America's Road to Wealth

Who could be the first CEO of Smith Media.

This has now become the thing that everyone at the meeting is most concerned about.

But what Abel announced next made everyone a little stunned.

For Abel said:

"Given that Smith Media has been around for too short a time, and there was no internal connection between them before then."

"So I thought about it again and again, and finally decided to implement a rotating CEO system in Smith Media."

The term "rotating CEO" made everyone feel stunned.

This is a term that is very new in the American business world and no one has heard of it.

"Papa~"

Abel clapped his hands gently, and someone from the advisory team came out and distributed several frivolous documents to several media group executives.

"Here is Smith Media's definition of "rotating CEO". You can take a look first." Abel said.

It was related to everyone's own interests, so everyone looked at it seriously.

displayed on the file.

Smith Media will select several rotating CEOs within the group.

These CEOs rotate every year. The rotating CEO is mainly responsible for the company's business management, strategic planning, and internal coordination.

Everyone feels unfamiliar with this system.

Abel, who is at the forefront, actually doesn’t know whether this kind of management system, which has achieved very good results among China’s high-tech companies and Internet giants in the future, can be implemented in the United States, or whether it will be useful if implemented.

This system first appeared in 2011 in parallel time and space.

Appeared on Juhuawei, a high-tech enterprise with many businesses.

This system has been used for several years and has produced very good results for the inside of chrysanthemums.

For Abel, if this management system can be implemented. For him, the chairman, and his descendants, it is definitely the most suitable system.

"Rotating CEO" is, to some extent, a check and balance on the power of the company.

The rotating CEO will not have great power over internal high-level personnel issues, which will reduce corruption in personnel matters.

In addition, this system can also reduce the risk of causing great losses to the company due to problems with a certain person (mainly the CEO), and prevent the company's fate from being tied to a certain person.

A typical example here is Michael Eisner, the current president of Disney.

ABC Disney Group can have its current scale and status.

Michael Eisner deserves a lot of credit.

It was Michael Eisner, who took over in 1985, who brought Disney to where it is today.

But as time went by, Michael Eisner, who used to be a perfect fit for Disney.

Now it has gradually failed to keep up with the progress of the new century.

A typical example is parallel time and space. Without the efforts of Robert Iger and others, Disney would have parted ways with 3D animation giants such as Pixar.

If Michael Eisner had kept up with the times, he wouldn't have resigned in 2005 and let Robert Iger take over.

In the years 1998-2005, Disney made many mistakes due to Michael Eisner's decision-making.

If not for Disney's luck later, a Mickey Mouse named Robert Egger came along.

Without Robert, it would be a question whether Disney would be able to acquire Marvel and Fox in the future.

This is a bit like many famous monarchs in ancient times.

These kings were wise and decisive when they were young and brought the empire or kingdom to its peak.

If they don't abdicate when they get old, many kings become stupid and violent, bringing the empire or kingdom into its final stage.

For a company, this rotating CEO system can avoid such personal losses to a large extent.

In addition, this system can also avoid the problem of a certain CEO leaving and taking away a group of key personnel, which will greatly damage the vitality of the company.

In addition, every CEO will work hard to pull the cart and pull the company forward during his rotation. If he goes astray, the next CEO will correct the course in time.

In this business management system, the rotating CEO is composed of a small team.

Because of "harmony without difference", they can control the company to continuously adapt to environmental changes. Their decisions are made collectively, which also avoids the rigidity of the company caused by excessive personal paranoia.

Moreover, the rotating CEO stepping down after one year does not mean leaving the core layer.

They are still at the core of decision-making, have not shed their responsibilities and missions, and are fully prepared for the next rotation.

In addition, because he was worried about acclimatization, Abel also increased the term of the "rotating CEO" from half a year to one year.

If there is really no way to use this system, it can be changed directly later.

"Have you finished reading?"

Ten minutes later, Abel's voice woke up everyone who was immersed in this strange and very groundbreaking management system.

"Next, I will announce the list of rotating CEOs of the group."

"Robert Egger, Michael Levine, Michael Ovitz, Richard Plepler, Dylan."

Abel said: "Currently, there are only five of you rotating CEOs. But later, if other companies join the group and the person in charge has excellent abilities, it is also possible to become the new rotating CEO."

As soon as the list was announced, everyone in the audience had mixed reactions.

Robert Egger was a little disappointed, but acceptable.

After all, he is the first CEO. Even if he has to step down in a year, Robert is still the CEO of MGM Entertainment under this system.

And after stepping down as CEO of the group headquarters, he still remains in the decision-making layer and can still participate in the highest decision-making.

His power was not much reduced. During this period, he also had more control over other group subsidiaries. For Robert, who had not yet made any achievements, it was a good thing no matter how you looked at it.

