The next day, Cao Xuan met Edgar Bronfman Jr., the new boss of Warner Records, at a French restaurant called Melissa in Los Angeles.
His name can also be translated as Edgar Bronfman Jr., which has multiple transliterations but the same meaning.
Little Edgar is in his 40s, in the prime of life. He is well-dressed and his eyes are deep, shining with confidence and wisdom.
Before coming here, Cao Xuan didn't know much about this new boss. He asked someone to carefully inquire about little Edgar's information. Then he vaguely remembered a few words from Goldfinger, and finally had a general understanding of the new boss.
How should I put it? This person can be described as a generational genius.
He is comparable to the second emperor of the Qin Dynasty, and not inferior to the "Sage" Yang Guang, the lord of the Sui Dynasty.
Compared with him, the second Prince Warner, who lost three families in fishing before, is simply the Kirin of the Warner family.
Little Edgar is a third-generation rich man, and the Bronfman family he belongs to started from his grandfather's generation.
When the United States promulgated Prohibition in 1920, his grandfather made wine in Canada and then secretly transported it to the United States to sell. Because of Prohibition at that time, selling wine was hugely profitable, and some were even more profitable than white powder and arms.
Little Grandpa Edgar has since become a top rich man.
Once they had money, they began to transform. After the second generation of the Bronfman family, Edgar Jr. and his father Edgar Sr. came to power, they began to engage in formal brewing business + investment. At the same time, they actively participated in charity, integrated with Jewish senior leaders, and expanded the family's influence.
force.
By the 1990s, Edgar Sr. was already a well-known philanthropist, wine magnate, and highly influential among the Jewish community.
Moreover, he started his career by selling private wine, and he also had many connections in the gray area. He was a true black and white tycoon.
But as the saying goes, wealth cannot last more than three generations. The first two generations of Bronfman's family were heroes, but they could not bear to give birth to an unlucky man and a prodigal son.
Little Edgar was his father's second son and his favorite child, so he was given the same name.
This third-generation rich man who was born with a golden key has had an extremely passionate interest in art since he was a child.
After graduating from high school, he went to work part-time in a British film company, and later went to Hollywood to participate in some film productions. After a few years of work, he was depressed and had no choice but to return home and inherit the family property.
Edgar Sr. loved his son very much. He started out as the assistant to the chairman of the family's Seagram Group, and soon became the general manager of the European region. Two years later, he was appointed vice president of the group, responsible for manufacturing, sales and marketing. Five years later,
, serves as Chief Operating Officer.
Even in order to arrange for his son to ascend to the throne, the old man retired early and officially handed over the family responsibility to his second son, Edgar Jr., in 1994.
Absolutely true father, he can be called Canada’s little Zhu Yuanzhang.
It's a pity that his father is Zhu Yuanzhang, but little Edgar is not Zhu Biao. Instead, he competes with Zhu Qizhen, the "God of War of the Ming Dynasty".
After taking office, Edgar Jr., for the purpose of family transformation, but more likely to fulfill his teenage dream, he aggressively attacked the television, music and other media industries.
At that time, Edgar Jr.'s family group owned a lot of DuPont shares. In order to raise funds, he did not hesitate to sell all these shares.
In the end, these shares were sold for more than 8 billion US dollars, and two years later, he sold these shares for US$16.6 billion.
Not to mention future generations, DuPont is one of the top ten financial groups in the United States. If they keep their shares, the Edgar family can be rich for three more generations as long as they don't commit suicide.
It is precisely because of this incident that little Edgar has been criticized by many media.
Of course, he went even further than just selling DuPont shares. After obtaining a huge amount of funds, Edgar Jr. went on a shopping spree, acquiring several major record companies and reorganizing them into Universal Group.
Subsequently, PolyGold Records was acquired, and Universal Music Group, a subsidiary of Universal Group, became the world's number one record company for a time. Little Edgar's reputation was unparalleled.
As a result, the record industry continued to decline due to over-expansion. As a result, Edgar Jr. has been in charge of Universal for several years and has been subsidizing the profits of the family group.
In the end, the family group's management was ineffective, forcing him to resort to crooked tactics. As a result, it suffered a huge negative impact and became increasingly difficult. In 2000, it even publicly auctioned its high-quality brands, and the good wine giant was destroyed in name only.
