Hollywood Hunter

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In the study room in the front cabin of the Boeing 767, C-girl Claire Gein knocked on the door to remind her that she had arrived in Japanese airspace, and brought in a box of time-zone-adjusted watches as usual.

Simon picked one at random and put it on to check the time.

Japan is 18 hours ahead of the east coast of the United States, and it's already November 5th, just over 10 a.m. Monday.

The purpose of this trip to Japan was to meet Panasonic President Akio Furui, not on a whim.

Since the Hearst family stepped in and snatched the 20% stake in espn from Simon, he had an idea to find a way to get Panasonic to withdraw from the deal.

The Hearst family has recently acquired the shares of espn from Reynolds Nabisco for only $180 million. I wonder if they have used their 'influence' again, which is a full 2000 lower than Simon's original offer. Ten thousand U.S. dollars.

However, although he also has a lot of chips in his hand, Simon has no intention of forcing Panasonic to withdraw.

The market value of Panasonic in this era is comparable to that of industry giants such as DuPont and General Electric in the United States. As a local snake, Daenerys Entertainment used some of its own advantages to force Panasonic to withdraw from the acquisition. It is not without the possibility of success, but doing so seems to be successful. Very unwise.

Compared with the Hearst family's overwhelming force, Simon hopes to cooperate more.

The development of the Westeros system will only touch the interests of more and more people in the future. In this case, if you want to continue to expand, you must draw as many allies as possible, rather than continue to create enemies. This is a decision that Simon has made when he has been thinking about the development route of the Westeros system in recent months. Even if the Westeros system is strong enough in the future, he does not intend to change this line of thinking.

Therefore, Daenerys Entertainment began to contact Panasonic last week, and a rough draft of cooperation was sent in advance. Simon and Akio Furui finally agreed to have a meeting this afternoon.

Because of the approaching noon, Simon and his party got off the plane, and Panasonic did not neglect, and specially prepared a luncheon.

However, the scale of the luncheon is very small, if not the translation, there are only two people, Simon and Akio Furui. I didn't intend to make everyone aware of his sudden arrival in Japan, and Simon liked it.

Moreover, only Akio Furui appeared at the luncheon, and Simon also roughly guessed the reason.

The purpose of Simon's trip to Japan is to persuade Panasonic to withdraw from the mca acquisition. For Panasonic, after the founder Konosuke Matsushita passed away last year, the inside of this huge corporate giant is not one heart, and Akio Furui hopes to acquire mca, Panasonic In fact, there are many internal objections. Akio Furui should not want the news of his meeting with Simon to spread.

Inside a fine Japanese restaurant in downtown Osaka.

Furui Akio is a short-statured old man in his sixties, wearing glasses and looking a little stern.

After everyone introduced each other, they came to a box.

A total of four people, Akio Furui and his translator, a tall and thin middle-aged man.

Simon took Claire Gein. Because of the frequent economic cooperation between Australia and Japan in the 1980s, the C girl who graduated from Melbourne University majored in civil engineering and also took Japanese as an elective, and reached a high level, which is more than enough to act as a translator.

Speaking of which, Janet helped herself choose the four 'vases' of abcd. Although they did not have the high academic qualifications of the new housekeeper Alice Ferguson, they all belonged to the elite level. Otherwise, the new housekeeper would not be the first. One day, she was pitted by C girl.

According to the woman, abcd can complement Simon.

For example, C girl majored in 'civil engineering', but Simon knew nothing about it. Japanese is also a weakness of Simon.

The four of them sat cross-legged at a typical Japanese dining table. At first, they casually chatted about some topics. After the waiter had finished lunch, the conversation was slightly released.

Girl C is not shy, she is very close to Simon, and she leans close to his ear and translates the opposite: "Simon, what do you think of the current situation of Japan's economy, will it continue to deteriorate?"

Simon skillfully tasted the sashimi in front of him with his chopsticks in his hands. Hearing this, he looked at Akio Furui and said, "It won't get worse, but it should continue to decline for a few years."

The middle-aged translator was also translating in a low voice beside Akio Furui.

After listening to the translation, Akio Furui didn't seem to believe it, and asked something else.

