Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1454 An unexpected Christmas gift

"Thank you all for coming to my house for dinner with your family during the busiest time before Christmas. This Christmas means a lot to me, as my family has come to Los Angeles to spend it with us.

Christmas is a time for family reunion. I consider you a member of our big family, and I hope you can consider me a member of your family, too."

On the night before Christmas, Ronald hosted a banquet for all the executives of Daydream and their families. The meal included a fusion dish jointly created by a Cantonese chef from Chinatown and a chef from a Japanese sushi restaurant, as well as high-end red wine from Japan.

All the people present were senior managers who had worked with Ronald for many years and whose loyalty and ability had been tested. Those from other places came here specially on his private jet, and every family came to the door in a luxury car, giving these families the dignity they deserved.

"For the daydream..."

All the executives raised their glasses, and Ronald toasted them one by one, shook everyone's hand and said some words of thanks.

The integration led by Ed Bastian, which lasted more than a year, has been basically completed. The New York Daily News, TV stations, radio stations, Roger Ailes' cable talk show channel, film production in Los Angeles, advertising production and other departments have all been integrated into one entity.

The name of this entity is DDH Media, which is a combination of the names of several independent media companies, representing the three main components of Daydream Productions, New York Daily News Media, and Hollywood Cinemas.

"Since this is an early Christmas party, I have also prepared Christmas gifts for you. The gifts are in your car. You can see them on your way back..."

The children were the happiest. They played the latest games at Ronald's house and ran around everywhere. Finally, Uncle Ronald gave each of them a big bag of gifts, which he placed on the back seat of his luxury car. The gifts included panda toys, the latest game consoles, and Star Wars laser swords.

After they got on the bus, crazy shouts began to ring out in the car again. Everyone's children were extremely happy.

Female employees and the wives of male employees also receive a bag of benefits, ranging from vacation vouchers to the best spa massages, and vouchers for several fashion, luxury goods, cosmetics, and designer jewelry stores.

These were originally gifts used for public relations with important people in the industry, but this Christmas, the highest quality gifts were prepared for every employee's family.

As for the male employees, they only had a thin red envelope with a Chinese symbol of "Double Happiness" printed on it, which looked like a Chinese knot and was very festive. When they opened the envelope, there was a thin piece of letter paper inside, with the logo of the newly established DDH Media on the top.

"..."

Now, the employees in the luxury car were speechless.

These letters are about Ronald's DDH Media share arrangements, which grant shares ranging from 0.05% to 0.15% based on their years of service and contributions, as well as equivalent options, allowing them to exercise the options at current prices within four years.

Generally speaking, employees at the same level as Michelle Cannold, who has booked the COO job at a media company, can get about 1% of stock and options. Senior vice presidents, such as Polly Pratt, the senior art director who solved many problems for Ronald, can get about 0.2%. And senior managers like Claudia Wells also have 0.05% options.

At the end of the letter, it was announced to everyone that DDH Media had reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs a few months ago, and they would be the underwriter of DDH. They had made preliminary preparations for the listing and had now submitted the S-1 document to the SEC for an IPO.

Goldman Sachs was very surprised by the quality of DDH's assets. They expected that Daydream Productions would own the copyrights of many hit movies. However, other parts of DDH Media were still pleasantly surprised.

The New York Daily News, TV stations, radio stations, and cable TV channel program production, if these assets were taken out separately, would be eligible for listing on the NASDAQ and would have no problem raising around $50 million.

Wall Street has come to realize in recent years that when these media outlets come together, the effect is far greater than the sum of their parts, and together they can increase a company's valuation by hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Hollywood Cinemas and Palm Cinemas, which are modernized multi-screen cinemas, are even more gratifying.

Ever since Paramount's monopoly case was re-examined under the relaxed and liberal economic policies of the 1980s, film studios owning shares in theaters are no longer the target of antitrust cases.

However, cinemas are asset-intensive industries, and most production companies have tight cash flow and do not have the spare money to invest in cinema chains. DDH Media has quietly acquired a major stake in the Hollywood Cinema Chain, which is expanding rapidly in New England, a condition that other major studios do not have.