Not to mention that his own business was going bankrupt, he also exchanged and merged shares with Universal Group and France's Vivendi Group. As a result, Vivendi suffered a huge loss of 13.6 billion euros in 2002, and the stocks in his hands shrank significantly.
It is conservatively estimated that little Edgar has lost more than US$10 billion since he took over his father's assets.
The Bronsmann family, which was famous back then, has almost become a joke now, and little Edgar has been hailed by the American media as "the stupidest person in the media world."
But little Edgar was not discouraged. This year he began to reorganize Jianghe and sold most of his Vivendi shares.
As an ordinary investor, he convened some individual investors and institutions through his connections to establish a new investment group, preparing to acquire Warner Records and the World War II entertainment industry.
There is a saying that after checking this person's information, Cao Xuan's first thought was to prepare to change jobs and run away.
Good guy, who can afford to offend this kind of Sangmenxing?
But after calming down, Cao Xuan felt that there was no need to demonize little Edgar too much.
He didn’t know much about Mei Entertainment, but he had heard of the reputation of Warner Records, which would remain among the top record companies in the world.
This shows that the arrival of Edgar Jr. did not lead to the collapse of Warner Records.
Just like Universal Pictures and Universal Music, although the stock of the parent company Vivendi shrank significantly last year, it did not affect the development of the two companies.
Universal Music Group continues to be the world's number one record label, and Universal Pictures is also producing great films one after another. In 2003, it ranked among the top three in the U.S. in terms of box office. The "Fast and Furious" and "The Bourne Supremacy" series of movies released in the past two years have also been very popular.
As the former president of Universal Group, Edgar Jr. cannot be justified in saying that he did not have any contribution.
This is also the reason why many individual investors are willing to work with him. This guy is a prodigal and has some abilities. He also has deep connections and a complicated background.
In the cannibalistic Hollywood, only such people at the helm can enjoy themselves.
Cao Xuan didn't go to bed until 4 o'clock in the morning last night. He thought about it for a long time and called his financial team. The investment team and legal team chatted for a long time before he finally came up with the case.
When I came to see little Edgar today, he didn't talk too much. He just exchanged a few words and expressed his feelings directly.
"I heard from Mike that Mr. Bronfman seems to be a little strapped for funds, so he still lacks 10% of the shares. If you don't mind, I would like to talk to you about cooperation."
"Cao, you are also interested in Warner Records."
Little Edgar was a little surprised. The reason why he wanted to meet Cao Xuan was very simple. As mentioned before, after joining Warner Records, he had to make arrangements for the subsequent development of the company.
Because he had wasted too much money before, Edgar Jr. had limited funds and planned to take over Warner Records and then run it public.
At this critical moment, it is impossible for Warner Records to suffer major fluctuations, especially if a singer like Cao Xuan, who can be called a facade, leaves, it will have a great impact on the listing and stock price.
That's why little Edgar came forward in person, planning to urge Cao Xuan to stay at Warner Bros., and even prepared a series of favorable conditions.
As a result, before he could use his sharp tongue, Cao Xuan gave him a big surprise.
"I heard that the Warner family still holds 10% of the shares, and I want to take it. Of course, the acquisition will be carried out together with your company. Afterwards, I can also entrust the management of the shares to your team."
Everyone was pressed for time, and Cao Xuan didn't want to beat around the bush with this guy, so he directly expressed his thoughts.
Little Edgar became more and more confused. He couldn't help but pick up the wine glass next to him, took a deep sip of Porto red wine worth tens of thousands of dollars, and asked with a slightly hoarse voice,
"Do you know how much 10% of Warner Music Group is worth?"
"If I acquire it individually, it may reach more than 300 million US dollars, or even higher. If I work with you, it is expected to reach 200 million US dollars."
"Is this why you asked me to cooperate?"
"It's one of them."
Cao Xuan smiled and said very straightforwardly: "I am optimistic about Warner's appreciation space, and I am also optimistic about Bronfman's business capabilities. At the same time, this is also an investment certificate.
Warner will not treat an uncontrolled Chinese singer as one of its own, nor will other American record companies, but if the Chinese is a shareholder of the company, it can solve a lot of unnecessary troubles."
