At the same time as the controversy caused by the Forbes rich list, after more than two months of fierce competition, Chris successfully won LTD at a final price of 2.4 billion US dollars, and Leslie Wexnay, the original first shareholder of LTD, was out, and on the day of signing the contract, LTD announced a merger with Brighton Decoration Company.

With a series of complex financial operations, Chris has only surged less than $1 billion from beginning to end, in addition to the $600 million invested by Firefly, the other $400 million is through the debt financing carried out by Brighton Decoration, after the completion of the acquisition and subsequent merger, Firefly Investment and Brighton Decoration Company held 62% of the LTD shares, achieving complete full control.

"If you follow the rules of Wall Street, in fact, this is just the beginning," Chris said on the phone, after detailing the whole process of this acquisition to Eric, "as long as the company department is streamlined and reorganized, the company's performance is greatly improved in the short term, and the stock price is pushed up, then we can split and sell LTD's business, cash out enough funds to pay off debts, so as to fully realize the corporate acquisition cycle of an investment company, but unfortunately, ......"

Before Chris's sigh could be spoken, Emily's voice faintly came from the phone: "Chris, what are you sorry for, we bought LTD to run it, not to turn it into a personal toy for you greedy and evil Wall Street co-authors." ”

"Emily, I've been working more than twelve hours a day for two months in a row, and I've just won LTD for you, do you just say that about me?"

A group of people chuckled. Emily's voice rang out again. And it got bigger and bigger: "But it's a fact." Subsequently. The microphone may have been snatched by Emily, and the irrepressible excitement in her voice was revealed: "Hi, Eric. ”

Although it was not yet time to get off work in Los Angeles, it was estimated that night had fallen in New York, Eric took a mobile phone from the Firefly Studios post-production center through the concrete corridor of the park, pushed the door and walked into the administrative building, greeted an oncoming studio executive with his eyes, and continued into the microphone: "Hi. Emily, are you partying?"

Emily replied, "yes, Miss Roberts is here too, and Emma, the little one is so cute, I heard she calls you Daddy?"

Listening to Emily's gossipy tone, Eric took the opportunity to satisfy her curiosity and said, "Yes, I think this is a good way to teach Xia Xia and Kevin to call Daddy in advance." ”

Emily seemed a little deflated when she saw that Eric didn't deny it at all. But then he said, "By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet." Mr. the richest man in the world. ”

"Thank you, but to be precise, I should be the richest man in the United States. ”

"Of course, the richest man in the United States is the richest man in the world," Emily said with the confidence unique to Americans, "However, you said that after winning LTD, you would personally tailor a publicity plan for the company, can you start now?"

"You know, I've been busy lately, you're having a celebration party, I'm going to a conference call, and I don't know when I'll be able to get off work. ”

Emily was not moved by Eric's words in the slightest, and asked, "Then tell me what you plan to do first, so I can prepare in advance." ”

Eric pushed the door and walked into the conference room, said hello to Michael Lynn and the others who were already waiting here, sat down in his seat, and then said to Emily in a quickened tone: "Then you start contacting models, don't be limited to the top models in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia, oh, by the way, it must not be the kind of fashion model with a thin body and a dull face, and first of all, there must be three measurements, flat chest is definitely not good, I plan to personally plan an underwear catwalk for Victoria's Secret." ”

Emily was about to continue asking, but Eric hurriedly said goodbye and hung up, turning off the mobile phone casually, no way, if it wasn't turned off, the meeting wouldn't want to go on in peace.

Putting Motorola aside, Eric glanced at the conference phone on the table and asked Alan, who was sitting next to him, "Is Jeffrey online?"

Alan raised his head and was about to answer, when Jeffrey's voice came from the conference phone speaker: "Eric, I'm here." ”

"Alright," Eric habitually clapped his hands, "Let's begin, Jeffrey, tell us a little bit more about what happened this afternoon." ”

Katzenberg paused for a moment on the phone, seemingly gathering his thoughts, and quickly gave an update on what had happened during the afternoon's negotiations.

During the afternoon negotiations, the representatives of the ABC television network suddenly stopped adopting the tug-of-war tactics of negotiation as before, and suddenly hardened their attitude during the negotiation process, and for the first time put forward a deal that was acceptable to the ABC side.

"ABC management offered a price of $71.4 per share, of which $23.8 was prorated for approximately 30% of Firefly Pictures' total shares, and $47.6 was paid in cash, in addition to the 14.7 million outstanding shares of ABC Television Network that we already hold in our hands be exchanged for non-voting preferred stock. After this condition was proposed, the ABC representative said that they would not start negotiations until we gave a final response. Personally, I think that ABC's management must have been under pressure from shareholders to complete the deal as soon as possible, and this situation should be related to the recent media situation, and it can be said that the media PR strategy we set in place has worked. ”

Katzenberg's voice fell, and Allen, who was sitting next to Eric, handed Eric a piece of scratch paper full of the results of the calculus data.

ABC has a total share capital of about 210 million shares, and according to the price proposed by ABC per share, the final transaction value is $15 billion, and $23.8 is equivalent to 30% of the price per share, which means that ABC wants to exchange 30% of the shares for the same 30% of Firefly Pictures, and also need $10 billion in cash.