Add to that several blockbuster movies like "Dirty Dancing" and "Street Fighter", in which Ronald invested all the money, and also holds the rights to sequels, videotapes, and soundtracks. Goldman Sachs values ​​DDH Media's IPO at approximately $12.5 billion to $18 billion.

The IPO share price will be set at US$18 to US$25 per share, and 1500 million to 2500 million shares will be issued, accounting for 20%-30% of the company's total share capital. If the bottom line estimate is used, approximately US$1500 million can be raised (18 million shares, US$2500 per share). According to the high limit estimate, US$25 million can be raised ( million shares, US$ per share).

After going public, the total market value of DDH Media will be approximately between 14 billion and 23 billion.

Considering that the current federal funds rate is around 4-5%, Goldman Sachs is optimistic about this IPO.

Media consumption is growing strongly, the industry is growing, DDH Media has a diversified portfolio of valuable intellectual property (film rights), a strong position in the media-centric New York market, and rising cable TV penetration...

With many favorable factors, considering Ronald's good record of producing and directing box office movies, this IPO will be a medium-sized listing in the media industry next year, and Viacom and QVC are both engaged in a crazy bidding war for Paramount, DDH Media may attract a lot of investor interest.

"How's the Blockbuster acquisition going on the stock market?"

The last person to stay at Ronald's house was Ed Bastian, who was scheduled to serve as CEO. He was in charge of the integration and listing, and also had to run various media in New York. He could be said to be the one who worked the hardest and made the greatest contributions.

"We have gradually acquired 1.5% of Blockbuster shares... We bought them in batches at the market price without alerting the board of directors."

Ronald nodded. Blockbuster is now the leader in the video rental industry in the United States. 1.5% of the stock is equivalent to a cost of about 5 million, which is still far from the % required to be disclosed by the SEC.

This is because Goldman Sachs also proposed that DDH Media have some video channels of their own. Although this company is a small head of the media group and its channels are limited to New England and Los Angeles, sometimes investors just prefer concepts and stories. If there is a seat on the board of directors of Blockbuster, then DDH's full media concept will be more perfect than that of other media companies.

"Very good. Once the SEC makes its opinion on my listing application, you will be busy with the roadshow. I will be present when needed. I'll leave the rest to you..." Ronald gradually discovered that Ed Bastian's management talent, especially his level of financial operations, far exceeded that of the partners of ordinary accounting firms, and he was also very successful in running a media company.

For this kind of media group, it is not actually most important that the CEO understands media, because there are plenty of professional media talents waiting to be hired. The real skill is to be able to find a financial plan that allows these media with different cycles, cash flows, and asset weights to complement each other.

"This is my job... The kids had a lot of fun at Disney and Universal, and they all liked Bud. I don't have much time to spend with them, so this gift made them very happy." Ed's family also came to the manor. He and his wife are very loving and have four children. They usually live and go to school in New York. This time when they came to Los Angeles, Ronald specially arranged for little Bud to be their local guide, so that the family could have a great time at Disneyland and Universal Studios.

"This is your gift..." Ronald also handed over an envelope with a Chinese knot.

"Oh, that's...you're so generous, Ronald." Ed Bastian saw the number and stuttered a little.

"This is what you deserve, Ed..." Ronald gave him some basic equity books before, and this time he gave him the equivalent of 0.5% of the group's equity and 1.5% of options. After the listing, Ed Bastian also received a reward of more than 2%.

"I don't know what to say. This is more than generous. I have to go back and celebrate with my wife..." Bastian wore square-framed glasses. He was a typical New Yorker who valued hard work and living in harmony with his family. The best reward for him was to recognize his ability with money.

……

"Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie..."

After seeing off the last guests, the Bastian family, Diane couldn't help but jump on Ronald and screamed with joy.

When she first fell in love with Ronald, brother Ronnie was just an assistant director on the set and a member of the Writers Guild. Who would have thought that he would soon become the boss of a listed company worth billions?
Ronald carried Diane into the bedroom, and they kissed deeply for an unknown amount of time. Diane stopped kissing him until she had difficulty breathing. She lay on the bed, savoring the kiss. It took her a long time before she opened her eyes, just in time to see Ronald handing her a document.

"Sign this document..."

"What is this?" Diane took a look and saw that they were all professional names drafted by attorney Lindsay Doll, and she seemed to not understand them very well.