Cao Xuan explained to little Edgar what a certificate of surrender was, and the other person laughed.
"Cao, you are an interesting and smart person."
Before coming, Cao Xuan made some analysis of little Edgar.
The rich second generation like this, who grew up in a luxurious family but kept struggling with their careers, are arrogant and arrogant in their bones. They feel that they are talented and smart. Even if they fail, it is just bad luck and they will succeed one day.
They don't pay special attention to money. What they pursue is the sense of vanity after a successful career, realizing self-worth and getting rid of the halo brought by their birth.
Little Edgar loves the media field and is obsessed with fame, and his related complex is stronger than that of the rich second generation.
When getting along with this kind of person, talking about it will achieve unexpected results, but you can't be too flattering. You have to show your own value. He will think that people like you are different, not an ordinary coquettish bitch, and are willing to cooperate with you or
make friends.
How should I put it, Cao Xuan knows many second-generation people like this, and they are very familiar with how to interact and chat with them. In just ten minutes, little Edgar has become more fond of him.
"Cao, I don't resist cooperating with you, but I want to know if you can come up with enough cash?
I’m not afraid to tell you the truth, I have recently contacted another institution, and the other party can quickly come up with 200 million US dollars to participate in this acquisition..."
Little Edgar looked at Cao Xuan with interest. US$200 million was not a small amount, and many wealthy Americans would not be able to spend it casually.
As far as he knew, Cao Xuan was a big star in China, but he couldn't figure out whether China was already so rich. A star could spend 200 million US dollars.
"Your company ensures that I get 10% of the shares, and US$200 million will be transferred to the account of this acquisition meeting within two weeks."
Cao Xuan also rarely showed the domineering attitude of a big man, and little Edgar lived in a small town.
But in fact, US$200 million is not a small amount for Cao Xuan now.
Because of "Legend of Blood" and "Bubble Hall", which are gradually turning a profit, Cao Xuan has a lot of cash flow at his disposal, and 200 million US dollars is not a big deal.
But because of the situation in China, a lot of funds are needed in various aspects.
Taking out 200 million U.S. dollars in one go almost wiped out 90% of Cao Xuan's current cash flow, and some of it may also require mortgage loans.
The reason why Cao Xuan took over Warner's shares at all costs was to knock on the door of the American entertainment industry.
As mentioned before, Cao Xuan is unwilling to sign with an American company. To the American entertainment industry, he is just an outsider after all.
Now that he can make money, Warner considers him to be its best partner. Once things go downhill, even if Warner doesn't engage him, it won't be more considerate to him.
This is a rare opportunity to break into Hollywood and become a shareholder of Warner. Even if Cao Xuan is not a chess player, he will not be easily kicked out.
More importantly, Cao Xuan will be regarded as one of Warner's own from now on, with his own influence and ability to make money, plus his status as a shareholder of Warner.
Warner will spend a large amount of resources on him in the future to help Cao Xuan go further on the road to superstardom.
If you want to make big money, you have to invest!
Cao Xuan understands very well that if the US$200 million is invested domestically, he will get a lot of returns in the future.
But in the same way, there is no loss in taking Warner's shares. If Cao Xuan relies on Warner to become the world's top superstar, then the money he earns will not only be a mere US$200 million.
Again, Hollywood and even the United States are closed and exclusive. In many matters, Cao Xuan's identity as a Chinese superstar is not useful at all. Many people will ignore him, but adding the prefix of Warner Records shareholder has a completely different effect.
To put it bluntly, Cao Xuan used US$200 million to buy himself a backer in Hollywood and use it to break into Hollywood.
When it gets a firm foothold in the future, whether the 200 million Warner shares are cashed out or exchanged for higher-quality assets, as long as Warner remains a top record company, it won't be considered a loss.
Moreover, although little Edgar is known as a disgrace to the media industry, his actual connections and resources in North America are terrifying. Black and white take all. If he can get on the line, it will be of great benefit to Cao Xuan.
Of course, the premise of all this is that Edgar Jr. will not screw Warner to death.
Cao Xuan discussed with his team and felt that he could still take a gamble. If it didn't work out, he could just cash out and leave after Warner went public.
As for whether it will go public, Cao Xuan has great confidence in Edgar Jr. With his connections and resources, it is easy to push a company to go public.