The others who were still behind Robert were of course even happier.

If there is no such system, if Robert becomes CEO, he will remain CEO as long as he does not make big mistakes.

Then there is a high probability that others will be hopeless as CEOs.

Nowadays, this "rotating CEO" system is used, which means that as long as the work is done well, it can be their turn no matter how scheduled it is.

Especially for Richard Plepler and Dylan at the back, they were simply overjoyed.

before this.

Of these two, one is in charge of TV media and the other is in charge of print media.

These two departments are currently very weak in the group.

Without the rotation system, there is a high probability that they will not be able to become the CEO of the group headquarters.

Now that they have a clear opportunity, they are naturally the happiest.

After looking at the people with mixed reactions, Abel added:

"This is the first time this system has appeared in the United States. So I decided that the first year will be temporary."

"If it doesn't work, it will change next year. I hope that everyone can implement it thoroughly and develop the group better under this system. That will be beneficial to everyone present."

The boss said so, no matter what he thought.

Of course, all the executives of Smith Media Group nodded in agreement.

"Okay."

After announcing this, Abel smiled on his face:

"The first thing has been said, it may not be that good. Now let's talk about the second thing. This second thing should be considered a good thing for everyone present."

After Abel finished speaking, he turned back and motioned to David, who was standing behind him.

David Jones nodded and said "PPT" to several attendants at the door.

The conference room quickly dimmed. A white screen was pulled out behind Abel, and a PPT was played on the projector.

Everyone who participated in the meeting saw a logo that looked like colorful petals and a peacock tail on the projection screen. Below the logo were the three capital letters of NBC.

"As you can see."

Abel's voice sounded: "The second thing I want to announce is that Smith Media will launch the acquisition of NBC, that is, the National Broadcasting Company in the United States!"

As soon as the words fell, the Smith Media executives, who had been calm throughout the entire process, reacted a bit loudly.

"NBC?" Robert Iger couldn't help but said, "BOSS, did I hear you correctly? Are we going to acquire NBC?"

Abel smiled and nodded, which was a response to Robert's question.

When everyone saw Abel's response to Robert, they all knew that Abel was serious.

It’s no wonder they reacted so strongly.

You must know that NBC and the other two television networks have always been one of the three largest commercial radio and television companies in the United States.

The other two are ABC and CBS.

But then News Corporation’s FOX came out, and there are now four major television networks in the United States.

Plus one under the control of the government, there are currently five.

However, FOX is currently inferior to the three major commercial television networks in terms of scale and brand power.

Among them, the CBS television network is currently owned by the Viacom Media Group of the Redstone family.

The ABC television network was acquired by Disney in the 1990s.

There is only one NBC television network left, which has not yet been acquired by a media group.

There is no doubt that NBC is one of the most mainstream broadcast and television networks in the United States.

It is headquartered in New York's Rockefeller Center, not far from here in the Walworth Building, and the station is marked by a peacock's tail.

It is part of the media conglomerate NBC Universal and provides programs to more than 200 U.S. television stations.

NBC was established by Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1926 and was founded by Sarnoff in New York in November 1926.

It was also purchased in 1986 when its parent company, RCA, was acquired by General Electric Company.

This General Electric is currently the GE with the highest market value in the US stock market.

If Smith Media can really annex NBC.

There is no doubt that Smith Media will soon become one of the top three media groups in the United States.

Now the boss is saying that he wants to acquire such a behemoth.

Only the executives of Smith Media, including Robert, had such a big reaction.

Abel could also understand everyone's reaction, and he said:

"This company cannot obtain a controlling stake through sniping. It must use normal negotiation methods to convince General Electric to transfer its equity to Smith Media."

Everyone knows the boss is right.

NBC is not a public company, and most of its shares are owned by General Electric.

If you want to rely on sniping in the stock market, you can't get it by relying on the boss's best methods.

But can we get it by negotiating with General Electric?

How likely is it?

Smith Media executives all feel a bit pessimistic.

General Electric, which just became the stock king last year, has seen its share price fall a lot due to the collapse of Nasdaq.

From the peak of more than 500 billion US dollars last year, it has dropped to less than 400 billion US dollars now.

But it is still the most valuable listed company in the United States and even the world.

It can be said that wealthy people are used to describe General Electric.

At this time, General Electric was not short of money, not to mention its special status in the United States.

If it is unwilling to sell, even the US government will support it.

Just like in parallel time and space, General Electric's stock price once fell to $0.02 per share. It was a pure "penny stock" or "split stock", which is a stock that can be bought for a few cents.

It's all such an exaggeration. It didn't have to delist if it didn't want to, and it didn't go bankrupt because of it.

But it’s so cheap, can anyone buy it?