"This is the share document of DDH Media. From now on, these shares will belong to the trust owned by you and Roger Jr."

Ronald set up a family trust and transferred the ownership of some shares to this trust. In this way, Ronald himself is no longer the largest shareholder of DDH Media, but the trust with fewer disclosure obligations under SEC regulations.

Although the trust has isolated a large portion of the shares, Ronald still holds the majority of the shares. Diane and Roger Jr. can only obtain full ownership after Ronald's death. Ronald also controls the majority of the voting rights in the board of directors' votes.

"Oh, Brother Ronnie..." Diane rolled over and climbed up. She had to thank him today...

"Thank you, dear. I want to use this money to set up a charitable foundation. What do you think?" Half an hour later, Diane signed the documents sweetly, then hugged Ronald and gently drew circles on his chest with her fingers.

"Of course, this is a very good thing. Who do you want this charity fund to help?" Ronald held Diane's hand and rubbed it. Starting a charity project is also a standard project for Hollywood female stars, especially for female stars like her who have already won the Golden Globe and Oscar. They don't have to work so hard in chasing awards.

"I don't know, something about minority groups, or someone like Elizabeth Taylor..." Diane just felt that she had to come up with something high-end so that she could have a sense of superiority when chatting with other female stars at the party.

"That's good, but Ms. Taylor's reason for this is because her friend Rock Hudson died..., so this is something very important to her. When doing charity, it's best to find a project that's important to her..."

"Well, my parents divorced when I was a child, and it was actually very difficult for both of them to raise me. When my dad was driving a taxi, he made me sit in the passenger seat for a long time because he couldn't afford a nanny. I always wanted to help these children from single-parent families..."

"That's great, we'll set up a charity fund in this direction..."

The next day, Ronald got up very early, took the suitcase that Diane had helped him pack, and prepared to go out to the airport. Ronald had several similar contracts to sign in New York, including trusts established in the names of Aunt Karen, Donna, Doug Jr., and Helen, which would hold some shares on his behalf. This would reduce Ronald's personal holdings and he would no longer be the largest shareholder of DDH Media.

"Go conquer the world, darling..."

Diane kissed Ronald hard again and waved goodbye to him.

"I'm going to meet with the bankers on Wall Street this time. I'll only attend a few road shows later. I'll let Ed handle them all. I'll be back soon..."

Ronald also waved to Diane, and the two said goodbye warmly like a newlywed couple in a movie, then got into Bud's car and drove to the airport.

"Good morning..." Little Bud also smiled happily. Ronald also gave him some of those gifts this Christmas. His wife and children were very happy.

"Are they happy to get their gifts?" Ronald asked.

"Very happy. I plan to take them shopping around Christmas and spend all the vouchers. You know, my wife loves the feeling of shopping in luxury stores. She said she used to be a salesperson and she especially likes the feeling of being a customer."

Little Bud was beaming with joy. He was now driving a car. His wife and sisters at home also had very good jobs. As Ronald's full-time driver, he also had many hidden benefits. Many of the gifts Ronald received were given to him. Except for his mother who kept calling him and constantly instilling in him the cliché of respecting Ronald, his life was very happy.

Old-fashioned black women just don't understand. It's the 1990s now, and Bud and Ronald still have a brotherly relationship, not the kind of loyalty that slaves have towards their slave owners. My mom is still a little behind the times.

"This is your gift..."

Ronald handed him an envelope with a smile.

"What is this? Do I have any extra gifts? Hahaha..." Little Bud started laughing again. Who wouldn't like such a boss?

"I also have shares? Oh yeah?" Little Bud took out the envelope and saw a letter with DDH Media's letterhead, which seemed to say that he would be given 0.01% of the shares.

"How much is this? My brain can't figure it out..." Bud could only grin. He knew it must be a large sum of money. Was it a bonus from Ronald for his years of hard work? It seemed that what his mother said was very important.

But how much is that? Ten thousand, twenty thousand, or maybe the boss is very happy and gives him one hundred thousand to let him pay off the mortgage in advance. Ronald also said that a responsible father should set aside a college fund for his children, so that he can be proud of his mother and sister in the future. This is the first person in his family who has prepared college tuition for his children.