Girl C said in real time: "The Japanese government has taken a lot of rescue measures, and the foundation of the Japanese economy is very solid, so it shouldn't continue to be in the doldrums for a long time, right?"

Simon said: "I have been a little concerned about this. The Bank of Japan has recently started lowering interest rates again, which is very unwise in my opinion. The bubbles in the Japanese economy are still not completely dissipated, especially the housing bubble. There is a rush to lower interest rates now. Increasing liquidity will only allow funds to flow into the real estate market, and will not benefit the real economy much."

"Do you mean that Japan needs to completely abandon the real estate industry?"

Simon nodded and smiled: "This is a very difficult choice, but it is also a necessary choice."

"Simon, when do you think the Japanese economy will start to recover?"

Simon smiled and shook his head: "I don't know that. There have been many economic crises in history. Some countries are painless and can survive in two or three years, but some countries will be slumped and remain in decline. The key is to Look

How does the Japanese government act. "

"So, Simon, what do you think is the most serious problem facing the Japanese economy other than the housing bubble?"

Simon did not expect Akio Furui to pursue these issues related to the national economy. He noticed that the translator on the opposite side seemed to be a little more focused than Akio Furui. He roughly guessed something. After all, Cersei Capital's operation around the Japanese stock market last year can indeed be called a classic. Moreover, Simon's own rise history can be regarded as legendary, and he has accumulated huge amounts of capital by betting on the macroeconomic level several times in a row.

After thinking about it for a moment, Simon didn't hide his secrets. Anyway, he said now that even if someone cares, few people will easily follow the opinions of an outsider when it comes to the future of a country.

"I think the most serious problem facing the Japanese economy is corporate debt. If this problem is not solved well, the Japanese economy may continue to slump, and it may even last for more than a decade."

"We've lowered bank rates, which should ease cash flow pressures for businesses."

"No, Furui, you have made a mistake." Simon shook his head and said, "The problem with Japanese companies is not lack of money, but the fear of borrowing money. Because after the stock market bubble burst, with the plummeting market value, many Japanese companies In the next few years, these Japanese companies will only focus on reducing their own liabilities to make their balance sheets appear healthier. Therefore, measures such as lowering interest rates will play a role in the real industry. Not much."

Across the dining table, Akio Furui finally stopped asking questions continuously, and after thinking for a moment, he said again: "This sounds like an unsolved situation."

Simon nodded: "Yes, companies are determined to reduce their debts and dare not borrow money. It will definitely lead to a decline in liquidity and further trigger deflation. Once this happens, the entire country's economy will lose its vitality, and it will never recover."

Akio Furui thought for a moment again, but still raised his head and looked at Simon: "Is there really no solution?"

Simon said: "The solution is actually not without it. Roosevelt did a good job back then. The key is to spend the money to develop infrastructure construction through government investment. However, Japan's infrastructure construction is already very complete. What we do is to spend the money, preferably abroad."

After listening to the translated explanation, Akio Furui smiled and said, "Simon, you are a very honest person."

Simon roughly understood the meaning of Akio Furui's words, and also understood the meaning of it, and said with a smile: "Yes, if according to my intention this time, I should persuade you to keep cash as much as possible and not to invest abroad. However, I I think a more suitable investment target for Japan should be emerging developing countries, such as Asian countries and Eastern European countries. The United States is not a good choice, and Hollywood, for Panasonic, is even more out of date.”

Hearing Simon talking about Hollywood, Akio Furui did not change the subject, but asked earnestly, "Simon, why is Hollywood not a good choice for Panasonic?"

Simon thought for a while and said, "Gu Jing, do you know the 'Hollywood Ledger'?"

Akio Furui nodded and said, "I have heard about it, a common accounting technique used by Hollywood studios to convert most of their profits into expenses in order to reduce tax burdens and share based on creators."

"This is just one type of Hollywood ledger," Simon nodded. "Actually, there is another type of Hollywood ledger, which is for outsiders. For example, Panasonic, you spent $10 million to invest in a film and earned $100 million in North America. Box office, then, how much do you think you can get?"

