Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion - Chapter 400

 Chapter 400 Shares

Link and Ivaca visited the Getty Center for more than two hours and spent 1.6 million to buy five paintings and sculptures, all of which were selected by Ivaca.

He couldn’t see the merits of several pieces of art at all, but Ivaca said they were suitable to be placed in a bay villa and would improve their artistic taste.

When I got home, I asked the designer to install the decorations. After taking a look, I found that there were indeed some changes. At least the overall price of this villa was more expensive.

 Shortly after returning home, Ms. Cathy Wood called from Wall Street.

It is said that Carl Icahn, the third largest shareholder of Lionsgate Pictures and a famous Wall Street investor, agreed to sell 14.5% of his shares, but at a premium of 20%, because Lionsgate Pictures’ stock price rose to US$700 million last year, not now of 630 million.

Last year, Carl Icahn planned to invest 350 million to fully acquire Lionsgate Pictures and 180 million in debt, but was rejected by the Lions Gate board of directors. The two sides were not happy, which also led Carl Icahn to prepare to sell Lions Gate. shares.

After Link planned to acquire Lionsgate Pictures, Cathy contacted Carl Icahn through Pioneer Asset Management and prepared to acquire his shares.

After two days of negotiations, the two parties reached a consensus that Link would acquire Carl Icahn’s 14.5% stake in Lionsgate Pictures for US$108 million.

 But during the acquisition, Ms. Cathy told him that Jinbeike Investment did not have that much cash and needed to borrow part of it.

Link found that he bought a lot of things this year and earned a little less money. After finishing these things, he should find a way to make some money.

After successfully acquiring 14.5% of the shares, Golden Shell Investment became the third-ranked shareholder of Lionsgate Pictures. In order to have decision-making power on the board of directors, he continued to issue acquisition invitations to the first and second-ranked shareholders.

The largest shareholder of Lionsgate Pictures is Jon Feremey, a famous producer whose representative works are “First Blood 4” and “The Expendables”. He is also the current chairman of Lionsgate Pictures and holds 28.7% of Lionsgate. stock.

 Lions Gate’s second largest shareholder, media tycoon John Malone, holds 22.4% of Lions Gate shares and is also a friend of Harvey Weinstein.

Link also issued an acquisition invitation to shareholders ranked 456th, offering a premium of more than 15%. His goal is to become the largest shareholder of Lions Gate and have decision-making power in the company.

After the news of his decision to acquire Lionsgate Pictures came out, the second largest shareholder John Malone also proposed acquisitions to several small shareholders. The bidding between the two parties caused the price of Lionsgate’s stock to rise rapidly.

  It rose from US$7.4 to US$8.2 in one day, with the market value reaching US$704 million.

 The rise in stock prices has also added some difficulties to his acquisitions.

But Link didn’t care. He spread the news to the outside world through the media, saying that no matter how much Lionsgate’s stock rose, he would continue to acquire it until he completely controls Lionsgate Pictures.

 This news caused a great sensation in Hollywood after it was reported by the “Hollywood Reporter”.

Everyone knows that Link is a newly minted billionaire, and that he has recently been having conflicts with Hollywood tycoon Harvey Weinstein.

The rumor started because Harvey wanted to unofficially rule Jennifer, the heroine of “Silver Linings Playbook”, and was scolded by Jennifer’s rumored boyfriend Link.

 Harvey became angry and announced that he would ban Link and his actors from Hollywood. This also caused Link to lose two film projects, “The Time Bureau” and “Friends”.

At the same time, Harvey used the contacts in the CAA agency to get the heroine of “The Hunger Games” that Jennifer had already acquired.

 The movie “The Hunger Games” is the largest project Lionsgate has invested in this year.

Link was very angry and even borrowed more than 100 million US dollars to acquire 14.5% of the shares from the third largest shareholder of Lionsgate Pictures. He also announced that he would completely acquire Lionsgate Pictures in order to help Jennifer Lawrence get “Hungry” The heroine of “Game” let out a bad breath.

Hearing these rumors, Hollywood fans started talking a lot.

 Some people ridiculed Link for being young and energetic, and if he wants to use capital to conquer the unfathomable Hollywood, he will definitely lose everything.

