Heads Up Hollywood

The Seagram Group in 1999 was very beautiful.

This year, this brewing group from Canada completed the acquisition of Polygram, the oldest record company in the world, and merged with its Universal Music Company to form the Universal Music Group. Many entertainment companies, such as the film industry, are moving closer to the media giants step by step.

And Dunn was waiting to see the Seagram Group's joke.

This company has been acquired for many years, and the industry has spread too quickly, resulting in a break in the capital chain and a strong debt burden. It was forced to sell to the French Vivendi Group in 2000.

The Vivendi Group was originally a water company, just like the Seagram Brewing Company, ambitiously looking forward to transformation, through a series of acquisitions and reorganizations, to complete the transformation into a media group.

In fact, Vivendi Group has indeed done it. After completing the merger and acquisition of Seagram Group, it has become the second largest media company in the world after AOL Time Warner.

But what happened?

Vivendi Group embarked on the old path of Seagram Group. The rapid industrial development caused huge losses. In the end, Universal Pictures was sold to General Electric, which integrated NBC Group and Universal Entertainment to form NBC Universal Group.

Tang En was not interested in Seagram, and even more scoffed at the notorious Vivendi Group. He was a filmmaker, and what he was interested in was Universal Pictures.

Seagram Group encountered a debt crisis in April 2000, and was acquired by Vivendi Group in June. In December, Vivendi Group acquired all the shares of Universal Pictures and Universal Music.

Tang En is interested in cutting off Universal Pictures.

Universal Pictures has more than 1,000 film sources, global distribution channels, and a complete studio and studio. It is a major member of the MPAA and one of the eight traditional Hollywood film studios. It has a pivotal role in Hollywood. Location.

Tang En's original plan was somewhat similar to that of Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steve Spielberg, and David Finger, to set up a company by themselves, and then break the monopoly of the six major film companies.

However, after several years in the industry, coupled with some prophetic information, Tang En felt that this road was too difficult to walk.

The MPAA rating alone is enough to make any film company other than the Big Six feel heartbroken!

Harvey Weinstein was once called "God" by Hollywood, but after he left Disney with his team and founded Weinstein Films, he suffered consecutive losses in film ratings.

Who would have imagined that "The King's Speech" would be rated R?

And "The Mummy," starring Tom Cruise and produced by Universal Pictures, was rated PG-13 for its thrilling horror.

Don't look at Tang En's fame and prosperity now, it's because Tang En's film industry is not strong enough to touch the real interests of the six major film companies, and it has 20th Century Fox as its backer.

When Tang En really has the influence of Harvey Weinstein's Oscar-winning bag, the target from big companies will definitely come.

Twain needs to plan ahead, taking advantage of the Seagram Group's debt crisis to win Universal Pictures is the best way!

The source of funds is naturally the technology stock market crash.

During this period of time, Twain stayed in New York all the time, rejecting all the official events of the Golden Globes and Oscars, and even the post-production of "Spider-Man" was handed over to his assistant Morgan Carey.

He has been paying attention to Yahoo stock.

On December 21, Yahoo's stock price broke through the $400 mark for the first time, reaching $408.31!

Tang En resisted the impulse and did not sell.

On December 22, Yahoo stock opened at $405.75 and reached $421.19 at its peak.

Tang En remained indifferent.

On December 23, Yahoo stock opened at $417.5, with a peak of $426.25.

Tang En continued to forbear.

In the next few days, the stock price dropped to around $400. Until December 30, the opening price was as high as $421.75, and the peak reached $448!

"Twain, it's time to make a move!" Scott Swift's eyes were red, like a hungry wolf that hasn't eaten for half a month.

Tang En frowned.

In his memory, Yahoo's market capitalization exceeded 120 billion US dollars at its peak, but the duration was very short. Based on Yahoo's total share capital of 250 million, Yahoo's stock price... at its peak should be close to 500 US dollars!

More importantly, the stock market crash happened in 2000, not the end of 1999!

Yahoo's stock price will rise!

"No, let's continue to wait!"

Tang En gritted his silver teeth with a firm expression on his face.

"But……"

"Needless to say, I have thought about it myself!"

On December 31, Friday, the opening price of Yahoo stock was 420.44 US dollars, and the highest price was 441.5 US dollars. The stock price has dropped from yesterday.

"Twain, we can't wait any longer, throw it away!"

Scott Swift has been engaged in stock trading for many years, and he has a wealth of stock operation knowledge, so he is very cautious. The stock market is turbulent, and getting it when you see it is a great tool to make money in the stock market.

But Twain is different, he is foresighted, and his character is firm, "I said, don't throw it away!"

