America 1995

Chapter 166: The Voting Business

Marvel Comics will have a more resounding translation in China in the future - Marvel.

That's right, now Milo bought it, including the lawyer fees and money for the accountant.

The total amount is not even 10 million US dollars.

The reason why this is so outrageous is that it has already filed for bankruptcy and is heavily in debt.

Seven years ago, Marvel was acquired by capital tycoon Ron Perelman.

Perelman is a typical Wall Street guy, under his operation.

Marvel went public in 1991 and used the funds raised to acquire a large number of toy companies and small and medium-sized publishers.
These actions cost a total of $7 million and left Marvel heavily in debt.

At the same time, Marvel also sold the adaptation rights of important characters such as the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Daredevil, the Hulk, and Spider-Man.

From a comics perspective, all of these sold are Marvel's most profitable and best-selling ones.

Sell, sell, sell; buy, buy, buy.

As a result, three years ago, the bubble in the American comics market burst.

Marvel's sales have been falling by 50% every year. Three years ago, it sold nearly million comics a year, but this year it only sells less than million copies.

The stock price has fallen from a high of $1993 per share in 35.75 to less than $ per share this year.

Marvel's market value is now around 1.5 million US dollars, but its debt is as high as 9.5 million US dollars.

In other words, if anyone wants to buy Marvel.

Not only would he have to pay $1.5 million, but he would also have to assume $9.5 million in debt.

All in all, it would take almost $11 billion to revive Marvel.

Even though Marvel's actual total assets should be around $500 million, few people want to take over this mess.

Unless it doesn't cost money.

The main reason is that the cold winter of the comics industry has not yet passed. The collection investment bubble farce three years ago overdrew the vitality of the entire industry.

In fact, it’s not just Marvel that’s in such a bad situation. The entire American comic publishing industry is in such a bad situation.

It’s just that another comic giant, DC, has always been supported by Time Warner.

Moreover, it has already started to be adapted into movies and TV shows. Even if the comic industry disappears completely tomorrow, DC will still be able to survive.

Unlike Marvel and other comic book companies, publishing comics is their foundation.

But even so, Marvel wouldn't be so cheap that it could be purchased for less than 10 million US dollars.

The reason is that Shabote and his team played a stock market sniping trick on Marvel.

Basically, it is after obtaining Milo's authorization.

It took several months for Chabot and Paladin to make the investment.

First, they took advantage of Marvel's bad situation and continued to short-sell Marvel's stocks in the stock market.

It also took advantage of the internal discord within Marvel when Chairman Perelman and major shareholder Carl Icahn were at loggerheads.

They used the power of Paladin Media to be bearish on Marvel in the media.

We took two approaches at the same time and it took several months.

Marvel, which was already on the verge of death, was destroyed and now it has no chance to breathe.

Finally, Shabotei took out the profits he had made from short selling and raising Marvel's stock price over the past few months.

Take 51% of Marvel's shares from those disappointed shareholders and gain control of Marvel.

The entire process, not counting the time cost, actually cost less than 10 million US dollars.

But in fact, it’s not just time that’s wasted.

There is also part of Paladin Investment’s energy, and most importantly, the public opinion power of Paladin Media.

But after all, I got the Marvel comics.

As for HBO... because of the acquisition of MCA Group, and Time Warner discovered that Milo was also in contact with HBO.

They were raising the price like crazy, so Milo had signaled to Chabotet to give up contacting HBO.

"At the end of the negotiations the day before yesterday, the Marvel board of directors invited us to send a financial team to Marvel to conduct a financial review before the acquisition. I have agreed and will send someone over this afternoon. Once the accountants have reviewed the accounts, you, the boss, will only need to sign. From now on, Marvel Comics will belong to you personally."

Milo couldn't help feeling a little excited as he listened to Shabotet's report.

Think about those superhero movies in the past. They would sweep the global box office every summer season, making Disney a big name in the industry and easily earning billions in box office revenue every year.

Now everything has changed.

He himself is about to complete the construction of an entertainment empire.

Of course, there may be another possibility.

He couldn't help but have a reverie deep in his heart, but soon he chuckled and shook his head.

"what is this?"

Milo curiously took the stack of documents that Shabote handed over, put the coffee in his hand on the crystal petal-shaped coffee cup holder, looked at Shabote and asked.

"There are several selected companies and other excellent assets. We suggest that you, the boss, acquire as many excellent assets as possible. After all, a large amount of cash left there will generate a lot of tax. I don't think you, the boss, would want to make it cheaper for the IRS."

The harvesting operation in Southeast Asia is almost over and huge profits are slowly flowing back.

The money now faces a dilemma.

Once the money returns to the United States, it will incur taxes.

One million dollars can give the IRS three or four hundred thousand dollars.

If the money does not return to the United States, it will have to flow into other international investments.

The problem is that Milo currently has little international investment.

Moreover, now is the period of raising interest rates, and money from all over the world is flowing to the United States.

Investing in other areas simply doesn't make money.

And the amount of money is too much.

Letting them make profits in the international market would be the biggest waste.

Good things like this year's Southeast Asian crisis are unlikely to happen every year.

So the best place to put this money is to return it to the United States.

This brings us back to the previous question.

What about taxes if I return to the United States?
The solution that the consultants of the Smith Foundation came up with was to buy, buy and buy.

Turning money into investment and direct fixed assets can help you avoid large amounts of taxes in disguise.

This is also a common practice among many American giants.

The money earned outside is either kept outside the United States or used for international acquisitions and operations.

Or you can return to the United States in the name of investment to save a lot of taxes.

