American Life

Chapter 243 There are no jokes on April Fools’ Day, streaming media

At 4:1 am on April st, in the VIP room of the New York Stock Exchange.

"The ceremony is about to start in half an hour, Mr. Charlie Rossi, are you ready?"

Catherine Kinney, the first female executive in the history of the New York Stock Exchange and the first female host of the bell-ringing ceremony, said to Charlie.

At this time, Charlie was still undergoing makeup, surrounded by a group of executives from PB Films, including Bob Friedman and Kevin Feige, who each held corresponding restricted stocks, commonly known as options, in the agreement It was agreed that one part could not be sold within two years, and the other part could only be unlocked for sale after the stock price reached a certain threshold.This is different from the direct tradable stock that Charlie gave Saul, so these executives have to continue to work hard for Charlie for a while.

In addition to these two leading executive teams, of course a number of Marvel veterans are also indispensable, including Stan Lee.

Charlie will not be stingy with these people, and these people naturally get a share of the pie.

The rest also include actors who have maintained close cooperation with PB Pictures. In addition to actors from the Marvel series, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, etc., there are also other actors who have just starred in "Now You See Me". Jesse Eisenberg, who is co-starring in the new film "The Social Network" with David Fincher, is co-starring in the war romance film "Suite Française" with Michelle Williams and Kristen Scott Thomas "Margot Robbie, naturally, Jennifer Lawrence, who is filming the new film The Hunger Games, and Twilight actress Kristen Stewart, as well as Eva Green, Natalie Portman, and Keira Knightley.

Of course, Megan Fox and Taylor Swift are also indispensable. In fact, because of their relationship with Charlie, the two are completely in the spotlight among all the actresses. Little flowers like Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Needless to say, even popular female stars like Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman were extremely respectful to the two of them, taking the initiative to bring them tea and water, even pinching their waists and beating their legs on the spot.Similarly, those executives are also very courteous.

Before the bell-ringing ceremony officially begins, interviews with major financial media are naturally indispensable. Under normal circumstances, CNBC, Fox Business News, and Bloomberg TV will send reporters, but this time Charlie gave CNBC 5 minutes of interview time in advance.

"Today is the day when Infinity Pictures, formerly known as PB Pictures, is officially launched. What do you think so far?" Hadley handed the microphone to Charlie.

"From today on, Infinite Pictures will be open to public investors and become a member of society. I feel a heavy responsibility for this." Charlie said beautifully.

"So what can you disclose about the company's next steps after it goes public?" Hadley asked again.

"Currently, Infinity Pictures will focus on the film and television markets and continue to bring high-quality entertainment products to the audience. As for me, I will continue to fight on the front line. Within this week, PB Films will hold a conference on the film industry in recent years. Project press conference, more detailed information will be disclosed at that time." Charlie responded with a smile.

Of course, just like the first time he faced the group of reporters, he and Hadley naturally communicated well with each other.

But this time there was no deep conspiracy, it was just a publicity for the press conference.

And Charlie is not nonsense about one thing. As a listed company, it must be responsible to public investors. Of course, everyone is happy with Changhong's performance, but if investors lose confidence, it will cause the stock price to fall, further affecting themselves. income.

Between cutting a wave of leeks and running away or continuing to fish from the lake, Charlie certainly chose the latter.

Next are public interviews with various financial media and Hollywood media. Then the big screen will first play a video introducing the company's unique role in the global economy, and then Charlie will take the stage to give a short speech.

Finally, Charlie and all the visiting guests were brought to the podium. When the market opened, Charlie shook the iconic bronze bell.

As the crisp and sweet sound sounded, Charlie seemed to hear the sound of money flowing.

Behind him, everyone clapped and cheered, and everyone had a smile about wealth on their faces.

It is expected that approximately 800 million shares will be issued this time, with an issue price of US$13 per share, and it is expected to raise US$12.7 billion, accounting for 49% of the total share capital, which is higher than the average level, but for Disney, where nearly % of the share capital is publicly issued For deeply market-oriented companies, there is still a certain gap.

