Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1427 To refuse a divinely bestowed gift is to suffer the consequences.

Staying in a hotel suite in the port city, looking out the glass window at the bustling city, I noticed that Ruyan Electronic Cigarettes had specially hosted a banquet for Andrew tonight.

But Andrew wasn't really in the mood for dinner; his mind was entirely focused on tomorrow's negotiations.

This time, it was Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns, two Wall Street investment banks, who invited him over. Andrew is a little confused about what these two investment banks want to do.

If you're not confident, how can you possibly eat this meal?
Andrew was well aware that Ruyan e-cigarettes had just completed a massive financing round, with its valuation soaring to tens of billions of dollars.

At the height of its popularity and being touted as a must-have e-cigarette, Ruyan suddenly approached him, leaving Andrew uneasy as he couldn't figure out what the other party wanted.

It's no exaggeration to say that Reynolds is currently in a precarious situation. Since the tobacco industry reached a settlement with the American states, the entire tobacco industry landscape in America has undergone tremendous changes.

The huge compensation payments have made life difficult for many small and medium-sized traditional tobacco companies. To pay the huge compensation, they have to raise tobacco prices, but once tobacco prices are raised, sales decline.

This has become a vicious cycle. It is foreseeable that small and medium-sized tobacco companies in America will either go bankrupt or be acquired by giant tobacco companies. There is no third way!

Logically, Reynolds, as a tobacco giant, should also be able to get a share of the pie, but Morris is the largest tobacco giant in America. It is much more financially powerful and has been constantly acquiring small and medium-sized tobacco companies, growing in strength much faster than Reynolds.

The gap in strength between Reynolds and Morris, who have been the runner-up for years, is actually widening. This is reflected in the stock market, where Morris's stock price has soared, and its market value is approaching $100 billion, while Reynolds' market value has continued to decline, and is now less than one-third of Morris's market value!

Another point is that British Tobacco has acquired a stake in Reynolds and is now a major shareholder of Reynolds. Andrew still needs to explain this to British Tobacco.

If the company's performance and stock price continue to decline, then he probably won't be able to stay in his position as president!
Beset by internal and external troubles, this is precisely the predicament Reynolds Tobacco is currently facing. Coupled with the aggressive rise of e-cigarettes like Ruyan, voices are now emerging from the outside world betting on how long Reynolds can hold out...

Andrew didn't want Reynolds to fall into his hands, nor did he want to end his career. Once he lost the position of Reynolds president, his huge bonuses, huge pension, big villa, and of course, several close female friends such as models with whom he had a relationship beyond friendship, would probably all leave him. How could Andrew be willing to accept that?
……

Unlike the worried Andrew, Li Dongling had no worries and was keeping his little darling company.

Listening to his little girl, Keling, babbling "Baba," even though her pronunciation was completely inaccurate, still brought a smile to Li's face. He felt that his little darling hadn't been spoiled in vain.

Before the little cotton-padded jacket (a type of padded jacket) starts to leak air, before it grows from a baby cabbage to a young girl in the neighborhood, it's still a close-fitting little cotton-padded jacket...

The villa gate was pushed open, and Ning Wenke, dressed in a business suit, took off her high heels and saw Li Dongling playing with Xiao Keling.

Seeing Ning Wenke return, Xiao Keling kicked her short legs and pounced towards Ning Wenke.

Ning Wenke picked up Xiao Keling, unbuttoned her business suit, and breastfed Xiao Keling. When she saw Li Dashanren's gaze fixed on her large expanse of white skin, Ning Wenke just gave him a reproachful look.

Ning Wenke has spent a lot of time with Li Dongling lately, all for the sake of giving Xiao Keling another younger brother or sister.

"Shaw Brothers has officially announced that Mr. Shaw is retiring and no member of the Shaw family will become the new president of TVB!"

Ning Wenke said to Li Dongling that there had been rumors circulating that Boss Shao was going to leave TVB.

Last year, Mr. Shao even made a low-key trip to Pingyang to test the waters with Li Dongling about selling TVB.

But it was never made clear until now. Boss Shao has finally made it clear that the Shao family is withdrawing from the Chinese-language media empire they built from scratch.

"What a troubled time!"

Seeing the little girl burping from her full stomach, Li Dongling took her from Ning Wenke's arms and couldn't help but sigh.

The current state of Hong Kong is completely different from that of the previous life. In the previous life, the Hong Kong city was dominated by several established wealthy families, with the Li family of the Yangtze River at the head, who firmly controlled a number of industries in the city.

Now, the landscape of Hong Kong is dominated by new forces, led by Cyberport, standing alongside established tycoons like the Lee family of Cheung Kong. Hong Kong has not been monopolized by the Lee family of Cheung Kong; instead, it has become increasingly bustling. With the rise of the internet, Hong Kong is still regarded as one of the most fertile goldmines in Asia.

However, the emergence of Cyberport and the rise of the Internet have also brought about changes in many industries in the port city, with traditional media being one of the most affected.