Directly transfer the money back? Don’t be silly, the IRS will be the only one who will be happy with that!

"Resort farms, mountain farms, commercial buildings, wow, all land resources. Okay, and there are also sports teams. Your idea is to let me set up a sports operation company, right? I understand football, baseball, and basketball, but what the hell is football in the United States? I might as well go to Europe and buy a football team."

As Milo was looking through the documents, he looked up at Shabote and complained with a smile.

"The only areas we have chosen for sports right now are California, Massachusetts and New York. After all, these are the three places where you have the most activities," Chabotet stated the think tank's conclusions.

Milo nodded and poked at the New York area on the document. "Have you ever heard of Madison Square Garden Limited Partnership?"

"Of course, the last few pages of the document are all about this company. ITT is preparing to sell its 50% stake in MSG, and we all think it is an excellent asset."

Milo raised his eyebrows. Great minds think alike! It seems that even if he hadn't heard the news about the New York Knicks from Gimp last night.

Today Shabote can also give himself this surprise.

Indeed, it is necessary to maintain an efficient and wise think tank team.

"Then go get it, and the remaining 50%. I want them all, just like Marvel."

He looked at Shabote and said, "I think you should understand what I mean."

Finally, Milo pointed at the last document Chabotet brought over.

"Why Kmart? Wouldn't Sears or Wal-Mart be better?"

The last asset allocation option that the Smith Foundation gave Milo today was a retail company called Kmart.

This was the type of asset allocation he requested for the Smith Foundation some time ago.

At that time he told Shabote and others that he wanted a retail business.

For example, Walmart.

Of course, everyone knows that Wal-Mart's rise is now almost unstoppable.

It achieved annual sales of $936 billion last year and ranked fourth on Fortune magazine's 1995 list of the largest companies in the United States.

With a stock market capitalization of over 150 billion, it has become the de facto world's largest retail company.

And the controlling rights have always been firmly in the hands of the Walton family.

Even if Milo had enough funds, it would be difficult for him to seize control of Walmart from the Walton family.

He didn't want to control Walmart either; what he wanted was a seat on Walmart's board of directors.

The reason is not that he is attracted by Walmart's decent annual profits.

But it is because it has always been the case across the United States, except for governments at all levels.

The industry with the largest number of employees in the United States is often the retail industry.

In other words, he was going for the influence in the retail industry.

If you have to choose, of course you should choose the biggest and best, because the biggest retail giants naturally have the greatest influence.

And giant retailers have always been stable assets, similar to the energy and transportation industries.

They cannot cause their owners' assets to skyrocket all at once, but they can generate stable returns for holders.

Rewards in every sense and in every aspect.

“Walmart’s stock is too popular in the secondary market.”

Chabotte gave the reasons for the advisory panel's recommendation, saying:

"If you want to buy shares that allow you to sit on the board of directors, you'll need more than 3% of the shares at the moment."

"If we want to acquire so many Walmart shares, we estimate that it will cost at least $6 billion."

"And as time goes by, more and more money will be needed."

“It’s too expensive. Sears is cheaper, but it’s still going to cost more than $2 billion to get a seat on the board.”

"Because you once said that you wanted to buy a retail business, we all agreed that Kmart is more suitable for your current situation."

Milo nodded, tapping his fingers on the table, and pondered.

In addition to what Shabotet said.

Milo knew something else about Wal-Mart that they didn't.

For example, the backers behind Walmart.

They are the couple who live in the white house today.

The first female director of Wal-Mart's board of directors was named Zipton.

At the time, she was the wife of the governor of Arkansas, where Walmart was founded and headquartered.

Let’s look at another interesting thing.

March 1992.

Sam Walton received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

He had already become the richest man in the United States in 1985, and was a nationally renowned retail tycoon before 1980.

Why did it take until 1992 to receive this medal?
Because at that time, the husband of the first female director of Walmart's board of directors finally moved into the White House.

Moreover, the first Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by Walton after he took office was given to Sam Walton.

Isn’t that obvious enough?

Walmart is one of the couple's biggest financial backers.

This is also why Walmart was able to grow from 1992 to 2000.

This is why it defeated other retail companies and became the world's number one retail giant in just eight years.

What a coincidence, it was exactly the eighth year that Zipperton was in office.

Walmart's market value increased from less than $60 billion to $230 billion.

Just like in a parallel universe, before New York Mayor Bloomberg became mayor, his net worth was less than 2 billion US dollars.

After he steps down as the last mayor of New York City.

His net worth was as high as tens of billions of dollars, making him one of the richest people in the United States at the time.

So you still don’t understand?

In the United States, no business is better than doing votes.

Doing other businesses may result in losses, but voting often results in small investments and large returns.

Therefore, after mastering a part of the present mouthpiece (media).

And most of the future tense mouthpiece (the internet).

Milo started a vote business.

The first step is to expand the pool of votes that you can influence.

The retail industry is one of them, and Milo also describes two other industries.

One is the school system, which he has already tried.

Milo is now a trustee of Columbia University in New York.

Another industry is the medical system.

For example, the largest employer in Maryland is Johns Hopkins.

Johns Hopkins is both a university and a hospital.

The same is true in Alaska. The largest employers here are not the big hotels and casinos.

It's a company called Providence Health and Services.

This company also runs a hospital.

Across the 80 states and territories, % of the largest employers are in retail, healthcare, and schools.

What remains is energy and industry.

And this situation will only become more and more outrageous as the United States becomes more and more deindustrialized.

Then it is natural to make preparations in advance.

(End of this chapter)