Chapter 307 Plans that are beneficial to all parties
On the way back to the company, Lan Lan sat in the back row of Mulsanne and asked Zhang Yida who was sitting next to her, "Mr. Zhang, do you really want to invest 50 billion in the entertainment field in the next ten years?"
"That's for sure. Is it true if you say this?"
Zhang Yida opened the car refrigerator, took out two bottles of mineral water, handed one bottle to Lan Lan, and took several sips of the other bottle of mineral water himself.
The weather in Beijing started to get hotter in May. After taking a few sips of ice water, Zhang Yida felt much cooler.
"Ali Entertainment, have you heard of it?"
Of course Lan Lan had heard of the big news that Ahri had established a leading group for cultural and entertainment work, and the Internet and entertainment circles were shocked.
“Ali Entertainment has eight departments including Alibaba Pictures, Heyi Group (Youku Tudou), Alibaba Music, Alibaba Sports, UC, Alibaba Games, Alibaba Literature, and Alibaba Digital Entertainment Division.
It can be regarded as integrating all the entertainment sectors of Ali.
I heard that the first president was a ruthless man named Yu Yongfu, who led Amap to overtake Qiandu Maps."
"Yes! He is a cruel person!"
What Zhang Yida still has to say is that Ali Entertainment, led by this ruthless man, has lost more than 10 billion a year, making it the most losing sector of Ali.
Until 2019, before Zhang Yida was reborn, Ali Entertainment had not found a path to success.
Three presidents, ten core executives were rotated, strategic ideas were changed three times, and 6.4 billion yuan was burned in one quarter. Professional managers, Ali veterans, and new generation cadres came and went, and they never gave up.
I'm always trying and making mistakes, but this path seems to never work.
Ahli Entertainment has since become a sinkhole!
In addition, Youku also fell from the first place to the third place in the industry, being overtaken by iQiyi.
Ali Music, formed by Tiantian Dongting and Xiami Music, was also messed up by teacher Gao Dagen. The founder of Xiami Music took the initiative to transfer, and Tiantian Dongting's marketing team resigned collectively...
Tiantian Dongting’s original DAU dropped from 10 million to 500,000 within half a year.
It can be said that Ali Entertainment has done a terrible job, spending a lot of money, and its market position has declined instead of rising.
I guess Jack Ma is also puzzled. Is it counterproductive to waste money on me?
In fact, Ali Entertainment's internal management chaos and rampant corruption are the real culprits that caused all this.
Youku's Laifeng live broadcast team saw that Musical.ly was very popular abroad and made a short video to follow the trend, but it was rejected by Yu Yongfu.
Similar examples abound!
Zhang Yida would not dare to repeat Ali's old path. In contrast, Penguin's steady and steady approach is worth learning.
"Where's Penguin's big entertainment?" Zhang Yida asked again.
Lan Lan thought for a while and replied: "The pan-entertainment business is called IEG Interactive Entertainment Business Group within Penguin.
Including Penguin Games, Penguin Literature (with China Literature as the core), Penguin Pictures, Penguin Animation and Penguin Esports, plus Penguin Film and Television, Penguin Video and Penguin Music, there are a total of 8 sectors.
Among them, Penguin is the industry leader in games, literature and music.
Several other sectors are also at the forefront of the industry!"
Zhang Yida nodded. Compared to Ali, Penguin's layout and development are more reasonable, and they develop around IP and the upstream and downstream industries.
The top entertainment players in China's Internet industry are Ahri and Penguin. Qiandu is much weaker, with only iQiyi supporting the scene.
"Mr. Zhang, do you mean to imitate Ahri or Penguin and invest heavily in building a big entertainment group?"
Zhang Yida smiled and shook his head, "We can't imitate everything! We must develop our own "big entertainment" based on our own characteristics.
For example, live broadcast, games, and e-sports are one link; short videos, animations, and comics are one link..."
"What about the 50 billion you mentioned?" Lan Lan asked.
"Most of the 50 billion will definitely be used for investment and industrial layout, and a small part will be spent on content creation."
Lan Lan smiled and said, "Aren't you here to draw cakes for others?"
"I don't!" Zhang Yida spread his hands, "If station B wants to have greater development prospects, it must have a sponsor dad like me behind it!"
…
At the same time, in the Bilibili company conference room, the three founders were having a debate.
"Brother Rui, I think Mr. Zhang's strategic vision is quite good. If Station B wants to develop better, it must have a solid backing like him."
Li Ni did not agree with Xu Yi's idea. She said: "Xu Yi, have you ever thought about it? Zhang Yida wants to develop a big entertainment group like Ali Entertainment and Penguin Entertainment.
He is using Bilibili as a benchmark for Youaiteng. In the future, we may become a video playback website for everyone.
The community atmosphere that Station B has developed for many years will be completely destroyed! Station B will change from a "small but beautiful" to a mainstream video website on the market."
"Isn't it more than that?"
Xu Yi scratched his head, "Didn't Mr. Zhang say that the management rights should still be handed over to our original management?"