Many investors readily agreed to follow him for this reason. They did not necessarily believe that Edgar Jr. could make Warner Bros. bigger and stronger, but they absolutely believed that Edgar Jr. had the ability to take Warner Bros. public.
As long as it goes public and Warner's stock price rises, everyone will make a lot of money, find a suitable opportunity to throw the stock to the taker, and leave the market calmly.
………
Little Edgar is very interested in Cao Xuan's investment, which not only relieves the urgent need for tight funds, but also directly binds Cao Xuan's trump card in depth.
After all, once Cao Xuan buys a stake in Warner Records, he won't have to worry about Sony and Universal poaching people.
Cao Xuan wants Warner to support him wholeheartedly, and Warner also wants Warner to follow him wholeheartedly.
This is also one of the reasons why Cao Xuan chose to invest in Warner. He would have no chance to join other companies.
The change of Warner this time is a time to fish in troubled waters. In addition, he has cooperated with Warner for a long time and has a relatively special status. The other party is not very resistant to his entry. Moreover, Cao Xuan also has his own people in Warner and will not be easily deceived.
So overall, Warner Bros. is the most suitable breakthrough point for Cao Xuan to open the closed door of Hollywood.
In this way, Cao Xuan decided to spend a lot of money to acquire Warner shares in a short period of time.
However, this 10% share is not a small matter after all, and he cannot make the decision on his own, and many details need to be discussed. He asked Cao Xuan to give him two days and then give Cao Xuan a reply.
Cao Xuan could tell that little Edgar really wanted him to join.
After all, aside from Cao Xuan's overall benefit to Warner, from his personal point of view, joining Cao Xuan is beneficial and harmless, and is even easier to control.
A Chinese VS American investment institution.
It was easy for little Edgar to make a choice, and he had a good impression of Cao Xuan. After dinner, he planned to take Cao Xuan to have fun.
As a well-known Hollywood playboy and media boss, Cao Xuan can choose more than 90% of second- and third-tier models or celebrities at will.
The evil capital society!
Cao Xuanshi refused. He did not believe in the moral integrity of these European and American capitalists. They would not be easily seduced by beauty without ensuring safety.
Little Edgar was quite impressed by Cao Xuan's cleanliness and took the initiative to mention that his sister was still single and seemed to want to be a month old.
Cao Xuan almost ran away. Little Edgar was at best a prodigal + unlucky guy. Although he was a bit arrogant, he was not a bad person.
The two sisters in his family are different. Their brain circuits are different from those of normal people. He can't afford to offend...
When he returned to the hotel, Mike had been waiting for him. When he saw Cao Xuan coming back, he rushed over like a bullet, his fat face full of impatience.
"How about it?"
"60% to 70% sure."
Cao Xuan gave a conservative estimate, but it tortured Mike so much that he counted the odds on his fingers.
Mike is now more active than Cao Xuan when it comes to investing in Warner Bros. Although he is a member of the board of directors, he is only an executive director and does not hold any equity.
That's why Mike was repeatedly suppressed on the board of directors. Before Cao Xuan joined Warner, his voice was not as powerful as that of a powerful department head.
So at this moment of transition between old and new, he did not hesitate to turn to the new boss, hoping to be reused.
But no matter how important he is, he is just a part-time worker, but now that Cao Xuan has entered the game, it is different.
Because Cao Xuan mainly operates domestically and is not in the United States all the time, he needs a powerful ally in Warner to help him protect the rights and interests of shareholders, and Mike is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.
Mike and Cao Xuan reached an alliance, and in the absence of Cao Xuan, he was able to partially exercise Cao Xuan's shareholder rights.
In addition, he is an old man from Warner himself, has certain connections in the company, and has joined the new boss early. He can be regarded as a recruitment leader. In the future, when Warner's top management is reorganized, his voice will be greatly improved.
Even if he is not the vice chairman, he is still at the forefront of the board of directors, so he is extremely concerned about Cao Xuan's investment, even more than Cao Xuan himself.
Cao Xuan was sitting tight, but Mike couldn't sit still. He hung around him for two days and then started making phone calls.
He was not good enough in the media world, but it was still very convenient for him to get information. The various feedbacks made him worried and happy for a while, making Cao Xuan dizzy.
"Can you calm down for a while?"
