In the Mrchow restaurant in Beverly Hills, Zhang Ran and Bai Yunfei shook hands with Murdoch and Wendi Deng, introduced themselves, and then sat opposite each other. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Murdoch is different from Yang Zhiyuan, Yang Zhiyuan is a network engineer, and when he negotiates with him at Dennis's fast food restaurant, he will think that these young people have a lot of personality, but Murdoch is in his 70s and is an old-fashioned person, negotiating in a fast food restaurant will only make him feel disrespected, and he must choose a high-end place, plus Murdoch's wife Wendi Deng is Chinese, so Zhang Ran and they set the location at the famous Mrchow restaurant in Los Angeles.

Unlike most Chinese restaurants in the West, Mrchow uses the finest porcelain for cutlery, the most handsome Italian waiters, the finest tablecloths, the most elaborate lighting, and the world's most famous artists on the walls. The owner of the shop, Zhou Yinghua, hates others the most that Chinese food is cheap and tasteless. He believes that Chinese cuisine is broad and profound, which is unmatched by any other country in the West. Therefore, he is determined to introduce the best parts of Chinese cuisine to the world in the most beautiful way.

However, Zhang Ran and the Murdoch couple did not appreciate the layout of the restaurant, and they were interested in inspecting the artwork on the wall, and they were all looking at each other lightly after sitting down.

Zhang Ran has been well-known to Wendi Deng for a long time, and knows that this woman is a very powerful person, and she is a person who is particularly good at seizing opportunities. However, he also knows that Wendi Deng is powerful in interpersonal relationships and is a good social player. In business, Wendi Deng is a typical ambitious talent, and before divorcing Murdoch, she did a lot of projects in China, but she did not succeed.

Deng Wendi's slightly curly long hair in front of her, her off-the-shoulder dress with exaggerated earrings looks very harmonious, looking noble and confident, and the shallow smile on her face dilutes the sharpness of her face, making the whole person seem more affinity.

Wendy Deng is also observing the two young compatriots in front of her, Bai Yunfei is not handsome, and he is dressed more casually, but his eyes are firm, similar to many Internet founders she has seen; She looked at Zhang Ran and smiled: "To be honest, I was taken aback by you, I never dreamed that Robin Zhang, the founder of YouTube, would be you." I believe that if this news is spread in China, many people will be shocked!"

Zhang Ran smiled: "This is the effect you want!"

Deng Wendi laughed, and then said: "Zhang Ran, you are really a genius, not only in movies, but also in the Internet, after the acquisition is reached, everyone will be shocked." ”

Zhang Ran smiled faintly and said: "I'm not a genius, in fact, as long as anyone who has studied the development of the film industry knows that the Internet is the future of film, the film industry will inevitably be Internet, and in the future, Internet-based film distribution companies will become the mainstream of the industry, and I am just one step ahead of others." ”

Wendi Deng doesn't see it that way: "This is the United States, don't be so modest." Not only did you go first, but you were very successful, we at Myspace, and Google, we were beaten by you in the video space, and it's incredible, how did you do that?"

Zhang Ran said modestly: "We are just targeting the needs of users and doing the services they need." ”

Wendi Deng smiled, and then introduced to Murdoch: "My dear, I have to solemnly introduce you to this Mr. Zhang, he is not a simple character. He is the director of "Time and Space Warrior" and the chief director of the opening ceremony of the Peking Olympics. And he's also a very good entrepreneur, owning several film and television companies in China, as well as a video website. ”

Speaking of the video website, Wendi Deng laughed: "His video website is completely different from YouTube's model, and he has acquired many genuine film and television dramas for free playback. A lot of people are not optimistic about this model, especially those who make videos, I have heard many people say that he is an idiot and does not understand the Internet, if those people know that the YouTube they regard as idols and imitate is founded by Zhang Ran, it must be very interesting!"

After listening to Deng Wendi's introduction, Murdoch nodded slightly: "Zhang Ran is a really smart person, China's crackdown on piracy in the past two years has been effective, and Internet copyright protection will be put on the agenda sooner or later." Now that Zhang Ran has bought the film and television copyright, those who laugh at him in the future may have to buy the film and television copyright from Zhang Ran. ”

Deng Wendi suddenly realized: "I see, Zhang Ran, you are really not simple!"

Zhang Ran's eyes flashed, Murdoch was really a powerful person, and he saw the key at once, he owed a debt and said: "The real powerful is Mr. Murdoch, you just mentioned it casually, and he saw through my purpose!"

Murdoch smiled lightly: "Recently, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, a subsidiary of News Corporation, is negotiating with Chinese companies to promote and sell Fox's film tapes and DVDs in China. ”

Zhang Ran was overjoyed when he heard this, since Fox intends to enter China, there is a possibility of cooperation, it seems that today is the right time, nodded slightly: "China is a huge market with a population of 1.3 billion, and no company can ignore this market." When I was studying, I listened to lectures, and one of Paramount's managers said that China is not a gold mine, but a diamond mine. Fox's expansion into China is the right choice!"