 Some said that Xavi’s unspoken rules capsized the ship and provoked a difficult opponent.

There are also people who envy Jennifer for finding a good supporter. For her, she is not willing to go head-to-head with the most powerful person in Hollywood. In order to help her get the role, she also buys a large independent production company.

This approach is similar to the way billionaire and **** Howard Hughes invested tens of millions of dollars in making movies to promote actress Jean Harlow in the 1940s.

Unfortunately, the movie failed at the box office, and Howard Hughes was almost bankrupted.

I didn’t expect that more than seventy years later, another **** would do this.

 Many people believe that Link will repeat the same mistake and end up worse than Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes was the richest man in the United States at the time and owned an airline, while Link was worth only more than 2 billion US dollars.

In Hollywood, where capital gathers, billions of dollars are used to make movies every year, and billions are used to promote movies. Two billion U.S. dollars is not a lot of money in Hollywood.

 Many people predict that Link will make a dismal exit from this capital game.

 “This guy actually wants to acquire Lionsgate Pictures for a role? Hahaha! That’s ridiculous. This is the funniest joke I’ve heard this year.”

 In the office of the president of Weinstein Films, Harvey saw the news in the Los Angeles Times and grinned non-stop, his big belly twitching with laughter.

“Harvey, don’t laugh yet. With Link’s worth, it’s not difficult to buy Lionsgate Pictures. If he succeeds, we will have a strong rival in Hollywood in the future.”

Bob Weinstein persuades.

Although Link’s announcement of the full acquisition of Lionsgate Pictures was somewhat impulsive, he seemed like a young man who was passionate about saving face, rather than a world superstar and billionaire.

Clink is worth more than 2 billion. If he makes up his mind to acquire Lions Gate, he has a high probability of success.

If Link takes over at Lionsgate, Weinstein Pictures will have a powerful rival in Hollywood.

“Haha, Link? Strong rival? Bob, you think too highly of him. He is a boxer and a singer, and he doesn’t understand movies at all. What does Lionsgate have to fear if it is run by a person who doesn’t understand movies? I bet, Lionsgate will go bankrupt within three years, so he wants to become our rival?”

 Harvey smiled disdainfully.

Bob touched his chin and felt that Harvey was right.

People like them, who have been involved in the film industry for more than 40 years and are called modern film leaders, will also be cautious and step-by-step when running a company.

In this way, Weinstein Pictures continues to suffer losses year after year, and for someone like Link, who knows nothing about movies, to join Lionsgate Pictures, which is larger than Weinstein Pictures, it can be expected that this will definitely be a disaster.

 Lionsgate Pictures may become the next listed film company to go bankrupt after MGM.

“Bob, I remember we still have some Lionsgate stock, right?”

Harvey asked, lighting a cigar.

“Yes, not many, more than 200,000 shares. The current share price of Lionsgate Pictures is US$8.2. Do you want to sell it?”

“No, doesn’t Link want to completely control Lions Gate? Then let’s help him and acquire some more Lions Gate stocks through our channels. The more, the better. Let’s see how much money Link is willing to spend to buy it from us. This part of the stock.”

 Harvey laughed. “If Link’s acquisition fails and it announces that it will abandon the acquisition of Lions Gate, Lions Gate’s stock price will definitely fall, and won’t our investment be in vain?”

“Haha, it doesn’t matter. Hollywood is a battlefield. As long as we can defeat and embarrass Link, it doesn’t matter if we lose hundreds of thousands.”

Harvey said nonchalantly.

Bob frowned. Rather than defeating Link and saving face, he was more concerned about whether he could make money. He was never willing to make a loss-making transaction.

Bob thought for a while and said to Harvey,

If you want Link to fall into the big pit of Lionsgate, you should find a way to help him successfully join Lionsgate Pictures.

  Let him lose hundreds of millions, instead of blocking him when he acquires Lionsgate, it will actually help him.

Hearing what Bob said, Harvey paused the cigar in his hand and found that what he said made sense.

If you want Link to make a small loss, you should stop him at this time. If you want to make Link lose a big sum, you should find a way to lead him into a pit.

