The film became Warner's highest-grossing film in '93, and after the film's release, Lin Mu received a seven-figure check for dividends and a long-term agreement. Lin Mu accepted the check www.biquge.info the pen "Fun", but returned the agreement with very attractive terms. Universal's Mark also approached him with a similar agreement, but was politely declined by Lin Mu. The reason is simple, shortly after the release of "The Outlaw", representatives of Viacom approached him, and the chairman of the company's board of directors, Sumner Rayshidon, was ready to talk to him personally.

Viacom is a large entertainment and media group in the United States, with operations in film, television, publishing and other entertainment-related retail industries. Today's Viacom Company grew out of the 1954 family business Sumner Raystone, the current chairman of the company's board of directors, National Entertainment, a chain of drive-in theaters in a corner of Massachusetts. After more than 30 years of operation, Lei Shidong turned it into the largest theater chain system in the United States, and in 1986, he acquired Viacom and entered the entertainment industry. In a later interview, Lei Shidong explained why he decided to enter the entertainment industry in 1986, "We thought it represented the future of the television industry, so we decided to gamble on it." And it turned out that over the next few years, through "acquisitions, acquisitions, and acquisitions," Viacom quickly caught up in the entertainment industry.

After that celebrity party in New York, Lin Mu conducted a detailed investigation of the company. He believes that Viacom's development process has adapted to the trend of industry consolidation, and the accurate judgment of the development trend of the entertainment industry and decisive acquisitions are important factors in Viacom's rapid rise. The development of Viacom also coincides with Linmu's idea of developing the entertainment industry chain, which is also an important reason why Linmu refused to cooperate more with Warner and Universal, but preferred Viacom.

As for Lei Shidong himself, Lin Mu also did some understanding. Lin Mu was particularly impressed by what he once said, "Bigger doesn't mean better, but bigger is better than small." When facing the market, being bigger can always make more people know about you, especially when the market is so competitive. There is nothing special about this sentence in itself, but it conveys an important message to Lin Mu, Sumner Lei Shidong is an entrepreneur who prefers M&A development.

The 70-year-old Sumner Lei Shidong went to Los Angeles in person, which moved Lin Mu and made him feel terrified, knowing that he wanted to meet a person who could be on a par with media mogul Merktor. Such a character is not something he can easily deal with.

The meeting between the two was chosen in an elegant high-end café, which Sumner-Lei Shidong deliberately chose because he believed that the office environment would depress people's minds.

"Hello, young man!" Sumner Ray Shidong looked like a very easy-going old man. "Mr. Schelling-Stoke came back full of praise for your ideas, which made me very interested in you."

"I wonder what is it about me that I am fortunate enough to be so valued by you?" Lin Mu didn't get carried away because of Sumner-Lei Shidong's compliment.

"Your age and thoughts!" Sumner Lei Shidong was very satisfied with Lin Mu's reaction, at Lin Mu's age, it is indeed commendable to be able to do this step without being shocked by honor and disgrace.

"I don't know what you mean?"

"Your ideas don't match your age at all, even though I admit you're excellent!" Sumner-Lei Shidong's words made Lin Mu startled suddenly, could it be that he noticed something? But Sumner-Leishidong's next words dispelled the doubts in his heart. "You're a genius, a genius in the truest sense of the word! This is the only plausible explanation I can find. ”

"You've won a prize!" Lin Mu didn't know what Sumner-Lei Shidong wanted to say.

"You don't need to be modest, my words are not just my personal subjective assumptions, because I have enough facts to support this conclusion!" Sumner Lei Shidong looked at Lin Mu with burning eyes, "I have studied all your works, and each of your scripts has a very different style. I can't even find any other connection between them than the same excellence. This surprised me, and I couldn't imagine how complex a person's thinking must be to be able to write something with so many different styles and ideas. ”

Lin Mu was silent, and Sumner Lei Shidong continued: "However, what surprises me even more is your business performance, since the operation of Jurassic Park, I have been following you, and I have found that your understanding of the entertainment industry and the grasp of the needs of the audience are even more sophisticated than some managers who have made great achievements in this industry, which is contrary to the common sense of this industry." If that's all it is, you're not enough to attract my attention, the most important thing is that you're constantly changing every time, never sticking to the previous successful model and experience, you're constantly looking for new breakthroughs, that's why I really value you! ”

"In ancient China, more than 2,000 years ago, a great military strategist named Sun Wu wrote a book about war, in which he emphasized the idea that there is no normality in the army and the idea that water is amorphous." Lin Mu explained.

"China's ancient culture has indeed given birth to a lot of wise thoughts." Sumner-Lei Shidong nodded, "But many people understand this truth, but not many can put it into action. So I'm here today to hear your real thoughts, and I'm very interested in your idea of developing the entertainment industry chain! ”

"Viacom defines itself as a content provider. In order to achieve long-term and stable development prospects, content providers must have the integration of upstream and downstream resources, and the possession of communication channels is particularly important. I think in 1986 you were willing to buy MTV Global from Amex and Warner for $513 million, and that was the reason for that. ”

"Viacom now has the largest theater chain in the United States and controls media channels such as MTV, so it is bound to consider developing upstream of the industrial chain. So at that party, I dared to venture to guess that Viacom's next development strategy might be to buy a film company. Branding is a long and difficult process, and it is better to spend time rebuilding a brand than to use what others have done well, which is why I suggested that the company buy an established film company outright. ”