In fact, Charlie can also do this. During the reorganization, he divided the three listed companies into AB shares, and all the shares he held were preference shares with ten times the voting rights.

It's just that he feels that the current issuance price is still a bit low and does not reflect the potential of PB, so he is ready to wait for the right time to conduct a non-dilutive additional issuance.

After the bell-ringing ceremony, all the guests returned to the VIP room again. At this time, the big screen in the VIP room began to display the real-time stock price of Infinity Pictures.

At a price of US$13 per share, the current total market value of Infinite Pictures is worth US$26 billion. This has to be taken into account. After the pain of 08, the world is in the initial stage of recovery.

No one can go against the economic cycle, and Disney's current total market value is only US$47.75 billion.

This is the result of Charlie's strong request to retain it. In fact, the target issuance price given by the joint representatives of the two parties is only US$9.

Sure enough, after climbing all the way to a high price of $13.67, it fell all the way. As of the morning's closing, it had fallen below the issue price.

"Since it's April Fool's Day, it seems God has played a joke on us." Charlie looked at Bob and Kevin Feige.

The two of them must have felt the pressure, and felt like they were being slapped in the head.

There are many impacts of the bankruptcy, but fortunately the company is a family business and does not have any influential shareholders.

The closing price of Infinity Pictures that day was $11.97. That night, Charlie made many calls, one of which was to Victoria.

"You didn't come to me for such a good thing as ringing the bell. Now that you're broke, you think of me?" Victoria on the other end of the phone joked.

"I've been pre-cold by the agency and I want to meet with some people." Charlie stated the purpose of his call.

"Tell me earlier, do you want us to buy your company's stocks?"

Charlie currently has two companies lined up. PB Pictures' performance in the past two years has been booming and it is still in this state. The situation of the other two companies when they went public can be seen. This is obviously not what Charlie wants to see.

Victoria promised to help Charlie make appointments with investors from several heavyweight institutions. After hanging up the phone, Kevin Feige came over to ask.

"Charlie, do you still want the press conference to go ahead as planned?"

"Of course, this is the most important thing."

Three days later, Charlie met with a heavyweight private equity fund in the industry.

These people come from Carlyle Group, Warburg Pincus, Arthur Andersen International, in addition to many of Victoria's old friends, Vanguard Group, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley Investment Management... more than a dozen representatives.

The other party's attendance was actually all for Victoria's sake, and Charlie's company was obviously not attractive to these people.

"Marvel's superheroes will be brought to the big screen one by one. This is an unprecedented film series in the history of movies, which will generate a cumulative box office of tens of billions of dollars." Charlie introduced the relevant business to these people.

However, these old moneymen are obviously not very interested in the movie business.

"According to investment logic, Infinite Pictures itself does not have a sufficiently advantageous film source library and does not have any assets."

"But right now one new movie can make as much money as a hundred old movies," Charlie explains.

"Yes, you are indeed right. The movies you have released in the past two years are indeed good, but who knows how the next movie will perform? Hollywood has never been a place that pays attention to logic, just like Hollywood movies. It’s possible that a low-budget movie will suddenly make a lot of money, and it’s even more likely that a movie that invested a lot of money will end up losing not even a dime.”

"The most important point is that these three companies are completely controlled by you. Sometimes, this is a good thing for a company, but sometimes, it is a bad thing for the company."

You say what you say to me, see what this means is that you don't want Charlie to be in power.

Naturally, Charlie would not agree to this request, but fortunately Victoria was there to smooth things over.

There is no doubt that in the end it was a compromise.

Charlie agreed to establish a board of directors. The three seats on the board of directors will be selected from representatives of these private equity funds present, and these funds will sign concerted action agreements. In addition, three independent directors will be hired through other means.

The first thing Charlie thought of was a familiar person...Jobs, if he had time, he would be a good candidate.

After hearing Charlie's proposal, these investors responded positively.