Harvey rubbed his cigar leather with his fingers, and after a moment of silence he said, “Bob, go see John Malone in person and ask him what he thinks. If he has any intention of selling Lions Gate’s shares, let him do more at this time.” Raise the price and make a lot of money from Link. In a few years, we will see Link lose to Lions Gate. If he doesn’t have this plan, Link’s acquisition is destined to fail. Then we will take action and block it at this time. Link, give Link some embarrassment.”

Bob nodded, as long as the Weinstein Pictures didn’t pay, it didn’t matter to him.

“Also, find out who spread this news and shut those people up.”

 Harvey suddenly turned dark and pointed at the entertainment news section of the Los Angeles Times.

There is a news article above that, according to people familiar with the matter, the cause of the conflict between Link and him was the use of Jennifer Lawrence as the heroine of “Silver Linings Playbook”.

Although the newspaper did not say that he had hidden rules, Jennifer Lawrence failed and was scolded by Link. In order to apologize, he voluntarily agreed to hand over 50% of the film copyright to Palm Beach Pictures.

 But combined with this news, online rumors, and the actual situation, it seems to be true.

 This kind of thing will affect his reputation, and he will never ignore it.

Bob was a little hesitant when he heard his words.

 The reason why this rumor is so popular now is because it is very true.

Harvey is notorious in Hollywood. Everyone knows that he has many stains on the issue of men and women. It is also something he can do to say that he intends to unspoken rules for Jennifer Lawrence.

Although Link is a philanderer, he has a good reputation among female stars, and scolding Harvey in order to protect Jennifer is something he can do.

Also, while Weinstein Pictures fully owned the film copyright of “Silver Linings Playbook”, it also took the initiative to hand over half of the copyright to Link. This is an undeniable fact.

 According to this situation, it is impossible to clean up the rumors that are seven truths and three falsehoods.

 Arranging people to do media PR is also a waste of money.

But considering Harvey’s bad temper and habit of breaking things, Bob didn’t say much and accepted the task.

 Dong dong dong!

As he was about to leave, Weinstein Films head of production Mickey Rocks came to the office and reported to Harvey, mainly to press for money.

 The news brought by Mickey Rocks is that the main scenes of the “Silver Linings Playbook” movie have been completed and will then enter the post-production stage. Director David Russell sent someone to urge for funds for the follow-up production.

Mitch asked Harvey’s opinion whether he should pay back the money.

“Let’s put it off for now. This drama is not important to us, but it has a greater impact on the development of Palm Beach Pictures. They cannot get back the money they invested, and they are more anxious than us at this time.”

 Harvey sneered.

“Mr. Weinstein, we have also invested US$5 million in this drama. If it continues to be delayed, it will also have an impact on our company.”

 Mickey said tactfully.

Bob glanced at Harvey and said, “I think this money should be given. I heard that Link’s investment includes not only a company in Palm Beach, but also Skydance Pictures.”

 “Skydance? David Ellison’s Film Company?”

 Harvey frowned.

“Yes, I heard that Link has a good relationship with him. If we continue to drag it out and go to court, facing two people, our chances of winning the case are very small.”

Bob advised.

 He thinks he is not as good as Harvey when it comes to producing and distributing movies, but Harvey is prone to being emotional at work and often delays the company’s money for the sake of saving face. He doesn’t like this very much.

 He thinks nothing is more important than making money.

“well!”

 Harvey sighed helplessly when he heard what he said.

Logically speaking, David Ellison’s family is also Jewish, so everyone should be in the same group.

 However, Jews in the United States are not all of the same mind. Some support the Democratic Party and some support the Republic. They often become opponents in the business arena.

If American Jews could unite as one, there would be Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, George Soros, Zuckerberg, Epstein, etc. in the financial circle.

In the entertainment industry, there are George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, Woody Allen, etc. By then, not only Hollywood will listen to everyone , the whole world will tremble.

Harvey thought for a while and told Close that he could fund the project, but he would have to keep the editing and distribution rights of the film firmly in his hands.

At the same time, Bob is asked to invite David Ellison to attend the next movie preview to discuss cooperation between the two companies.

“OK!”

Seeing Bob and Cross leaving, Harvey held his cigar and smiled coldly, Link, let’s see how you win this time.

 (End of this chapter)