"Tomorrow is the weekend. In the next two days, market conditions can't be predicted. In case of an accident, when the market restarts on Monday, it is very likely that it will plummet! The price of nearly 450 US dollars is enough!"

Scott Swift couldn't understand at all, where did Tang En get his confidence? The stock market is changing rapidly, and he holds 2.1 million Yahoo shares. Once Yahoo's stock moves like last year, Dunn is likely to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in the blink of an eye.

However, Tang En is confident!

...

At the end of the "Time" magazine, Einstein was selected as the greatest figure of the 20th century.

In 2000, came the 21st century.

For the first shareholder meeting of the new millennium, Bill McNick was on the verge of breaking out.

Tom Rothman, the president of Twentieth Century Fox, formally applied to the board of directors. Because of the major defeat of "Fight Club", Bill McNick should bear full responsibility, and he should be removed from the positions of chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer.

Because Fox's largest holding company, News Corporation, did not express its position, Bill McNick stayed on for the time being. But Tom Rothman also won the opportunity to hold the second shareholders' meeting half a month later.

It took half a month to communicate with the News Corporation headquarters, and almost everyone understood that the next shareholders meeting would be when Bill McNick left Twentieth Century Fox.

Tang En's old partner, Bill McNick, is having a bad day recently. He has lost a lot of weight.

In contrast, the young Tang En was full of spirits!

On January 3, 2000, Monday, Nasdaq reopened!

Yahoo stock opened at $442.92 and peaked at $477, with the Dow gaining 200 points.

Tang En issued an order to sell 300,000 shares at an average price of $469.

On January 4th, the opening price was 464.5 US dollars, the highest peak... It directly crossed the 500 US dollar mark and reached 500.13 US dollars!

This time, Scott Swift, who was not single, went crazy, and even Twain shouted in surprise, "It's done, it's today!"

"Throw it away, count as much as you have, throw it all away!"

Tang En's roar resounded through the VIP room at the Nasdaq Exchange.

On this day, the total trading volume of Yahoo stock reached more than 69 million shares. Dunn sold 500,000 shares at an average price of US$478.6 in three stages; 1 million shares at an average price of US$482.3; The dollar average sold off the last 300,000 shares.

In the end, Tang En's 2.1 million Yahoo shares brought him a total of 1 billion US dollars in income!

For a fraction of 2.31 million US dollars, Tang En directly sent a check to Scott Swift.

He is not Tang En's manager, and it is impossible for him to get 20% or more profit dividends. He is just a subordinate who works according to Tang En's orders. Giving him a check for two million dollars is already a huge reward.

With a revenue of 1 billion US dollars, including Tang En's cost of 80 million US dollars, and a 15% capital income tax, Tang En obtained a total net income of 10-15% * (10-0.8) = 862 million US dollars through investing in Yahoo stocks!

It's only January now, and it's impossible for Tang En to pay taxes in advance. Anyway, he doesn't have a lot of debts, and he still needs to use this money to make a fortune.

"I think the short-selling mechanism is activated now!"

Tang En who got the money was very excited, even a little carried away.

Scott Swift shook his head calmly: "Leveraged shorting... In simple terms, it is to borrow the stocks of others or institutions, sell them now, and then return the stocks within the specified time limit. But now that Yahoo's stock is so hot, who can buy it? Will you lend us the stock?"

"ah?"

Tang En was an amateur, and looked at Scott Swift in a daze, "Then what should we do now?"

"wait!"

"wait?"

"That's right, Yahoo stock is in an abnormal period right now. The stock price is too high, and it will definitely fall back in a short time." Scott looked very reliable, and he pondered slowly, "But now the Nasdaq index remains high, and the Dow Jones The index is also rising steadily, and Yahoo is a symbol of technology stocks, and there will never be a sharp decline."

Tang En curled his lips. The stockbroker really relied on his mouth to fool around. If it wasn't for his foresight, he would really believe it.

"I just want to know, can we go short?"

"able!"

"when?"

"When the stock price stabilizes, it will be about... between US$300 and US$350. At that time, whether it is retail investors or securities institutions, it is time to calm down, and normal futures operations will be able to operate."

"That's okay." Tang En nodded and smiled, "How do I do it?"

Scott said: "I won't talk about the details. There is a question, how much leverage do you want? The higher the leverage, the greater the risk."

"No risk! Uh... just 100 times!"

"Difficult!" Scott frowned slightly, "Yahoo's total share capital is less than 250 million, and there are only more than 100 million shares in circulation in the market, and we can 'borrow' about 10 million shares at most. Dunn, you If you want to earn more in the futures market, Yahoo alone can’t afford the $1 billion in your hands.”

Tang En's complexion became serious, and he pondered.