"If the acquisition is successful, then a preliminary entertainment industry chain has taken shape, and the operation system integrating production, distribution and sales will form a huge chain of interests, which will maximize the benefits through the advantages of scale and the reduction of the distribution of interests in the intermediate links. I'll take the film industry as an example, the post-production promotion of "Jurassic Park" cost nearly $30 million, but if Universal had a TV network like MTV, it would have saved at least 20 percent of the promotional costs. Don't underestimate this 20%, the publicity cost of a commercial blockbuster in the future will be far more than $30 million, and the savings will be more than $6 million. ”

Of course, for a complete entertainment industry chain, a film company is far from enough, Viacom also needs to continue to expand into the upstream industries of records, entertainment and even games. In the near future, the Internet will become the most important means of media, and if Viacom can also seize the opportunity in this field, then in the next ten years, you will become the well-deserved king of the global entertainment industry! Lin Mu said so much in one breath, but he didn't know whether these analyses could impress Sumner Lei Shidong.

"I admit that your plan appealed to me!" Sumner-Lei Shidong does not deny his appreciation for the woods, "But I also know that you have a Chinese phrase (idiom) called talking on paper, no matter how grand the plan, only practice can prove success." ”

Lin Mu looked at Sumner Lei Shidong, "I'm missing a chance!" ”

"And you think I can give you that chance?" Sumner-Rayshidong asked quietly.

"It's also a chance for Viacom itself!" Lin Mu knew that he was a little arrogant when he said this, but if he had been born 10 years earlier, he wouldn't have needed to sit here and talk to Sumner Lei Shidong about these things at all.

"Arrogance and no one in sight, this is the vitality that young people should have!" Sumner-Lei Shidong suddenly laughed, he began to like the young man in front of him a little, ambitious but far-sighted. "I have a position here as the head of strategic investment in the company, and I don't have a high position in the company, but I am directly responsible to the board of directors, I wonder if you are interested?"

Lin Mu accepted the position offered to him by Sumner Lei Shidong, although the position offered by Viacom was obviously not as good as Warner and Universal, but Lin Mu, who knew the future history, knew that Viacom was planning a new round of investment expansion at this time, and Sumner Lei Shidong obviously put him in this position.

"The company is working on a new investment plan, and as you can judge, we are ready to acquire a film production company, but the directors are very divided on the choice of who to acquire, so I want to hear from you!" Although no formal agreement has yet been signed, Sumner-Leishidong already sees Lin Mu as his head of investment.

"Paramount is a great choice!" Lin Mu said without thinking.

"Why?"

"Paramount is the oldest studio in Hollywood!"

"That's all?" Sumner Lei Shidong is a little puzzled, everyone knows that Paramount is the oldest film company in Hollywood, and this is not a reason for strategic investment at all.

"Because Paramount is now also facing a choice, either accept the injection of fresh blood, or say goodbye to the Hollywood stage sadly!"

Investments have always been from their own point of view, but Lin Mu has gone the opposite way, and Paramount's current turn is indeed the case, since the departure of former CEO Barry Diller, his two assistants, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, were also poached by Disney, the trio that once brought Paramount to the top of Hollywood in the 70s, and Paramount's development has since fallen into a low ebb. Sumner-Lei Shidong felt that he was still underestimating the thoughts in Lin Mu's head, "Then what do you think is the reason why Viacom chose Paramount?" ”

"Viacom either don't do it, or do it to be the best!"

Sumner Ray Shidong asked Lin Mu to prepare a detailed speculative report before leaving, and he also threw a difficult problem to Lin Mu. Although Sumner Lei Shidong himself has decided to invest in Paramount, it is only his personal decision, and at the company's board meeting in New York next week, he asks Lin Mu to convince the rest of the directors, and this is only his first test of Lin Mu.

Lin Mu felt that Kuler had been a little strange lately, and he hadn't even seen a figure in the past few days. Lin Mu himself is also very busy, and it is not easy to formulate a well-thought-out investment report, which requires a lot of data support. Fortunately, Sumner Lei Shidong did not give him an empty title, and the work of collecting information did not require him to do it himself. But data analysis is also a headache, and many later generations of analysis software have not yet been launched at this time. Lin Mu finally found the analysis software he wanted to use in the school's laboratory, but the program could only be implemented under the DOS operating system, which made him very depressed.

But to Lin Mu's relief, Microsoft launched the Windows operating system in 90, and at this time, the use of it in business was not yet widespread, so Lin Mu was fortunate to be the first person to use slides to make a feasibility report on the board of directors of Viacom. Sumner-Lei Shidong and the company's 18 directors enjoyed the illustrated electronic report with great interest.

Considering the need for projection, the hearing on the feasibility analysis of Lin Mu's report was scheduled for the evening, and because the lights were turned off, Lin Mu could not see the expressions on the faces of the directors, and he himself looked calm on the surface, but there was still some drumming in his heart. At the end of the report, he did not hear applause.

In the end, it was the lighting in the conference room that solved the doubts in Lin Mu's mind, and his use of the slide projection of the business report this time obviously had a big impact on these directors, and like Sumner Lei Shidong, most of the directors were still thinking about digesting the content of Lin Mu's report. There was silence for about three minutes before there was a round of applause in the conference room. At the end of the meeting, Sumner Lei Shidong was the last to leave the conference room, he walked up to Lin Mu and gave him a deep hug, "Young man, well done!" (To be continued.) )