Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 900: Diversity is killing people.

The next morning, Fang Rui and Fang Le took a bus to Liu Yifei's house. Xinxin insisted on going with her brother and sister to play, so Fang Minghua agreed.

Anyway, Liu Xiaoli is there to play with them, so he feels at ease.

At around three o'clock in the afternoon, a black Mercedes drove into Amber Mountain Manor and stopped at the door of the villa.

When the butler York went to open the door, he saw Spielberg in a suit and tie coming out from the back row. Fang Minghua and his wife were standing at the gate of the manor, looking at him with a smile on their faces.

After shaking hands, Spielberg looked at the surrounding scenery and said with emotion: "Mr. Fang, this is a great place."

Fang Minghua smiled and said, "I heard that your villa is located in Palisades, Los Angeles. It is also a beautiful town. Would you be lucky enough to let me visit it?"

"Ok, Ok."

Afternoon tea was not held in the villa, but in the garden in front of the villa. Someone had already prepared the table and chairs, and the three of them sat down.

In addition to black tea, there were also some snacks and milk on the table, which was quite rich.

The weather is good today, with warm sunshine and a gentle breeze. The cashmere blue and American white tea trees around are very beautiful, and everyone is feeling particularly comfortable sitting in the garden.

"Try it. This is Earl Grey black tea. The tea leaves come from Zhengshan Xiaozhong tea in Chong'an, Fujian, my country, and the spices come from the Calabria region in Italy. It is carefully blended. You can add some milk if you need." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

Spielberg shook his head and said, "Thank you. I like pure tea." He then picked up the teacup and took a sip, praising, "It tastes really good, pure!"

"If you like purity, then drink our Chinese tea. West Lake Longjing, Dahongpao and Biluochun have less flavor but more real tea fragrance."

"Okay, I'll definitely try it if I get a chance."

After chatting for a while, Fang Minghua naturally brought up the topic of the sale of DreamWorks, and said with a concerned look on his face: "Mr. Spielberg, your DreamWorks has produced such masterpieces as Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, War of the Worlds, and The Lion King. Why would you want to sell it?"

Spielberg laughed, looking somewhat helpless: "Mr. Fang, you only see the achievements DreamWorks has made in the film industry, but our company also operates TV programs, home video entertainment, records, books, toys, etc., and to be honest, these areas are basically in a loss-making state."

Fang Minghua was stunned after hearing this.

I never thought DreamWorks would enter so many industries! It seems that the company's financial crisis is not just due to problems in the film and television industry.

Diversity kills people.

Coming back to his senses, Fang Minghua continued, "Universal Pictures is one of the eight major film companies in Hollywood, and its parent company General Electric is even more wealthy. We Chinese have a saying that it's good to take shelter under a big tree. DreamWorks will surely achieve greater success in the future!"

Spielberg shook his head and showed a sarcastic expression on his face: "GE is indeed rich, but Jeff Immelt is very stingy. We have already negotiated with Mayer, but Jeff rejected it - he is reluctant to spend money."

Fang Minghua immediately understood something when he heard it.

Mayer, the president of NBC Universal Pictures, had a close relationship with Spielberg. He wanted to recruit his good friend to join the company, but was stopped by Jeff.

In a word, it’s still a matter of money.

"Mr. Spielberg, can you tell me how much you are going to ask for?" Fang Minghua took the opportunity to ask. "We are not asking much, 15 billion US dollars, part of which is paid in cash, and the other part is used by Universal to repay the debt owed by DreamWorks. However, Jeff Immelt said that according to the accounting team's full accounting of DreamWorks' financial statements and assets and liabilities in previous years, it is only worth billion." Spielberg replied, and then picked up the teacup and drank a sip of tea.

It is just as the industry has said!

Fang Minghua also picked up the teacup, and Song Tangtang said softly again, this time in Chinese: "Minghua, I have also heard about this matter. Some people say that Jeff lowered the price, mainly because he considered the entertainment industry with the thinking of industrial enterprise acquisitions. He is not suitable for the entertainment industry at all, and did not fully consider the value of Spielberg's director role."

It seems to be this meaning?
Fang Minghua nodded after hearing this.

Spielberg saw Song Tangtang mumbling in front of Fang Minghua, and suddenly thought of something and asked:

"Mr. Fang, why are you so interested in this matter?"

Fang Minghua smiled and said, "Mr. Spielberg, since Jeff is so stingy, how about we do this deal together? I am willing to buy your DreamWorks for $15 billion!"

"You, acquire DreamWorks?!" Mr. Spielberg's eyes widened in surprise. "Is it Shengshi Films that is acquiring it? As far as I know, although Shengshi Films is the largest film and television company in China, can you come up with 1.5 billion? Sir, not RMB, but US dollars!"

Fang Minghua smiled slightly: "It's not Shengshi Film and Television, but me personally."

"You alone?!" Spielberg was even more surprised and looked even more unconvinced.

Fang Minghua didn't explain, but took out his cell phone and made a call to Phillips.

"Phillips, send the basic information of Xijing Investment to the email."

"OK, I'll do it right away."

"Minghua, you chat with Spielberg, I'll go get the information." At this time Song Tangtang stood up, smiled at Spielberg, and then hurried into the villa.

"Come, have some tea." Fang Minghua picked up the teacup and greeted slowly.

Spielberg quickly picked up the teacup, but how could he have the heart to drink tea at this moment? He looked at Fang Minghua suspiciously.

15 billion US dollars!
My God, let alone China, even in the United States, there are not many people who can casually take out 15 billion in cash!
Song Tangtang didn't let the two wait any longer. Ten minutes later, she took out a document and handed it to Spielberg.

"Mr. Spielberg, this is the basic information of Xijing Investment Company, which I invested in and founded alone. It is publicly disclosed on the website of the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission. If you don't believe it, you can check it out."

Spielberg took it and looked at it carefully. He saw that it said the registered capital was 75 billion US dollars, and the investments were in bonds, stocks, real estate, gold, etc.

"I'm a timid person. I don't dare to play with futures or anything like that. I just invest in some very conservative projects and maintain a considerable cash flow." Fang Minghua explained with a smile: "Tangtang, let Spielberg take a look at the balance of funds in our fund account."

Song Tangtang immediately handed over a document, which was a financial statement. As of yesterday, the cash balance in the account was approximately 25 billion US dollars.

In a word, it’s more than enough to acquire your DreamWorks!
When Spielberg saw this information, he was completely shocked.

(End of this chapter)