"Why aren't you in a hurry?"
"What's the rush? Everyone will be happy if they buy shares. If I don't buy shares, I won't lose much in a short period of time."
Cao Xuan is very confident. This is the strength of a "creative" singer. Companies are rushing to get him wherever he goes.
There is no place for me to stay here, I have my own place to stay!
If Warner can't stay, he will go to Sony or Universal, and other companies will welcome him with drums and gongs. If he has an escape route, he will naturally be stable.
Regardless of Mike's restlessness, Cao Xuan contacted his team the next day and participated in two radio interviews and related activities to promote "Relea Color".
The Victoria's Secret show is on November 8th, and there is still more than half a month left. He will stay in the United States for nearly two weeks, and then leave for Europe for almost two weeks to promote, and fly back until closer to the Victoria's Secret time.
After participating in Victoria's Secret, this promotion is almost over, and there are still a few sporadic activities before I can return to the country.
After winning the Grammy, Cao Xuan's resources are much better than when he came to the United States last year. Basically, he has a pretty good platform.
If the bulletin board does not require radio data as support, radio programs can be completely ignored at first and the focus should be on television.
Little Edgar said he would reply to Cao Xuan in two days, but in fact it took him nearly a week to contact him again.
During this period, Mike was desperate, but Cao Xuan was very confident.
All good things are hard to come by. If there was no chance at all, little Edgar would have given up long ago. As time went by, perhaps the hope was greater.
As a Chinese who wants to become a shareholder of the world's top record company, you can imagine the resistance he will encounter. Little Edgar replied to him within a week, which is considered very fast.
On the phone, little Edgar didn't say much, just expressed a little tiredly.
"Let your team come over and negotiate."
This sentence represented everything. Mike cheered loudly and Cao Xuan also smiled.
Soon after, Cao Xuan's relevant team flew to the United States from the mainland, Hong Kong and other Asian countries. Cao Xuan used solid Chinese tycoons to find two trustworthy investment and legal firms in the United States to help check the situation.
Cao Xuan made no secret of his distrust of the American capitalists. These American capitalists, especially the Jews, had too many twists and turns and had to be on guard.
After all, it is not a small investment, and all the details need to be discussed. It is expected that after the formal production is completed and the cooperation contract is obtained two weeks later, Cao Xuan's team will join Edgar Jr. in the overall acquisition of Warner Records.
In the meantime, Cao Xuan's new album has become increasingly popular on the Billboard singles chart.
On October 21, 2003, "Relea Color" was on the list for its fourth week, and the song "Sugar" overtook "Free Loop" and entered the top ten of the Billboard singles chart.
"Free Loop" ranks twelfth, and it is already within reach to enter the top ten.
What's even more exaggerated is that Cao Xuan has been in the top ten of the Billboard album list (sales) for three consecutive weeks, and even reached second place in the third week on the list.
The sales volume of "Relea Color" in the United States also exceeded 1 million on October 20, less than a month before the album was officially released.
This was also the hottest selling album in the United States throughout October, and Cao Xuan also received his second platinum album certification in the United States.
The popularity of "Relea" caused Cao Xuan's name to hit the screens in the United States.
People no longer regard him as a short-lived singer, but as a future world pop king with real superstar potential.
The New York Times published a front-page headline showing Cao Xuan's poster on a giant advertising screen in Times Square. They called Cao Xuan "The Musical Magician from the East" and praised Cao Xuan's musical talent.
Become famous with one album, reach the top with the second album!
Cao Xuan has reached a critical moment on his road to becoming an international superstar, and Warner or Edgar Jr.'s team is also aware of this and intends to speed up negotiations.
On October 25, just before Cao Xuan was about to leave for Europe, the two parties finally reached an agreement.
Cao Xuan invested US$200 million to join Edgar Jr.'s investment group. After Edgar Jr. acquired Warner Records, Cao Xuan obtained 10% of Warner Records' shares, as well as a board of directors seat and a series of related rights according to the contract.
ps: Recommended book "Debut from the Queen's Concert", Wanding Entertainment, I have read it myself, the rhythm is very good, the quality and word count are guaranteed
I basically don’t look for anyone to recommend articles. This time, it’s rare that I have a wave of py exchanges. If you are interested, you can check it out.