Murdoch stared at Zhang Ran for a few seconds and said with a smile: "That's right, China is a diamond mine, but the Chinese market is not easy to enter. Let's get down to business, I want to buy YouTube, can you make a price?"

In fact, Zhang Ran has no intention of selling YouTube to Murdoch, and the real buyer in his heart is Google. It's not that he has a liking for Google, it's just that Murdoch can't afford to pay a lot more than anyone else, and even if he makes the highest bid, it won't be much higher than other companies.

Zhang Ran knew that Google's acquisition of YouTube would not use cash, but Google's shares, at least in the last life, Google's acquisition of YouTube was all stock. Although Google's market value is now close to 100 billion, the company is still in a stage of rapid growth, and its stock has huge potential for appreciation;

Zhang Ran came to meet Murdoch today, not to sell YouTube, but to contact Murdoch to see if he could cooperate in film and television.

However, Zhang Ran knew that Murdoch was coming for YouTube, and he must finish talking about YouTube before he could say anything else: "I can't give you an accurate number, there are many companies interested in YouTube, in addition to Yahoo, Google, Viacom, and just today Microsoft and Apple also expressed interest." I would like to consider it comprehensively according to the conditions you have given. I wonder what Mr. Murdoch is willing to pay?"

Murdoch smiled faintly: "No matter what price other companies offer, I am willing to pay a higher price!"

Zhang Ran remembered that Chen Shijun said in his autobiography that after the deal between YouTube and Google, News Corp. also wrote a letter to Google, saying that no matter how much you bid for YouTube, we are willing to pay higher. He smiled and nodded: "I know, but we sell YouTube, the price is one aspect, but at the same time, we also hope that it can continue to develop healthily, and we don't want to die quickly after being acquired!"

Murdoch was not the first to make an acquisition, and almost all of the acquirees had the same idea, saying, "When we buy YouTube, we will pursue a global strategy to bring the site to the world." We acquired MySpace last year, and since the beginning of this year, we have launched sub-sites in more than 10 countries, including France, the United Kingdom, and Japan, and now have nearly 100 million registered users. If you sell us youtube, you will definitely get the same success!"

Zhang Ran knew that News Corp. was willing to pay a high price to acquire YouTube because of the recent surge in the market value of Myspace. In '05, News Corporation acquired the social networking site MySpace for $580 million, and in early '06, it began its globalization strategy and achieved great success. Recently, Wall Street analysts said that within three years, the total value of MySpace will exceed $15 billion.

By that figure, the acquisition of MySpace would be the most cost-effective deal News Corp. has ever made. Myspace's success has boosted Murdoch's confidence, and he sees YouTube as a must-win.

However, Zhang Ran knew that although MySpace reached its peak in 06 and 07, and even surpassed Google in terms of visits, becoming the world's most trafficked website, MySpace then declined rapidly, and in June 2011, Myspace, whose market value plummeted, was sold by Murdoch for $35 million.

Zhang Ran groaned: "Mr. Murdoch has talked about the benefits, but there is a big disadvantage to cooperating with you. News Corp is a media company, and if you sell YouTube to you, other media companies may refuse to work with YouTube, and its future will be ruined. I wonder how Mr. Murdoch solved this problem?"

Murdoch nodded slightly: "When we acquired myspace last year, Tom Anderson asked the same question, and I told him that my initial strategy was to do nothing, not to interfere in the day-to-day operations of myspace, and the top management team would remain in place, we would just provide enough working capital, upgrade the system, hire more sales reps, and arrange millions of dollars in bonuses, and the same would go for YouTube!"

Zhang Ran didn't believe Murdoch's words, how did MySpace die later? It is because Murdoch was eager to generate revenue, and put forward the goal of 1 billion annual revenue for Myspace, which has an annual income of only 100 million, and the company's employees have no choice but to try to make money, and a large number of advertisements flood the page, resulting in a worse and worse user experience on the website, and finally being ruthlessly abandoned by netizens.

However, Zhang Ran will definitely not say these words, Myspace is getting worse and worse before Facebook has a chance to rise. Of course, even if Zhang Ran said Murdoch, he wouldn't listen to it, people who can mix with Murdoch's status are determined as iron, how can they easily change their minds because of the words of others.

Zhang Ran showed a satisfied expression: "News Corp is indeed a good choice, but we still have to meet people from other companies before we can make a final decision!" Zhang Ran paused for a moment and said his true purpose: "Actually, I came to see Mr. Murdoch today, in addition to the matter of YouTube, there is also a purpose, hoping to cooperate with News Corp., or with Fox in the film field!"

Murdoch and Wendi Deng glanced at each other and said quietly: "Oh?"