Chapter 608: Shit stirrers are everywhere (4000+ chapters~)
If what you saw in the Bronx before was the evil of chaos and disorder, then here in the top coffee shop in Manhattan, New York, what you see is the luxury and calmness of New York.
It's as if these two places are not in the same city at all.
Here you don’t see anyone making loud noises, and you don’t have to worry about your car losing something for no reason. Everyone is sitting in their seats, talking softly, and even when they talk about happy things, they just sip.
Smiling softly.
Wu Jianye is sitting here, integrating into such an environment. It is impossible to say how much he likes such an environment. He prefers to sit at a roadside stall with his friends, drinking beer, and eating skewers.
Seen at night, that is real life.
But if he is left in such an environment, he can still do flawlessly.
Ronald Perelman has also arrived, and accompanying him is his second wife, the rambling columnist Claudia Cohen. Ronald Perelman has been married five times in his life. In 2010,
Ronald Perelman, 67, whose fifth wife gave birth to his seventh child - Oscar...
The two parties had been talking for a while, and Ronald Perelman had already known the purpose of this visit.
"Director Wu, I want to know, do you want to acquire Marvel or Fengge Media on behalf of Phantom Entertainment this time?" Ronald Perelman asked with a smile.
Wu Jianye laughed, and then said: "Of course I represent Phantom Entertainment. Phantom Entertainment is very concerned about the development of Marvel comics. You also know that Phantom Entertainment is acquiring Lane Publishing. If Lane Publishing can be integrated with Marvel by then,
The combination will definitely result in a strong alliance!"
Wu Jianye did not talk about the future development of Marvel, but used the fact that Phantom was acquiring Lane Publishing as a breakthrough point to discuss with Ronald Perelman.
As one of the most famous investors on Wall Street, it is impossible for Ronald Perelman not to know that Phantom Entertainment is acquiring Lane Publishing.
"I am a businessman, and what I value most is profit. As long as the price is right, there is nothing that cannot be traded. But does Phantom Entertainment have the sincerity?" Ronald Perelman said softly.
Regarding Ronald Perelman's answer, Wu Jianye was not surprised at all. Just as Ronald said, he was an out-and-out businessman. When he received the invitation from Phantom Entertainment, he was willing to personally
When we met, we explained some issues.
Ronald's business career also illustrates this aspect very well. On January 1, 1943, Perelman was born into a wealthy family in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. His father, Raymond Perelman,
Mann owns a steel industry group called Belmont Industries and is also an expert in mergers and acquisitions.
With this family background, Perelman has been familiar with the techniques of mergers and acquisitions since he was a child. When he was still in middle school, he spent almost all his spare time reading the financial statements and various reports of his father's company, and also participated in
to join the management of his father's company.
While in college, he had completed his first business, buying shares in a brewery for US$800,000. Three years later, he sold the shares in two installments, earning US$1 million and US$2 million respectively.
The transfer fee resulted in a net profit of more than 2 million US dollars.
After graduating from college, he enrolled in the Wharton School of Business for further studies. Shortly after receiving a master's degree in business management, he and his father founded a capital company whose main business was mergers and acquisitions.
From 1967 to 1978, the father and son acquired several machine manufacturing plants and steel plants respectively, and used their shares to reorganize the assets of these enterprises, eliminate some low-profit production departments, and optimize the asset structure.
.
While Perelman enjoyed the benefits of these successful capital operations, he also longed to do something truly independent.
In 1978, he went to New York alone to start his leveraged buyout career.
In April of that year, Perelman purchased 34% of the shares of Cohen-Hatfield Jewelry Company for US$2 million, which was his first business after independence.
Not long after, he sold most of the shares he owned in the company and pooled his funds to speculate in stocks.
By buying, selling and speculating, he not only recovered his original capital, but also made a profit of US$15 million, which doubled his principal by more than 6.5 times.
Perelman won the first battle and never looked back.
