The richest person in Chinese entertainment

Chapter 401: The richest Chinese man is about to change, and the fear brought by the world's most influential ranking

"Leon, long time no see."

When Robert Iger saw Zhang Chen coming into the reception room, he immediately came up to him warmly, but he did not hold Zhang Chen's hand when he extended it.

"Mr. Iger, I wonder if you are here to have lunch this time," Zhang Chen pointed at the large group of men and women behind him and asked curiously, "are you here to have lunch?"

After saying this, the door of the living room suddenly opened and a group of young girls rushed in.

There are Westerners with blonde hair and blue eyes, and Orientals with black hair and black eyes, but there are no black-skinned girls.

As soon as these girls came in, more than a dozen Hollywood CEOs were stunned.

There is no other reason, these girls are all wearing Hanfu from various dynasties of China.

The girls with oriental faces look like oriental princesses, while the girls with western faces are a bit like ancient Hu Ji, both dignified and seductive.

This made Hollywood CEOs, led by Iger, ignore what these girls were holding in their hands.

It was not until the food was placed in front of them, and they smelled the hot steam from the boiling water and saw the variety of uncooked meat and vegetables in front of them, that they came to their senses.

"Leon." Yige was a little confused. He looked at the others and asked Zhang Chen, who had already started to eat, "What is this?"

"Oh, it's time for dinner. Would you like to try our Chinese hot pot?"

"Hot pot?" Yige picked up a chopstick and poked the pig brain in front of him, then put it aside with some disdain. "Hehehe. It's quite interesting."

He had heard of this way of eating in China, but had never tried it.

"You're welcome, let's talk while we eat." Zhang Chen smiled and picked up a piece of beef tripe for himself and put it into the clear soup pot.

He still had some conscience and ordered a shuangyuan hotpot instead of just starting the meal with a hot pot of chili oil.

As for hotpot, different places have different ways of eating it, and he himself prefers the coastal way of eating it, which is clear soup + dipping sauce.

Some people say that the average number of people studying abroad in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai is high. I personally used to live in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai frequently, and my taste is more inclined to light food. I don't have any particular interest in cuisines that require all kinds of seasonings and complicated cooking methods.

Just like meat, he eats meat slices but doesn’t like meatballs.

Shrimp, he eats.

But he doesn't like shrimp paste.

The main focus is to maintain the original taste of the ingredients.

When you eat meat, you need to feel the muscle fibers.

"Leon. Hiss—Huh." Iger awkwardly picked up a piece of food with chopsticks, dipped it in the seasoning plate, put it in his mouth, and said vaguely, "This time we're going to..."

He actually didn't want to talk while eating, as it would seem impolite.

But thinking about today's scene carefully, he felt that Zhang Chen might want to see him like this.

In this case, perhaps following Zhang Chen's idea would be smoother.

Sure enough, when Zhang Chen saw him in such a messy state holding a piece of fat beef, he narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Eat slowly and talk slowly."

After swallowing the food in his mouth with difficulty, Yige took a sip of ice cola before speaking: "Delicious!"

"Haha." Zhang Chen shook his head and laughed.

This guy is quite patient.

For the rest of the meal, only Yige and Zhang Chen were eating leisurely in the living room. The others either didn't know how to use chopsticks and were unwilling to learn, or they simply thought hot pot was too scary and didn't dare to use chopsticks.

After all, not everyone would have the heart to eat pig brains, bullfrogs, and various internal organs.

Besides, there were many people here who followed the customs of the desert, and they were already giving Zhang Chen enough face by not overturning the table and turning around and leaving.

"Leon, we came here this time." Iger wiped the soup stains on his mouth with a napkin, smacked his lips and said to Zhang Chen, "I want to ask about the issue of film and television piracy. What do you think, Leon?"

"Film and TV piracy?" Zhang Chen waved his hand and had the items removed. "Shouldn't that be something your government should do? Why are you targeting me?"

"Since you have done a great job with the singers in music, we are wondering if Leon can also lead the film and television companies and actors to work together to completely eliminate the cancer of piracy in our industry."

"As you know, soon after our movies were released in some places, pirated copies appeared, which took away a lot of our box office and caused us serious losses."