This in itself is a matter of trust. In the eyes of these people, Charlie spun off and reorganized several businesses, and then packaged and listed them separately, and in such a dense situation, no matter how you think about it, it looks like you want to cut leeks. Don’t look at these funds. With tens of billions of funds at their disposal, these funds will remain extremely cautious if they really want to open their mouths to invest.

Finally, Charlie told everyone here another key piece of information.

"The press conference for the new project will be held in a few days. At that time, the stock price will usher in a wave of rise. At least during this period, you can hold the stock in your hands with peace of mind." Because this is information that has already been made public. , this is certainly not considered insider trading for both parties.

From the opening of the market the next day, Infinite Pictures' stock price has been rising all the way, with the closing price reaching $15.13 that day. Obviously, these investment institutions have begun to take action, and the rising stock has once again attracted other potential investors.

In the last few days of the new film's press conference, Charlie visited other investors along the way, including some fund managers of public offerings.

Although the purpose of raising funds for the first time has been completed, the company's stock price still has more meaning for Charlie, involving additional issuance, debt in the secondary market, and the issuance of convertible bonds.

Relying on Victoria's recommendation and Charlie's long-sleeved skills, the stock price of Infinity Pictures rose continuously within a few days, all the way to $20 per share.

Then came the highlight of the new film press conference. On that day, at the former PB Pictures headquarters in Los Angeles, almost all mainstream media and entertainment media were present.

First, Kevin Feige took the stage and announced a number of new films at once, including "Avengers" with many heroes. The follow-up also includes "Iron Man 3", "Thor: The Dark World", "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Ants" Concept posters for movies such as "Man" and "Doctor Strange", as well as the Iron Man version of the Range Rover jointly launched with Land Rover Jaguar.

Then there is Bob Friedman, who, in addition to the well-known follow-up to "The Twilight Saga", also brought promotional videos for "The Hunger Games" and the Olympic biopic "The King's Speech", as well as a newly planned film about A biographical film about Alan Turing.and sequel movies to "The Hangover" and "District ."

Then came the bombshell news that shocked the entire audience.

Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings spin-off film has been confirmed to be filmed, titled "The Hobbit", and is planned to be a trilogy.

In the final step, Christopher Nolan came to the press conference in person and announced that the new film would be cooperating with Infinite Pictures and inviting Leonardo DiCaprio to star.

And just when everyone thought the press conference had come to an end, Charlie Rossi walked onto the stage in person and announced another big news.

Infinite Pictures fully acquired Netflix through cash and stock. At the same time, it announced that it will vigorously develop the streaming media industry. The movies that appeared at tonight's press conference can be watched through monthly subscriptions on the streaming media website. In addition, it also announced that it will vigorously develop the streaming media industry. A streaming media investment and distribution plan, which plans to invest a total of US$30 billion within three years to produce streaming media and distribute film and television works.

That night, the news of the press conference detonated the entire Internet. Many people in the industry related this to Charlie's previous behavior. Some said that Charlie was betting on the next era, and some said that Charlie was leading Hollywood into a new era.

In any case, this conference has achieved unprecedented attention, and the future described by Charlie is indeed attractive enough.The day after the press conference, Infinite Pictures’ stock price surged, approximately doubling within a week, with the share price exceeding $40 per share.

And just this week, Time Warner and Disney also urgently announced that they would open their own streaming websites.

By the middle of this month, it was time for Land Rover and Jaguar to go public, and Charlie appeared on the New York Stock Exchange again.

The equity distribution of Land Rover Jaguar is exactly the same as that of Infinite Pictures. Charlie holds preferred shares and has absolute control of the company. However, compared with the cold reception of Infinite Pictures when it went public, Land Rover Jaguar's situation is much better. On the first day of the IPO, the profit per share was Charged $30.

This allowed Charlie to recover more than half of the huge sum of money he used previously.

And just when Charlie was triumphant.Inside the offices of 20th Century Fox, it’s a completely different scene…

(End of this chapter)