At the beginning of the 1980s, as Michael Milken pushed the "junk bond" business to a climax at Drex Investment Company, Perelman was also able to apply this new financing method to acquire, resell, hold, and annex, and
His genius for mergers and acquisitions was fully demonstrated.
Usually, Perelman would choose to buy an "ugly duckling" that other investors looked down upon. Then he would abandon some of the junk business in installments, leaving the company's shell behind, and then use the tax benefits of the loss-making company to buy some better ones.
assets, repaired and sold to other industry giants.
For this purpose, Perelman had to calculate the various figures in the statements of these companies, calculate how many shares to purchase to achieve the purpose of controlling, and what unprofitable equipment and institutions need to be eliminated after controlling to optimize their structure.
And then achieve the goal of substantial value-added. This is Perelman's best skill.
Someone once commented on him: "Perelman does not look like a contemporary entrepreneur at all, but more like a dealer wandering around the market with a calculator in his hand!"
Integrating personal preferences with acquisitions and operations is Perelman's unique style.
For example, smoking was one of his hobbies. In 1984, he spent US$124 million to buy the American Tobacco Consolidated Company.
Overnight, the crown of "Tobacco King" was placed on his head.
As the business grew bigger, Perelman's scope of involvement gradually broadened. Famous cases include cosmetics giant Revlon, film production company Delac Entertainment, lottery supplier Scientific Games, and Hummer manufacturer U.S.
Automobile comprehensive companies and securities companies Union Barton, etc.
It can be said that Marvel is just a less conspicuous investment among his many investments. He has held Marvel for more than half a year, but Marvel's performance has never met his requirements. Now he has long been interested in Marvel.
I lost confidence and was going to use my old tricks to acquire other companies in the name of Marvel, then go public, cash out and other business operations.
But it happened that at this time, Hollywood upstart Phantom Entertainment found him and hoped to acquire Marvel from him. Naturally, Perelman wanted to listen to Phantom's offer.
"Then Perelman, how do you value Marvel?" Wu Jianye asked.
"For only US$150 million, Marvel can sell it to Phantom!" Perelman said loudly.
Wu Jianye glanced at Perelman and said with a smile: "As far as I know, Mr. Perelman only spent US$82.5 million to buy Marvel in the first week of New World Pictures. Now it has almost increased.
Double, I’m afraid this is a bit exaggerated, right?”
Perelman said with a calm smile: "If someone else wants to acquire Marvel, the price is naturally exaggerated, but if it is Phantom, then the price is just right in my opinion."
When he came for the appointment, Perelman had already asked people to investigate the situation of Phantom Entertainment in detail. Through his relationship on Wall Street, he knew that Phantom Entertainment was now acquiring Lane Publishing, which showed that Phantom Entertainment was fully expanding its business.
Business map.
As the link between Phantom Entertainment and Fengge Media, Wu Jianye is responsible for the acquisition of Marvel. This means that the acquisition of Marvel will be the first joint project between the two groups.
As for what Marvel can bring to Fengge Media, he doesn't know. In fact, he doesn't need to know. He just needs to know that this project is very important to Phantom Entertainment.
Then he can ask the Phantom for money without hesitation!
Wu Jianye also knew what Perelman's trump card was, but he had contacted Stan Lee in advance just to deal with Perelman's trump card.
"Hi......."
Just when Wu Jianye was about to take out his trump card, an elegant man's voice suddenly came from next to him.
Wu Jianye and Perelman looked up at the same time. Wu Jianye saw a man and a woman. The man was slender and elegant. Although he had one eye, he did not block his confident eyes behind the lenses.
The girl next to him is Penny, whom Wu Jianye is familiar with.
Penny also saw Wu Jianye, but her eyes were frosty and cold, obviously she still held grudge against Wu Jianye.
Perelman stood up first, smiled and shook hands with the young man: "Nick, long time no see!"
Nick smiled and said: "Yeah, I didn't expect to meet you here." After finishing speaking, Nick looked at Wu Jianye and said with a smile: "Hello, Director Wu, I am Nick Johnson. I have always wanted to meet you here."