Before issuing a public offer. Fireflies have taken a 7% stake in ABC Network. That's what Katzenberg called 14.7 million shares. This part of the stock will certainly not be negligible during the merger process. Although even if this deal is completed, it is absolutely impossible for ABC shareholders to get enough of Firefly's voice, ABC's strategy of asking for this part of the stock to be exchanged for non-voting preferred shares is still a calculation to weaken Eric's control.

Eric quickly read the data that Alan handed him, and then handed the scratch paper to Jeffrey on his right, and several people in the conference room quickly circulated it.

After reading the data analysis, Michael Lynn said: "This plan should still be drawn up by Warren Buffett, although it has made a big concession on the amount of ABC shares. But the ABC and Firefly are estimated at the same value, and both of us are $15 billion, which coincides with Warren Buffett's recent media rhetoric. ”

Frank Wells said: "If we can be sure that ABC management is indeed under pressure from other shareholders other than Warren Buffett, maybe we can take the initiative enough. ”

There was some unusual noise on the conference phone, and Katzenberg seemed to be talking to someone in a low voice, and after a while, he said: "This should be confirmed, David West, the president of State Street Global Funds, who owns a 3.9% stake in the ABC television network, just called and invited me to dinner." ”

The other three people in the room heard Katzenberg's words. They all looked at Eric with excitement in their expressions.

Obviously. Although the debate about how much Eric's personal assets have continued in recent days, no one can deny the fact that Eric has created the miracle of Firefly Pictures in just six years. As the media digs deeper and deeper into the relevant information of Firefly Pictures, in the face of the rapid growth of Firefly Pictures' strength and scale, other shareholders of ABC TV Network have been unable to hold their breath and want to join the Firefly Pictures camp as soon as possible. The invitation from the president of State Street Global Ventures is an obvious hint. Everyone can imagine that if Katzenberg went to the banquet, he would definitely not be the president of State Street Global Funds, and perhaps other shareholders of the ABC television network.

Jeffrey looked at Eric, who was thinking silently, waited for a while, and finally couldn't help but say: "Eric, if we can avoid Warren Buffett and Tom Murphy, get the shares in the hands of other shareholders, and even get a controlling stake, then we have enough strength to push ABC to cooperate with Firefly alone." ”

Eric shook his head and said, "It's definitely not okay to bypass Buffett, if you realize that you have been betrayed by other shareholders of ABC, then things will definitely get worse, don't forget, Tom Murphy is not only the majority shareholder of ABC Network, but also the current helm of ABC Network, he has enough strength to completely mess up the situation of ABC Network." Moreover, after all, their stake is close to 40%, and if a stalemate is formed in the future, ABC TV will definitely be a battlefield for both of us. I want a strong national television network, not a 'ruin'. ”

Frank Wells said: "So what are we going to do next, seriously, I still want to finish this mess as soon as possible and then go on vacation." ”

Eric was stunned for a moment, and when he heard the word 'vacation' come out of Frank Wells' mouth, some information popped up in his mind, and he suddenly looked up and said, "Frank, where are you going on vacation?"

As far back as I can remember, Frank Wells was on vacation in 1994 when he was killed in a helicopter crash.

"Alps," replied Frank Wells with a smile, but quickly added, "Of course, I can go back next year if the job here requires it." ”

"Then next year," Eric also realized that he was overreacting, and pretended to laugh casually: "You can rest for a while next year, but I'm afraid it won't work this year, even if the acquisition is completed, there are still a lot of follow-up things, you are Jeffrey's deputy, of course you can't walk away at this time." ”

Frank Wells has already been greatly affected by the butterfly effect, and even if he is let out on vacation this year, it is estimated that he will not encounter another accident so coincidentally, and Eric postponed the matter by a year, if he can still encounter this kind of misfortune, it can only be regarded as providential.

"Oh, no problem," Frank Wells agreed with a smile, "Eric, let's get down to business." ”

"Well," Eric nodded, "I think that since some of ABC's shareholders have leaned towards our side and put pressure on ABC's management again, we can add some leverage on our side to make ABC's pressure even greater, and even, in the end, if we can hold a shareholder meeting to vote, it would be best to complete the deal without management." ”

"It's going to work," Katzenberg said on the call, "and if we get the news out next year that the ABC and Firefly deal talks are falling apart, then the initiative will definitely come back to us, and I'll be going to David West for dinner later, and I'll be able to invite them to speak publicly in the media about the deal." ”

Michael Lynn added: "We have 14.7 million ABC shares in our hands, and if we sell one of them in the next few days to suppress ABC's share price, I believe this drama will be more realistic." ”

A few people quickly discussed a specific plan, because Katzenberg still had to go to the banquet, Eric did not let the meeting last too long, and after the final plan was decided, Eric said: "Since this matter has reached the final stage, then we also have to be ready, before this Oscars, I hope that the two sides can finally reach a deal agreement, so it can be said that this operation is not a show." Because we don't have that much time, after the transaction is completed, there will be a series of layouts for ABC before the fall season, which will take time. A few days ago, GE CEO Jack Welch sent me an email that GM has an absolute controlling stake in NBC, so it will be much easier to negotiate than ABC's, as long as we can get GM, then we can take NBC. Of course, this is only the final choice, we have already sat so much work for ABC, and Firefly will never give up until the last minute. ”

Because NBC TV station does not have "Friends" in the original time and space, and NBC's management has been confronting GM's senior management in recent years, making a mess of this TV network, GM also has plans to take action. Therefore, if you want to acquire, it is much less difficult than ABC. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point () to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to M. to read. (To be continued.) )