"If we can completely eliminate piracy, our movie box office revenue will be at least 50% higher!"

"Correct!"

"Yes, those pirates are so abominable!"

"Leon must seek justice for us!"

“Only someone as influential as Leon can lead everyone to do this!”

Iger talked a lot about the current status of the world's film and television industry, and the CEOs of Columbia, Warner, and Fox all spoke up to agree.

They didn't say much today, and their attitude was completely led by Yiger.

I don’t know how they, who are usually very competitive, were able to reach a consensus during this period of time.

"Film and TV piracy," Zhang Chen lowered his head and pondered, "It's really a cancer."

"Right!" Iger became excited. "If it weren't for them, our movies wouldn't have been pirated and taken away from our box office right after they were released, causing many profitable movies to lose money."

"Yes, it's abominable!" Zhang Chen nodded in agreement, but did not continue.

"so."

"so?"

“So, shouldn’t Leon call on everyone to oppose piracy like he did in the music industry?”

"Calling on everyone?" Zhang Chen pointed at himself, looking surprised. "I'm just a rookie director. How dare I call on everyone?"

Before Yige could continue to persuade him, Zhang Chen said, "Why don't we go and invite Mr. Spielberg together? I think he is more qualified to do this."

"Well, Leonardo seems to be a good option?" Zhang Chen offered another candidate.

"These two are indeed qualified, but they are still far behind Lyon." Yige was caught off guard by Zhang Chen's stubborn attitude.

Logically speaking, for a person who is mainly engaged in creation or the boss of a film and television company, cracking down on piracy should be in the interest of the company.

Just like when Zhang Chen first appeared in the music industry, he took the initiative to fire the first shot in the fight against piracy, and after years of hard work, he managed to maintain the current peace in the music market.

Now that he's in the film industry, why has he become so timid?

"Lyon, as the boss of CGT"

"Don't talk nonsense. I'm just a small shareholder of CGT, with only 4% of the shares." Zhang Chen interrupted Yige, "I've sent someone to find William. He is the boss of CGT."

"He" Iger was speechless, "Okay."

As time goes by, everyone can more or less understand the relationship between William and Zhang Chen.

Although it is unclear whether William is optimistic about Zhang Chen's potential and how much he paid to use Zhang Chen to gain a foothold in Hollywood and Wall Street.

But at least it is definitely not as simple as the small shareholder that Zhang Chen mentioned.

Especially when it comes to making decisions on some key matters, they prefer to discuss things with Zhang Chen, the big star shareholder, rather than William, a guy who is timid about many things.

After all, according to William himself, many things were achieved under the guidance of Zhang Chen, which led to the brilliant achievements of his company. He was able to reach his current position by listening to many of Zhang Chen's judgments.

So instead of going to William to discuss it and asking him to find Zhang Chen for "guidance" afterwards, it would be more convenient to go directly to Zhang Chen.

Afterwards, Zhang Chen chatted with these CEOs about family matters and some recent events.

These people in Hollywood have been praising Zhang Chen's achievements, whether in movies or music, and they have praised Zhang Chen as being unique in the world.

Zhang Chen, on the other hand, praised the United States' achievements in science and technology, like the launch of a probe to Mars some time ago, which Zhang Chen also praised highly.

The two maintained a form of mutual flattery until William's arrival.

"Leon, hello everyone."

William pushed the door open and walked in. Instead of calling Zhang Chen "Boss", he called out his name directly.

He had already learned the situation from Assistant Xue before coming, so it was impossible for him to let it slip.

"William is here, come and sit down!" Zhang Chen warmly invited William to sit down.

Then there was an eerie silence.

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

Finally, it was Zhang Chen who broke the awkward situation: "I know why you are here today, but I hope to do this after I have established a firm foothold in the film and television industry."

“Leon, some things should be done sooner rather than later. Isn’t that what you thought when you were in the music industry?”

"Mr. Iger." Zhang Chen knocked on the table. "I believe you should understand that things here are not that simple. When the music industry was in the early days, Michael and the major record companies gradually accomplished this because they knew that physical records were about to be phased out."

"The Internet is developing at an ever-increasing speed, and our movies are spreading online so quickly. Who knows if anyone will still go to the cinema to watch movies in the future? This is exactly what we are worried about."