I want to meet you, but I have been very busy at work."
At this time, Wu Jianye also knew who this young man was, Johnson's brother Nick Johnson, the most capable person in the third generation of the Johnson family.
Wu Jianye said with a smile: "It is fate that we meet!"
If it were in China, everyone might have to sit together when encountering this situation, but now Wu Jianye and Perelman are discussing the acquisition of Marvel, whether it is Wu Jianye or Perelman
They are not even planning to invite Nick to come with them.
Nick's answer actually meant the same thing: "You two must have something to talk about. Why don't we find a place to sit down after you finish talking?"
In fact, this arrangement is the best for all three parties, but at this time, there is a troublemaker who is not prepared to accept this arrangement that everyone is satisfied with.
"Why wait until they finish talking? Wu's invitation to Perelman this time must be for the purpose of acquiring Marvel. As shareholders of Phantom, wouldn't it be great for us to listen together!" Penny said directly.
As soon as Penny finished speaking, the expressions of everyone present changed. Wu Jianye's expression became ugly, Perelman became excited, and Nick's expression became a little grim. Only Penny still looked proud.
looked at Wu Jianye.
"In that case, let's all sit together!" Perelman was the first to say with a smile.
For him, having such information is enough. Although he does not know why the Johnson family is a shareholder of Phantom Entertainment, he does know that the only business of the Johnson family that has anything to do with the entertainment industry is Oceanwide Cinemas. If
The Johnson family is a shareholder of Phantom Entertainment, which means that Phantom Entertainment has secretly established its closest cooperative theater chain in North America.
This is already very good news for Perelman.
Perelman thought of this, and Wu Jianye and Nick naturally thought of this too. Now Phantom Entertainment and the Johnson family can be said to be partners. Both of them knew that this news was brought to the attention of Perelman after he knew it.
s consequence.
Not only will it make it more difficult for Phantom Entertainment to acquire Marvel, but it will also make it more difficult for Johnson, who is currently acquiring theaters.
And all this will not only hit the interests of Phantom Entertainment, but also the interests of the Johnson family.
In fact, if it were normal, Penny would not be like this. Her abilities were not much worse than those of the people present. However, she was so angry at Wu Jianye during this period that she suddenly lost her mind.
But as soon as the words came out of her mouth, she knew she was in trouble.
However, even if Penny knew that she had gotten into trouble, she was not prepared to admit her mistake in front of Wu Jianye. Even in her opinion, the reason why she made such a low-level mistake today was because of Wu Jianye.
After Nick and Penny sat down, Nick took the lead and said: "Actually, our family only holds 1% of the shares of Phantom. It's not a big deal, and our family will not participate in the management of Phantom. You two
It’s better to talk how to talk!”
Although Nick was already making up for it, Penny's mistake had already been made, and Perelman's tone became more firm.
"Director Wu, the price of 150 million is very fair. If Phantom Entertainment acquires Marvel, it will be able to produce its own superhero movie. I believe this will be a very beneficial thing for Marvel!" Perret
Mann said with a smile.
Wu Jianye no longer went to see Penny at this time. The most important thing now was the negotiation with Perelman. As for Penny's mistakes, Old Johnson would naturally take care of it later.
"Have you forgotten the box office of "Superman 3"? No one knows what the future of superhero movies will be. It is just an unknown future, and it is a future that is very likely to fail. Phantom Entertainment has no plans in the short term.
Regarding the idea of adapting Marvel's superheroes into movies, as for Perelman, have you ever thought about what would happen if you listed Marvel and the stock price did not achieve the effect you expected?" Wu Jianye replied
.
Perelman smiled confidently: "You can rest assured about Director Wu, I am still confident in this!"
Wu Jianye smiled: "What if Marvel's top executives leave when it goes public, and someone shorts Marvel's shares at the same time?"
Perelman's expression changed: "What do you mean, Director Wu?"