the time comes, it will be perfect as the crowning work of our TV station. ”

"I see!"

"Did you sign a contract with Warner for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Not yet. However, it is already in the negotiation stage!"

"Who's responsible?"

"Kevin, the marketing department he's in charge of has been busy with this lately!"

"Tell him to slow down the pace of negotiations. Don't sign a contract until you don't have my permission!" After a little thought, Guo Shouyun said quickly.

Now Time Warner is being dragged to death by AOL, and its stock price has fallen from $200 billion at the beginning of the merger in 2000 to less than $40 billion now, which is almost difficult to describe as a struggle. At this time, if you don't take the opportunity to cut off a piece of fat meat from this giant beast with deep mud feet, you will be sorry for Guo Shouyun's identity as a reborn person.

Moreover, the high box office and high income of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" are also temptations that Warner cannot refuse in the era of deep business crisis. With this as the foundation, I am not afraid that they will not comply.

"Understood... The boss, the Milkke, and Carmicha are all on a buying spree, do you think we should join in?"

After thinking for a while, Guo Shouyun said: "I remember that there are 20 theaters that have been built by the matrix cinema line now, right?"

"21 to be exact. Three days ago, our new theater in Washington had just opened!"

Guo Shouyun nodded, "Buddy, do you remember what I told you at the beginning?"

"Matrix Cinema only does luxury cinemas with more than ten halls!"

"That's right. The original intention of Matrix Cinemas was not to be the number one in the industry, but to avoid those Hollywood giants using their channels and connections to block us. Moreover, with the advent of Internet streaming media, it will have a certain impact on theaters, especially those theaters with small foot traffic, backward facilities, and few theaters, the situation will be more serious. Therefore, there is no need to follow the trend to merge more theater chains that do not conform to our business strategy, just do our best. Of course, if there is a suitable location and suitable for our independent theater chain, I have no objection to you buying it, you understand?"

"Got it, boss!"

"Anything else?"

"At your request, the acquisition of Pixar would require us to come up with a 14% stake in the matrix and $1.6 billion in cash. There is certainly no problem with shares. But in terms of cash, $1.6 billion is too much for us. Buddy Morris nodded.

The difficulties were expected by Guo Shouyun. Although Matrix Pictures has had a bumper harvest this year, the box office and peripherals combined have earned more than $4 billion. However, after deducting the production fee, deducting the administrative expenses, and then deducting the investment in the new cinema chain, and the taxes that must be paid, the remaining profit is about 800 million US dollars, which is only enough to solve half of the acquisition funds.

"Issue an $800 million ABS bond, and I will let the 'Sino-US Study Abroad Charity Fund' eat it all!"

Today, there are six charitable foundations established under Guo Shouyun's name, namely: Guo's Charitable Foundation, Stanford Foundation, Chinese Charity Relief Foundation, Sino-American Study Abroad Foundation, Bruce Scholarship Foundation, and Guo's Disaster Relief Fund. Now 90% of Guo Shouyun's assets, except for Hanhua, are placed under the names of these six charitable foundations. In charge of the use and distribution of these assets are his two trusts: the Kwok Family Trust and the Phoenix Trust.

This is the way Guo Shouyun has built up tax avoidance and asset inheritance for himself in the past three years. The charitable foundation has ownership of his assets, and the trust has the right to use those assets. Moreover, in the future, the number of these charitable funds will be even larger, until an iron curtain is formed, and all true thoughts are hidden under it. Like Morgan and Rockefeller, it is unclear to everyone how much wealth he has, and he has become a super family that is truly hidden under the water.

Of course, there is still a long way to go to achieve this goal, but Guo Shouyun is still young, and he has time to complete his plan step by step.

Writing down the explanation of the big boss, Buddy Morris showed a hint of hesitation on his face.