"There is still an essential difference between movies and music. Even if the Internet is more developed, more movie fans still want to go to the cinema to enjoy the atmosphere, and"

"And" Yiger was stunned. Is there something else?

"And technology is becoming more and more advanced nowadays. I wonder if anyone has heard about the movie that Director Cameron is preparing?"

"What does this have to do with people going to the cinema to watch movies?"

"In many cases, there is a fundamental difference between watching movies on a home computer and watching them in a theater. At least the viewing experience is much different. You can't expect a movie played on a computer that costs thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to have the same effect as a movie theater that costs tens of millions of dollars to build."

"You mean?"

"Technology is advancing, and cinemas may be replaced, but I don't think we need to worry about it for decades."

After hearing Zhang Chen's words, Yige and others fell silent.

He came today to see whether Zhang Chen, the pioneer of piracy, could clean up the film and television industry like he did in the music industry.

With this big star taking the lead and others following blindly, it will definitely have unexpected results.

It can also attract the attention of those bigwigs who are actually engaged in the piracy industry.

Sometimes you really don’t know what kind of industry is behind those who do piracy in the film and television industry, or what kind of identity they have that would surprise you.

They don't dare to offend these people.

It is possible that cracking down on piracy may actually result in worse movie box office sales.

The box office revenue needs to be shared.

There is no need for piracy.

So the biggest source of piracy is self-evident.

But the United States does not allow film and television companies to build cinema chains.

As early as 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the "Paramount Case" under the Antitrust Act, determining that the vertical monopoly of large studios was illegal and requiring the production companies to abandon the business of film distribution and cinema screenings.

This ruling led to the major Hollywood studios selling their cinema businesses one after another, ending the "golden age" of the major studio system.

In the absence of theaters, major Hollywood film and television companies generally will not blatantly touch the interests of theaters.

As for the capital behind the two, that is a deeper topic.

At least it's not something they should discuss.

"Okay." Seeing Zhang Chen's firm attitude, Yige stopped insisting and changed the subject. "Now that I see that Morning Music and Facebook have already gone public on Wall Street, it seems that they will be officially listed in a few days?"

"Yes, in three days." Zhang Chen nodded.

"Congratulations, Leon. Your investment over the years has finally paid off." Iger complimented, "Leon is now considered a famous investor in our country. Even Buffett has praised your vision."

"I am just a small shareholder. I can't compare with him."

"Hahahaha, yes, yes." Yige did not refute, but asked with a smile, "When will our CGT player be on the market?"

This sudden question caused the scene to fall into silence again.

Zhang Chen looked at the smiling Yige, his mind racing, and he agreed, "It depends on what you shareholders think."

"All shareholders are here today, how about we discuss this?"

Zhang Chen looked at Iger who was pressing forward step by step, and quickly responded: "I have no objection. William is the major shareholder. It depends on what he thinks."

William saw his boss handing him the hot issue, and he knew it was a delaying tactic: "How about this, I'll hold a shareholders' meeting after I finish the listing of Facebook and Morning Light Music, how about that?"

Time is too tight now, and William knows that the boss doesn't want to talk about this matter, so he can only put it aside for the time being.

Yiger nodded, agreeing to the proposal.

Just when Zhang Chen thought that the topic for today had come to an end, Yige spoke again.

"Leon, we have completed the warehouse."

This nonsensical sentence confused everyone present.

Only Zhang Chen and William looked at each other and understood what Yige was talking about.

"I know that Leon has a new movie project. I wonder if you can add some clips to the movie, just like the plot you designed in The Pursuit of Happyness."

"Then" Zhang Chen signaled to others with his eyes.

"They have already bought our fund." "So that's how it is." Zhang Chen understood, "If that's the case, everyone has investigated this matter."

"Correct!"

"It seems that everyone's main purpose today is to make money?"

“Hahaha, what Leon said, who doesn’t love money.”

"That makes sense." Zhang Chen also smiled. "Then the listing of CGT should be put on the agenda, and piracy should be cracked down on."

"It seems that Leon has figured it out?"

"Haha." Zhang Chen spread his hands and said helplessly, "If we don't hurry up, we won't make any money."