Don't be kidding, even hundreds of billions of dollars can't buy it.

Such an American technology pillar company is holding on to NBC and is unwilling to let go.

Then there is no way anyone can come.

As far as Abel knew, General Electric didn't pay much attention to NBC.

GE has no hesitation in selling NBC as long as someone offers the right price.

In addition, General Electric holds only 80% of NBC shares.

Another 20% is in the hands of the French company Vivendi Global.

Vivendi is also a giant group. Fortunately, it is a French company.

Since it is a French company, what happened to Alstom can also happen to Vivendi.

Therefore, Abel chose to make the first move on Vivendi’s 20% stake.

As for what to do specifically, there is no need to tell everyone present.

Looking at the people talking about it, Abel said: "I'm telling you, I'm just informing you in advance. Let you be mentally prepared. Okay, that's the end of today's meeting, everyone go and get busy."

It is not the turn of these people to be responsible for the real procurement work.

Telling them this matter today is just to cheer up their hearts and make them mentally prepared.

As for whether Smith Media's intention to acquire NBC will be leaked, Abel is not worried.

Because even if it is leaked, it will be of no use.

There are not a hundred companies in the United States or even the world that want to acquire NBC, but there are at least dozens.

Among them, either the financial resources are insufficient, or the qualifications and status are insufficient.

Those who have the qualifications and financial resources want to buy NBC as cheaply as possible.

The Eight Immortals of each company are crossing the sea, all showing off their magical powers.

In front of the U.S. government and General Electric, these magical powers have no effect.

Now that there is an extra Smith Media, it’s not a big deal.

And Abel is also serious about acquiring NBC.

After the meeting.

Not long after, it was noon.

In the Brandy restaurant.

Two days ago, he invited Dayao here. Today, the person he invited to dinner here became an old white man named Bob Wright.

Bob Wright joined General Electric in 1969; served as president of Cox Cable Networks from 1980 to 1983; president of GE Financial Services from 1983 to 1986; and served as president and CEO of NBC in September 1986.

Bob has been known to Abel for a long time.

It should be said that most of the upper-class elites in the United States are curious about this young man who has quickly become one of the most influential people in the country in a very short period of time.

In addition, Bob also had an accurate guess about Abel inviting him to have lunch together.

Sure enough, as soon as the two met, Bob heard Abel smile and say to him:

"Mr. Wright, I would like to acquire the 20% NBC shares held by Vivendi Universal."

Bob Wright smiled slightly: "Ha~ Mr. Smith. With your investment vision, you may see that NBC is profitable. Of course I can't comment on this, because it is your own decision."

Seeing that the old guy still wanted to make excuses with him, Abel simply got straight to the point:

"Okay. Let me get it straight. Mr. Wright, I want to buy NBC."

Bob Wright was not surprised when he heard Abel's request.

This is already obvious.

Abel, a new giant in the media industry, invited Bob Wright, the CEO of NBC, to have lunch with him.

The two of them had no previous friendship and didn't even know each other.

Any normal person could guess what Abel was thinking, and so could Bob Wright.

"I'm sorry." Bob Wright said politely:

"For General Electric, NBC is not for sale. We will not sell it, not even to you, Mr. Smith."

"Really?" Abel smiled: "What if someone buys it for $100 billion?"

"Um" Bob Wright, who had always been very calm, couldn't help but frowned, "Are you kidding me, sir?"

If someone really spent $100 billion to buy NBC.

Then I guess General Electric can slide all the way and deliver NBC to the other party.

Bob Wright couldn't help but look at Abel a few more times.

Mr. CEO knew it was impossible, but he still had some extravagant hopes.

What if Abel really wants to spend $100 billion to buy NBC?

So isn’t General Electric making a fool of itself?

"Hahaha~" Abel laughed, "Of course I'm joking. If I had 100 billion US dollars, I could create at least three NBCs from scratch."

Bob Wright: "."

"Mr. Smith, your joke." He shook his head, "It's not that funny."

Thanks to Bob Wright, I still have some expectations, even though I know these expectations are impossible.

But now that Abel said it was a joke, Bob Wright was still a little unhappy.

"One hundred billion dollars is impossible." Abel deliberately teased Bob Wright because this guy had been too calm before.

It seemed that Abel was destined to be eaten.

Only now that he was like this, Abel was willing to have a good talk with him.

"One hundred billion is impossible."

Abel said, "But what about $20 billion?"

I have to say that this number made Bob Wright feel briefly relieved.

Because the $20 billion offer is almost the highest offer that General Electric has received in more than ten years.

But Bob Wright still shook his head, knowing that the group would not accept the offer.

Bob Wright said righteously: "NBC is not for sale, and General Electric will not sell it."

What responded to him was Abel's new offer.

"What about $25 billion?"