Mr. Shao, however, maintained his usual shrewdness and courage. Seeing the changing situation, he chose to cut his losses and cash out TVB at its peak!
Mr. Shao's sale of TVB reflects the current landscape of Hong Kong, with some entering the market while others choose to exit. "Is Cyberport going to join the ranks of TVB acquirers?" Ning Wenke asked Li Dongling with some curiosity.

Like Hong Kong Telecom, TVB, Hong Kong's largest television station, will likely eventually be sold to Hong Kong-based companies and taken over by local Hong Kong businesses.

If it were an acquisition by an overseas media giant, putting aside whether it could pass the Hong Kong government's approval, Beijing would not allow the control of public opinion in Hong Kong to be taken over by foreign countries.

If it's a competition between Hong Kong companies for TVB, then it's likely that several major Hong Kong companies will be involved, and in the end, it might just be a power struggle among them.

If Cyberport were to acquire TVB, its influence in Hong Kong would reach new heights. The mobile phones, telephones, and internet used by Hong Kong residents, as well as the TV programs they watch, would all be from Cyberport. Cyberport would become an integral part of Hong Kong residents' daily lives!

Hearing Ning Wenke's words, Li Dongling nodded and said bluntly, "Cyberport and Dongke cannot miss the opportunity to seize the power of public opinion in Southeast Asia!"

Li Dongling was determined to acquire TVB, not only because of Cyberport, but also because of East Asia Science Park.

Controlling TVB means controlling the discourse in Southeast Asia. TVB's Hong Kong dramas currently have a huge influence throughout Southeast Asia.

Dongke absolutely cannot miss this opportunity. By leveraging TVB, Dongke's product influence can gradually extend to the entire Southeast Asia, subtly creating the impression among users in these regions that Dongke's products are the best...

Promotional methods like TV dramas and variety shows may seem like a slow, insidious process, but they can actually yield significant results.

Like in the past, during the years when the Korean Wave was at its peak, dramas, variety shows, music videos, DVDs, and other channels were used to frantically promote Korean cosmetics, clothing, jewelry, and various electronic products from Samsung and LG in mainland China, Southeast Asia, and overseas.

The key to these product promotions isn't how much is sold directly, but rather the frequent exposure that creates an impression among viewers that the products featured in the advertisements are fashionable, trendy, and high-tech. That's enough.

After all, sometimes, when buying something, it's just about an impression. Not everyone buys things like tech enthusiasts, who care so much about performance and specifications. Sometimes, looking good, being a celebrity favorite, or having a memorable impression are enough to make someone place an order.

Besides selling products, with TVB, Dongling Hi-Tech can make its voice heard in the media industry in Southeast Asia and even globally. If it is wronged or targeted, it doesn't need to tolerate it; it should just lash out.

No matter what strategies you use or how you try to persuade others with reason, in the end it's all about magical clashes, exposing each other's dirty secrets, and spewing insults all over the world. If everyone gets attacked, then it's not really being attacked!
The rest, with TVB's vast copyright library, will make it a natural progression for Oriental Media to transform into an internet video platform and try to become a media giant like Mango TV or Netflix.

TVB may decline in the future, but it still has at least ten years of growth potential to capitalize on. What East Taiwan Science Park and Cyberport need to do is seize this last ten years of growth potential and help TVB complete its transformation.

Who says that the future of Asia will definitely belong to the Korean Wave? As some "unknown" singer said, the Chinese Wave is the best!

"Once the matter of Ruyan e-cigarettes is resolved, Cyberport will officially join TVB's acquisition process."

Li Dongling said to Ning Wenke, "I don't care what other Hong Kong tycoons think about TVB."

However, Cyberport and East Asia Technology Group are definitely not going to miss out on TVB. In fact, Li Dashan doesn't mind that if Cyberport can't get the deal, then no other big names can get their hands on TVB either!

Now, it's uncertain whether Cyberport and East Coast Technology can accomplish something in Hong Kong, but... they are capable of ruining something.

Those wealthy families in Hong Kong recruited their staff from Hong Kong. When Dongling High-Tech was pushed too far, they were able to recruit from Beijing, which directly froze the deal!
……

Andrew, accompanied by several assistants and executives, rode in the vehicle that had come to pick them up, heading towards the East City Plaza.

Inside the car, Andrew bought several English newspapers and magazines. When he saw the news reports about Li Dongling, he couldn't help but feel a chill.

Previously, he had not had a deep understanding of Li Dongling. In American media reports, Li Dongling was described as a rapidly rising tech tycoon in Asia, and even as the richest man in Asia for two consecutive years.

But there's no further information. In fact, the American media prefers to report on Li Dongling's appearance in New York years ago to sue Microsoft.

As the only remaining superpower in the world, the American media is most interested in its own people and is not particularly interested in people outside of America, or considers them to be "irrelevant".

Besides Wall Street and Silicon Valley, companies in the American tech industry, such as Microsoft, are also paying attention to Dongling High-Tech and Li Dongling's movements. To be honest, most ordinary Americans don't have a deep impression of Li Dongling, at least not now.

But looking at the newspapers in his hand, Andrew felt a chill run down his spine. Li Dongling's net worth had skyrocketed far too quickly. Even in America, such a performance would be worthy of being recorded in history!
(End of this chapter)