Akihiro Furui thought for a moment and said, "If Panasonic buys mca, I think the company can make at least $30 million, excluding production and distribution costs?"

"No, even if Panasonic becomes the boss of mca, you may still lose money."

"How to say?"

"I heard you're planning to keep Vasalman and Simberg at the helm of the company. Using the example I just gave, $10 million in investment, $100 million at the box office, you seem to be making over $30 million. But More likely, Vassalman will sign a very generous sharing contract with the creator, 20% of the net profit will go to the director, such as Spielberg, and 20% of the net profit will go to the star, such as Dustin Hoffman. These big names. Then, there is the producer's cut and the advertising costs that are destined to be even more inflated after the big sale. Even if a movie with a $10 million investment gets $100 million at the box office, you won't necessarily make a profit. split the money."

"Simon, I don't think that's going to happen."

"Actually, it's already happened. Furui, you can have people look into the Captain Hawk material that Columbia Pictures is working on, and they're using this split model. And, because it's Spielberg's director, , Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams, "Captain Hawk" cost far more than $10 million to make. I don't think Sony will be able to make much money from this project. Even Speer It’s impossible for Sony to make money from projects like Berg and Dustin Hoffman, so do you think other films that Sony has invested in will still make money?”

Akio Furui hesitated for a moment and asked: "Simon, in fact, we don't need to let Vasalman and the two take charge of the world. Moreover, we will strengthen the supervision of this company."

Simon shook his head and said: "Hollywood is actually a very closed circle. I know you may still be considering Michael Ovitz to run the company. Ovitz is indeed a very good agent, but you may not Not too sure what he's been doing all these years, o

What Weitz has been doing for the past decade is finding ways to help caa's clients get better pay. Even if he is in charge of mca, this kind of thinking will not change easily. He will still attract talents through a very generous sharing contract, which may bring you a superficial prosperity. As for the benefits, of course, they should be reserved for Hollywood as much as possible. Your own people, you are outsiders after all. "

Akio Furui still didn't believe it, and said, "Simon, this is just your side of the word."

Simon smiled and continued: "Actually, there is one last option. Panasonic personally sent someone to run the company. In fact, this is correct. Because what Hollywood studios need is the paternalistic management of one word. You don't need any professional managers. But for Panasonic, this idea is even worse, because you don't understand the entertainment industry at all, and by running the company yourself, you will become a more thorough outsider, It's even less of a concern for Hollywood to make money off of you. Even a 500-pound sumo wrestler who walks into Hollywood and comes out will probably be scrawny."

The originally attentive girl C couldn't help laughing when she heard Simon's last metaphor. Realizing her gaffe, the girl quickly said sorry, lowered her eyes and clumsily picked up chopsticks and pretended to be busy.

Akio Furui didn't smile, his expression gradually became solemn, staring at Simon and said: "I suddenly realized one thing, Simon, you are also the 'Hollywood man' you said, and what you said is basically just to make Panasonic Just exit the mca acquisition."

"I don't deny this, this is the purpose of my coming to Japan," Simon nodded and said: "However, Furui, I am a very honest person, you just said it. Besides, what I said, you can Find someone to investigate, there are many similar cases in Hollywood. For example, in Colombia, although Sony and Panasonic are competitors, you can go and investigate, what the two directors hired by Sony have done over the past year is to pay for Empty this company."

Akio Furui hesitated for a moment, then nodded solemnly: "I will."

"Let's talk about our cooperation," Simon said instead: "Panasonic bought mca to a large extent to follow up with Sony and prevent the other party from taking advantage of content to encroach on Panasonic's market share in film and music hardware. What you want , Daenerys Entertainment can give, and the effect is better than Panasonic's acquisition of mca. For example, in terms of movies, in the past few years, Daenerys Entertainment has accounted for a large part of the top ten movies at the North American box office, and this is our Content advantage. Now, Daenerys Entertainment also owns the largest video tape chain company in North America. In terms of content and channels, Daenerys Entertainment has an unparalleled advantage in Hollywood. As long as we cooperate with each other, even if we completely replace Sony VCRs It is not impossible to squeeze out of the market. You should have read the information I sent in advance, and this is only one of the contents of our cooperation.”

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