China Entertainment: I became a capital tycoon

Chapter 259 Chapter 257. Investing in Marvel
In fact, in Cao Yu's mind, what made Marvel rise is just empty talk, and he has no interest in contributing to American comics.

But he knew that Marvel would later be acquired by Disney.

The current market value of Marvel is not high, but because of the huge sales of the movie "Iron Man", Disney spent more than 42 billion US dollars.

Cao Yu felt that it was a good opportunity for him to come to the United States this time. "Iron Man" has not yet started filming, so it shouldn't cost much to invest in it.

Then investing in the movie "Iron Man" will not only make a fortune at the box office, but when Disney acquires Marvel, the stock in your hand will at least double.

If you want to cut it, cut the American leeks.

Marvel CEO Arad doesn't know what Cao Yu is thinking. He just wants the company to get back on track.

Nowadays, a large number of comic shops have gone bankrupt and closed, coupled with Internet piracy. Although "Marvel Pictures" has been established, there are not many heroes on hand. There must be a movie to save the company.

But now, this Chinese man has brought him new hope.

"Mr. Cao, do you really want to invest in Marvel?"

Arad wanted to make one final confirmation, for fear that this young man was just playing with himself.

"of course."

Cao Yu nodded and said with a smile: "Marvel's current market value is only more than 20 billion US dollars, right?"

"Ah"

Hearing this number, Arad was a little embarrassed. As a long-established company that has been established for decades, after going public in the 90s, its market value has become lower and lower, which is really embarrassing.

But he immediately said: "This is only temporary. With Mr. Cao's help, we will get up and become a rising star in the comics and film industry!"

"I hope so too."

Cao Yu will not be fooled at all.

What a newbie in the film industry, three years later, Marvel was gone.

He asked: "How many major shareholders are there in Marvel now? How many shares do they have? If I want to invest, how many shares can I get?"

"Chairman Perlmutter, he owns 18.1% of the shares and is the largest shareholder of the company, but he is not here today, and I own 12.6% of the shares, and the others are small shareholders."

Arad introduced Marvel's current shareholding divisions, and then said: "Cao, how much do you plan to invest?"

This Chinese person’s money is Marvel’s hope.

Cao Yu calculated the funds he could use and said with a smile: "Then I will acquire the shares from the small shareholders. I only need about 10%. I can't have more shares than you, right?"

"Mr. Cao is such a nice person."

Arad was a little moved when he heard that the other party only wanted 10%. 10% was not a small amount, but it was not more than himself. This way, his voice in the company would not be affected.

Therefore, he quickly said: "No problem, the company has many small shareholders who want to sell their shares."

"Okay, I will ask the lawyer to come over and handle this matter as soon as possible."

Cao Yu didn't bother to ask for the right to speak, and he didn't bother to wade into the muddy waters of Marvel. He just wanted to make a sum of money and leave.

Seeing that Cao Yu didn't talk about movies, Arad asked again: "What about movies?"

"How much is the estimated investment for the movie? Can you read the script first?"

Acting is all about authenticity. Investing without reading the script will make others suspicious.

Unexpectedly, Arad said: "Mr. Cao, you are not a shareholder of the company yet. If you want to read the script, you must sign a confidentiality agreement. Please understand."

Cao Yu almost laughed and said to himself: "I know everything about the movie, but I still have a confidentiality agreement?"

However, he still nodded and understood the other party's worries.

Arad acted businesslike and asked Cao Yu to sign a confidentiality agreement before he came up with the script.

The plot of "Iron Man" is not much different from what I watched before my rebirth. In terms of the final showdown between good and evil between Iron Man and Iron Overlord, the script was also a bit bland.

"Arad, there's nothing wrong with the script, but..."

"But what?"

When Arad heard "but", he was afraid that Cao Yu would refuse to invest.

Cao Yu said with a smile: "But the final battle is convenient and not intense enough. It's better to be more cool."

"Cao, I think so too, but if this battle is going to be intense, every additional minute of stunts will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars."

When Arad heard this, he immediately saw the shortcomings of the script. Although he admired it, he looked embarrassed.

He also wants to be cool and exciting, but it all costs money.

Cao Yu took a sip of coffee and asked: "Haha, the script is good, what's the budget?"