"Leon is a smart man." Yige and Zhang Chen looked at each other. "According to what you said, there is not much time left. We have to list the company before then, and then..."

"Ok, I know."

Although Yige's words were ambiguous, he knew clearly what the other party was planning.

It's nothing more than quickly listing the company before the bubble bursts.

Then, when the stock price was still high, they sold a large amount of the company's shares in their hands and cashed out.

Wait until the bubble bursts before buying back.

The profit from this round trip is much greater than the profit from making movies and combating piracy.

And what Iger said about cracking down on piracy is a big boon to CGT's stock price.

Only when the market is improving can companies like CGT, which make profits through copyright operations, have higher stock prices.

Therefore, piracy still needs to be cracked down on.

The purpose is to push CGT's share price as high as possible.

Then sell!

As long as some news is released that the company needs more funds to purchase film and television copyrights or invest in other related chains, investors will not panic about shareholders selling their stocks.

Those sitting in front of you are representatives of the world's largest film and television companies that continue to produce movies.

The two methods can, first, increase the prices of copyrights in CGT's existing copyright library and raise the company's valuation; second, raise the entry threshold as much as possible for other companies that want to get a piece of the pie.

As long as Zhang Chen's movie is released when most of the stocks in everyone's hands have been sold, there will be enough time for everyone to reap a profit that may not be earned even after making a movie for ten years.

If you are bolder and take a bearish view on your own company, you can make more money.

This guy Yige went through a lot of twists and turns today and finally told the truth.

If Zhang Chen hadn't insisted, he might have helped them make money without knowing it.

They want him to be the vanguard, but don't want to tell him the truth. This is really insidious.

However, Zhang Chen could also understand why he did this, he just wanted to escape first.

When you don't know how much stock will run away, try to keep as many people in the dark as possible and sell as many stocks as possible to avoid a stampede.

"Then let's discuss the company's IPO."

On March 3, a TV series was released in China and Southeast Asia - The Return of the Condor Heroes

This TV series is said to be the last small-screen work shot by world superstar Zhang Chen as an actor.

It may also be the last collaboration between him and his rumored girlfriend and fairy sister Liu Yifei.

With this kind of publicity, coupled with Zhang Chen's own fame and years of accumulation of Jin Yong's novels, this TV series was sought after by audiences in Southeast Asian countries when it first aired.

As soon as the TV series was aired, the ratings in some countries exceeded 20%. In China, it was directly bought out by TVB at a high price and broadcast during prime time.

An organization has done statistics and it is said that more than 5000 million people watched this TV series directly or indirectly.

"When I saw Zhang Chen and Liu Yifei working together before, I always said that the brother-sister relationship between the two was really enviable, but now when I see them showing their affection on the screen, why do I always feel that they are in a relationship at public expense?"

"You know what, Zhang Chen looks really handsome in ancient costume!"

"Among domestic male celebrities, only Zhang Chen can fight with Yanzu."

"The girl is as beautiful as Liu Yifei, and the boy is as handsome as Zhang Chen. This should be the highest praise for people's appearance, right?"

"Zhang Chen doesn't rely on his looks to make a living, his talent is his biggest reliance, right?"

"I really envy Yifei. She found a man who is rich, pretty, talented, and most importantly, has no scandals."

"Zhang Chen doesn't live like a rich man. How can a rich man hang himself on a tree at such a young age like him?"

"That's right. Which of the rich men I know doesn't have a bunch of women behind his back?"

"Compared to Cheng Long, who is also an internationally renowned actor with a rich love history, Zhang Chen is as pure as a little lamb."

"So, why hasn't Little Sheep returned to China yet? His own movie has already been released. I want my aunt to sign for me!"

Everyone was curious about why Zhang Chen, the male lead, disappeared when his TV series was being broadcast instead of coming out to promote his new drama.

It was not until a video from across the ocean flowed into China that Chinese people were interviewed and found out what had happened that prevented Zhang Chen from showing up when his new drama was aired.

"Facebook, the world's largest social platform, was officially listed on the Nasdaq on the 13th, U.S. time, with a total share capital of 23 billion shares and an issue price of US$17.4.