"Do you believe what the capitalists say?" Li Ni rolled his eyes, "Is there an additional term for this management right? When did they purge you, you are still in a state of confusion."
"Brother Rui, can you tell me what you think?"
When Li Ni was at Cheetah Mobile, Chen Rui was her old superior. Later, when she joined Station B, Chen Rui brought her here, so she respects him very much. Now she wants to hear his opinion.
Chen Rui didn't say anything, he was very confused now.
Zhang Yida wants to acquire Bilibili. For him who already has wealth and freedom, taking the opportunity to cash out a large sum of money is secondary.
He attaches more importance to the big entertainment strategy mentioned by Zhang Yida and has the opportunity to take charge of a company worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Station B’s revenue last year was 131 million yuan, with a net loss of 373.5 million yuan.
The reason why the losses are so serious is because Bilibili is very restrained in commercialization.
Accepting Zhang Yida's acquisition may break the existing community atmosphere of Station B.
Although Zhang Yida said he would not get involved in operations, Chen Rui knew that once Station B was integrated into the large entertainment system described by Zhang Yida, there would definitely be conflicts and various integrations.
"I don't know either!"
Chen Rui sighed and continued: "Everyone can express his or her own opinions! I'll listen to your thoughts too!"
"As long as Mr. Zhang promises not to change the current situation of station B, I am inclined to accept his acquisition.
Not only us, but also our upstream and downstream comic companies and animation companies will benefit.
With sufficient funds coming in to support creative talents, I think China's comics and animation industries can usher in a new era of development.
In addition, what Mr. Zhang said about promoting national culture to the world is what touches me the most."
Xu Yi felt that he was deeply moved by Zhang Yida's feelings. He likes two-dimensional culture and also likes Chinese culture.
Especially the latter, if he can make Chinese style culture become the mainstream of the world and even be sought after by the world, he feels that his life will be worthwhile.
Well, he made an outstanding contribution to the revitalization of Chinese culture! This is how Xu Yi imagined himself recorded in future history books.
Chen Ruixian glanced at him and felt that he was still too simple. He had always been responsible for the community culture and tone within Station B.
He is good at these things, but he can't handle commercial things well.
"Li Ni, tell me what you think!"
Chen Rui looked at his subordinate who was born in 1985. Although he was young, he was very powerful.
I served as the president of the student union in college. After graduation, I rejected offers from many well-known companies and chose to start my own consulting company to provide business management, human resources and investment-related services to technology companies.
Because of his extraordinary abilities, he was recruited by his client, then Cheetah CEO Fu Sheng, at the age of 24, and became the youngest human resources executive in an Internet company at the time.
From 2012 to 2014, Li Ni experienced the team expansion of Cheetah Mobile from 400 to 500 people to more than 2,000 people, and finally successfully accompanied Cheetah Mobile to the market.
This resume and ability are rare among peers!
“I don’t think we should sell Station B. Currently, Station B is not short of investors and development funds.
If we are tied to Zhang Yida's large entertainment system, we will lose our independence.
Perhaps with the help of Zhang Yida's large entertainment group, Station B can go smoother and further, but Station B will no longer be the original Station B."
"Why isn't it the original B station?"
Xu Yi objected: "Why don't we sign an agreement with Mr. Zhang and ask him to give us five years... no, ten years of management rights!"
"He will not sign such an agreement with you!"
Although Li Ni is less than 30 years old, he has rich experience in dealing with large Internet companies. He directly concluded that Zhang Yida would not agree to such an agreement.
"How will you know if you don't try?" Xu Yi said with a smile, "If he doesn't agree, we won't sell the company."
"The three of us still hold 47.9% of the shares. How about this, we don't sell the shares and sell the A shares of other venture capitalists to Zhang Yida.
In addition, we signed an agreement with Zhang Yida that the current management rights of the company will not be shaken for five years.
Five years later, based on the development of Bilibili and Zhang Yida’s large-scale entertainment, we will decide whether to merge Bilibili with his large-scale entertainment.”
Chen Rui put forward his own idea, only changing the status of the major shareholder of Station B, leaving the rest unchanged.
After five years, we will decide whether to stay or leave based on the situation.
"So, is this equivalent to making Zhang Yida a major shareholder who will have no say in the matter for five years?" Li Ni asked.
"Yes, that's what it means. This not only ensures our right to speak, but also allows us to further observe his grand entertainment strategy.
If his big entertainment business hadn't developed, we don't need to talk about it, and he probably wouldn't have the shame to continue it.
If his big entertainment business develops, it’s not impossible for Bilibili to join them.”
Chen Rui's idea is very complicated. On the one hand, he does not want to lose the management rights of station B, but on the other hand, he also wants to retain a chance to join the big entertainment system.
"Why make it so complicated?"
Li Ni sighed, "Then during these five years, will we still be listed on the stock market?"
"It must be listed on the market, why not?" Chen Rui said with a smile.
"Will Zhang Yida agree to our conditions?" Li Ni expressed doubts about this.
"Just forget it if you don't agree!"
Chen Rui smiled bitterly, "This is the solution I have found that is most beneficial to individuals, companies, and users!"