Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion - Chapter 401

Chapter 401 Golden Rooster

 After acquiring 14.5% of Lionsgate shares, Golden Shell Investment continued to buy Lionsgate shares in the stock market and from other shareholders, spending US$210 million to acquire 26.8% of Lionsgate Pictures shares.

At the same time, media tycoon John Malone, Lions Gate’s second largest shareholder, also joined the ranks to acquire the remaining shares of Lions Gate.

 Spent 80 million U.S. dollars to increase his stake in Lionsgate Pictures to 32.2%, surpassing Jon Fillame and becoming the largest shareholder of Lionsgate.

 As the two men competed for Lions Gate Pictures’ shares, Lions Gate’s stock price continued to rise on the New York Stock Exchange.

 From the initial US$7.4 to US$10.2, the market value of Lionsgate Pictures has also successfully exceeded US$800 million. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal quoted a price of US$850 million, an increase of nearly 30%.

Next, whoever wants to take away the other’s shares, Link and John Malone, will have to pay a higher price than the original price.

 The next main target for acquisition by both parties is the 28.7% stake held by Lionsgate Chairman Jon Fillame.

Whoever can get these shares will have complete control of the Lionsgate Films board of directors and have decision-making power over Lionsgate.

 According to the current net worth of both parties, the two of them are about the same.

  John Malone is a shareholder of American media giants Liberty Media and Liberty Global, and also owns a large stake in Discovery Communications.

  He is worth about US$2 billion, but he is 69 years old. As a veteran Wall Street investor, he has deep connections in the American business circle. If he wants to control Lionsgate Pictures, he will not lack funds at all.

For the time being, Link is working alone. If he has no money, he uses his stocks as collateral to get loans from banks. He does not seek foreign aid to share risks, which is even more risky.

Just when everyone thought the competition between the two parties would enter a tug-of-war, Lionsgate chairman Jon Feremey suddenly announced that he would sell 28.7% of his shares to Golden Shell Investments. The terms of the transaction were 3.2% of Twitter shares.

　　After the news came out, it caused a huge sensation on Wall Street and Hollywood. Many people said that Link was crazy.

This year, after the third round of financing, Twitter shares entered the fast lane. In just half a month, the market value increased from the original 4.2 billion to 5.8 billion US dollars.

  Comparative professional media such as the Wall Street Journal and Business Daily predict that Twitter’s market value will exceed US$10 billion by the end of the year.

 If it goes public next year, it is expected to become the next Facebook, with a market value exceeding 100 billion or even 200 billion.

Nowadays, many investment banks on Wall Street want to get shares of Twitter but have no chance. Link was originally the second largest shareholder of Twitter. With 16.5% of Twitter shares in his hand, he is expected to become a billionaire next year and enter the top three of Forbes. .

However, he sold his Twitter shares twice this month at very low prices and exchanged them for Nvidia, a popular stock, and Lionsgate Pictures, which has average operating conditions.

In the new issue of Business Daily, there is an opinion article titled, ‘Why did investment star Link Baker make frequent mistakes this year? ’

 When analyzing the reasons, the author believes that this is the negative effect brought about by the skyrocketing price.

 At the beginning of 2010, Link’s net worth was less than 400 million U.S. dollars, but by the beginning of this year, his net worth had soared to 2.4 billion U.S. dollars. This rapid increase in net worth made it easy for Link to underestimate the risks of the stock market and make a series of wrong decisions.

Translated into vernacular, it means that after the upstart Link got rich, he became hot-headed and spent money randomly.

 The article also pointed out that if Link cannot wake up as soon as possible, sooner or later he will pay for his mistakes and fall from a billionaire back to the multimillionaire level.

 The person who was most anxious after seeing the news was his father-in-law, Mr. Thompson. He dropped the Wall Street Journal and picked up the phone on his desk to call Ivaca.

 “Eva, did you know that Link did this?”

 “Dad, what are you talking about?”

Ivaca put down the pen and asked, leaning on the office chair.

“Link exchanged Twitter shares for Lionsgate shares. 3.2% of Twitter shares were worth at least $400 million by the end of the year, but he exchanged them for Lionsgate shares worth less than $200 million. It’s so irrational, Eva , you should persuade him.”

Mr. Thompson complained loudly.

“Dad, this is Link’s private matter and I don’t want to interfere.”

“You are boyfriend and girlfriend, and the next step is to get married. Link’s money will also be yours in the future.”

 Mr. Thomp shouted.

“Dad, Link’s assets belong to him personally and have nothing to do with me. I have shares in Link Music, which is completely sufficient.

In addition, what he sold this time was only Twitter shares. He also owned Tesla and Link Music. Even if the investment suffered a loss, it would have no impact. Link is still young and has a long way to go. One attempt will fail. It’s also good for his growth. “

Evaka said.

Mr. Thompson muttered helplessly, “Eva, when are you going to marry Link? Last time I talked to him, he said he would consider getting married after he finishes his work. I hope it will be within the year.”

 “Dad, don’t worry, we”

“Are you not in a hurry? You are already 27 years old, and you will be 28 next year. Let me tell you, if you don’t get married this year, I will agree to Little Kunas’ proposal for you. I will keep my word.”

 Click!

Mr. Thompson hung up the phone without waiting for Ivaca to say anything else.

Ivaca heard the busy tone on the phone and shook her head, not worried about Mr. Tomp’s words.