"The current plan is 2000 million. After all, Iron Man has very high requirements for special effects."

"You don't need to tell me, I can invest 5000 million."

Cao Yu interrupted him and leaned on the sofa. It seemed that tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars were nothing at all. "Great, Cao, Marvel can definitely get through this."

Arad finally felt relieved when he heard that Cao Yu was really going to invest in this movie.

When saying goodbye, Cao Yu asked Arad for a set of "Avengers" comics, saying that he would read them at night. At the same time, he asked if this superhero group had been adapted.

Fortunately, the answer he got was that the comic had not been adapted yet, which made Cao Yu have a plan in mind.

Back at the hotel, Cao Yu asked Xiao Wu to call the company and immediately send financial personnel and lawyers over to handle the matter of buying shares.

However, even though Marvel is in dire straits, it still costs more than $10 million to acquire 5000% of the shares. Including those who invest in movies, his project will require at least more than $[-] million in funding.

Many projects in the company are underway at this time, and he has also paid for a private jet, so there is not much money left in his hands.

If you spend all your funds, it will be enough to invest in Marvel, but in this case, your capital chain may be broken, which is not a good thing.

If we wait for the release of the company's movie or Fei'e Video's second round of financing, I'm afraid the day lily will be cold.

After thinking about it, he still called Lu Huateng: "Lao Lu, help me transfer [-] million US dollars to my company's account. If you need it urgently, I will pay you back next year."

"No problem, I'll have someone do it in a minute."

On the phone, Lu Huateng didn't even ask what Cao Yu wanted the money for and agreed directly.

Not to mention that Cao Yu is a shareholder of Penguin, just based on the relationship between the two of them, US$[-] million is nothing at all.

"Haha, thank you, Old Lu."

"We are brothers."

Lu Huateng smiled nonchalantly on the phone and asked, "Where?"

"In the United States."

"The United States? Fei'e Video is currently in a lawsuit with Youku. Why did you go to the United States?"

Lu Huateng suddenly felt that this brother had such a big heart.

"Just fight, it doesn't matter if I'm here or not."

Cao Yu shook his head indifferently and asked: "By the way, what is the market feedback after LOL is launched? Has your team started?"

Cao Yu was just being polite and asked about the League of Legends.

He has been too busy recently. When this game came out in July, he didn't pay much attention to it.

"Brother, I sometimes feel really lucky to know you. This game is very popular now and the feedback from players is also very good. According to the plan, we are planning to launch a new hero next year."

Lu Huateng's voice was full of excitement and joy: "We have found ten people for the team and are still training. Next year's championship will definitely be ours."

"Haha, this is not necessarily the case."

On Cao Yu's side, the team has already taken shape under Zhou Juan's operation.

"Haha, although we are brothers, I will not show mercy on the battlefield."

"Same."

The two joked for a while and hung up the phone. Cao Yu lay on the hotel bed, thinking about how to get more benefits from Marvel shares.

It's mid-06, and there are still three years before Disney wants to acquire Marvel.

"If I write the script of "Avengers" and let the company promote the shooting plan in the media at that time, and with the success of "Iron Man" as a basis, will it allow Disney to spend more money?"

Cao Yu thought for a while, no longer hesitated, and wrote the script of the movie.

Cao Yu stayed in New York for another five days to complete the investment in "Iron Man", accounting for 40% of the investment ratio.

As for the shares, only 7% has been secured for the time being, and the rest is still being secured, but Cao Yu does not have to deal with it himself, someone will handle it for him.

Before leaving New York, Cao Yu finally placed the script of "Avengers" in front of Arad.

After reading this, the old man immediately said: "Cao, I have long heard that you are an outstanding screenwriter in China. I didn't expect that you could write such a script in only five days."

"Haha, the company's comics are better."

Cao Yu smiled pretending to be humble.

"Cao, I believe that if we wait until "Iron Man" is a hit at the box office and then release this movie, no one in Hollywood will dare to laugh at us."

Arad's confidence grew greatly at this time.

Cao Yu arranged: "Please file the script in my name first, and we will prepare it in 09."

"good idea."

Arad is even more impressed by this third shareholder of the company.

(End of this chapter)