 Being in a wealthy family, the most important thing is to obtain the inheritance rights of the family property to maintain the life and consumption of the upper class.

For inheritance rights, the heirs in the family often fight openly and secretly, and do not dare to disobey their fathers.

But she is different. The current market value of Link Music is 650 million U.S. dollars. She owns 25% of Link Music shares and is worth more than 100 million U.S. dollars. With these assets, she can live a good life without relying on her family, so Mr. Thompson’s forced marriage is right. She is useless.

However, there is some truth in what Mr. Thompson said. I am not young, and if I delay it any longer, I will become an older leftover woman.

Evaka blinked her eyelashes and opened Google to search how to get her boyfriend to propose marriage.

The first one found was the new movie “Leap Year” starring Amy Adams. It tells the story of a woman who heard that if she proposed to her boyfriend on February 29th of a leap year, she would definitely find happy love. She flew thousands of miles from the United States to The story of Ireland proposing to her boyfriend, but meeting true love on the road. She shook her head and continued searching for other good ideas.

 Dong dong dong!

“President, Director Kapar is here. He has something to report to you. Do you have time now?”

Secretary Vivian Jones asked standing at the door.

“Invite him in, Vivian, you stay here and sort out this pile of documents.”

Ivaca straightened her back and pointed at the bookshelf.

 “Okay, CEO!”

Vivian turned around and invited Director George Capal to come in. She walked to the desk to sort out the information. This was not the first time she had done this. Every time a male staff member came to report on work, she would be left in the office. Do some chores.

 It felt strange at first, but she was smart enough not to ask any more questions.

 “George, how was the conversation with Spotify?”

Ivaca asked, crossing her fingers.

“It went very well. President Daniel Ek welcomed our link music to participate in this round of financing, and is also very interested in cooperating with link music. However, Spotify’s valuation in this round of financing is one billion US dollars, and they will not accept funds below 50 million US dollars. Investors, CEO, should we continue to follow up?”

George Kapal said.

Spotify is a genuine streaming music platform, and its revenue mainly comes from advertising revenue in free music and subscription revenue from paying users.

Since it was launched in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2008, the number of users in Europe and the United States has exceeded 5 million, and there are currently 1.8 million paid subscribers. There are two types of payment models: US$4.99/month or US$9.99/month.

 Last year’s total revenue reached US$150 million. Although it is much worse than Link Music, it still has great potential on the streaming music platform.

Evaka pondered for a moment, then picked up the phone and called Link to discuss the share of the investment.

Her opinion is to invest 50 million first to see the development potential of Spotify. If the development is good, then participate in the next round of financing.

What Link means is to first acquire no less than 15% of the shares and sign the contract at the same time. As the first musicians in North America to join Spotify, Link Music’s singers need to gain technical and traffic advantages when releasing songs on the Spotify platform. support for at least three years.

If Spotify agrees, his new songs in the future can be released first on the Spotify platform.

Ivaca thought about it for a while. 15% of the shares cost about 150 million US dollars, which was almost the company’s revenue last year. This was a bit risky.

But if Spotify develops smoothly, Link Music’s market value will not only increase significantly, but it will also have an additional distribution platform, which will make money faster in the future.

 “Then do as you say.”

Evaka said.

“By the way, releasing songs on streaming media is different from releasing records. Some singers will be more concerned about it. Before joining the Spotify platform, you and Graeme will discuss it with your singers. It’s all based on everyone’s voluntariness. Don’t force it if you don’t want to. “

Link reminded.

 He did this because he remembered the news article about Taylor.

 First of all, releasing new albums on Spotify at the same time will affect the sales of physical records and the chart.

  Users who subscribe to Spotify will not buy physical records. Some singers hope to sell more physical records and achieve good results before removing songs from the streaming platform.

In addition, songs are made into laser discs and vinyl records for sale, which look more artistic and more like works of art.

 Sold directly on streaming media platforms, without physical records as a medium, it is more like a commodity and seems vulgar.

This is also the reason why many singers do not want to sell their songs on streaming platforms.

But Link doesn’t care about this. His main purpose of singing and releasing records is to become famous and make money. If he releases songs on the Spotify platform and gets monthly dividends, he will make money faster.

“Link, did the acquisition of Lionsgate go smoothly? Last September, the Wall Street Journal called you an investment genius. Now I heard that you exchanged Twitter shares for Lionsgate shares. Many people said you were crazy, so are you still sober?”

Ivaca smiled faintly.

“Yes, I’m sober, and Twitter has a lot of potential, but it’s a golden chicken that can’t lay eggs, and Lionsgate is going to be a chicken that can lay golden eggs in my hands, if it’s You, would you choose to have a golden chicken, or a chicken that lays golden eggs? ps. Golden eggs can hatch golden chickens.”

 “I don’t know, but I support your decision, all your decisions.”

Iwaka chuckled.

 “Thank you! Don’t worry, I’m sober and I won’t do a loss-making business.”

Link said confidently.

 “Yes, I said, I believe you.”

Iwaka held up her cheeks and smiled softly.

In the office, secretary Vivian saw the touching smile on the president’s face and secretly marveled. Usually the president often has a cold face and is very serious, but when talking to Link on the phone, he smiles so much and his voice can also be… Tired of people.

“Okay, that’s it, I’ll come over to spend the weekend with you.”

 Ivaka hung up the phone, suppressed her smile, and discussed investing in Spotify with Director Kapal, asking him to continue negotiating and try to get the best terms.

 (End of this chapter)