Only 10 minutes after the stock was issued, the share price reached US$18.27, triggering the US stock circuit breaker mechanism and suspending trading for 5 minutes.

Since then, market enthusiasm has not diminished, and Facebook's stock has continued to rise by 10%, triggering the circuit breaker mechanism again, and the stock's trading has been suspended for 10 minutes.

As of the close of the day, Facebook's stock price finally fell to $23.4, a single-day increase of nearly 34%."

Correspondingly, just one day later, Morning Glory Music (USA) was officially listed on the NASDAQ.

The total share capital is 12.5 billion shares and the issue price is US$22.4.

On the day of listing, the stock price rose by as much as 23%, eventually falling to US$27.6.

Someone did the math, based on Zhang Chen's 3.75% stake in Facebook and 4.9875% stake in Morning Light Music (USA).

He owns a total of approximately 8625 million shares of Facebook and 6234 million shares of Morning Glory Music (USA).

Based on the current stock prices of the two companies
Zhang Chen’s shares in Facebook are worth US$20.1825 billion, and his shares in Morning Glory Music (U.S.) are worth US$17.2058 billion.

Total, about 37.27 billion US dollars!
If we also take into account the nearly $50 billion worth of Disney shares held by Zhang Chen
Zhang Chen's personal wealth has reached nearly US$90 billion.

Many people know that in addition to the stocks of these three listed companies, Zhang Chen also has many physical industries in China, including but not limited to cinema chains, film and television cities, real estate and other projects.

There are also a series of other industries such as peripheral production factories and Hanfu production factories.

If I remember correctly, Zhang Chen is still a shareholder of Penguin. Although I don't know what the shareholding ratio is, I have counted all the wealth.
Perhaps, Zhang Chen’s total wealth has exceeded 100 billion US dollars!
Judging from the current Forbes list in 2005, it may not be as high as Li Jiacheng's 130 billion US dollars, but it is far more than the mainland's richest man Rong's 16.4 billion US dollars!
Even in the global rich list, Zhang Chen's wealth ranks among the top 30.

Perhaps this shock wasn't enough.

Another company in which Zhang Chen holds shares also started its public offering.

This time it is the CGT player that everyone is very familiar with.

However, this is different from CGT Technology, which holds shares in Facebook and Morning Music (U.S.), and is a separately spun-off subsidiary.

Even so, with more than 3500 million members worldwide, the market is optimistic.

According to the prospectus of CGT Player, in addition to all the major Hollywood film and television companies holding shares, Zhang Chen once again appeared on the list of shareholders, holding a 3% stake.
According to the prospectus, the total share capital is 13.5 billion shares, with 25% of the shares in circulation, and the price per share is calculated at US$12-15.

Zhang Chen owns 4050 million shares, currently worth approximately $5.5 million.

If CGT Player can achieve a 30% increase after its listing like Facebook and Morning Music (USA), Zhang Chen's wealth will once again see a significant leap.

Perhaps in a few months, the throne of the richest Chinese will fall under Zhang Chen's butt!
"Oh my god, Zhang Chen has quietly become the richest Chinese man?"

"I've always thought Zhang Chen was a singer, actor, and director. Now you tell me he's worth tens of billions, or US dollars?!!!!"

"I really envy everyone in the Morning Light Department. Now I finally understand why Zhang Chen provides such good benefits to his employees. It turns out that he really has a lot of money!"

"In the past, I scoffed at Zhang Chen's words '30 billion is a small amount of money', thinking that Zhang Chen was just trying to show off, but today I finally believe it. 30 billion RMB is at most the annual interest on Zhang Chen's wealth, right?"

"A fortune of 100 billion US dollars, but only 30 billion RMB in income per year? Superficial!"

"A few days ago, I saw Jerry Yan saying that when he was interviewed by CNN in a few days, he was afraid that his English was not good enough and he would be outdone by Zhang Chen. It's not just the English that matters. The difference between the two of them is huge in terms of wealth and status. I don't know what Jerry Yan is worried about."

"Don't even mention Jerry Yan, even Rain from South Korea was interviewed by CNN's 'Asian Celebrity Show'. I wanted to laugh when I saw Rain ranked first in the 'Most Influential Asian List'."

"No matter what, these two are just celebrities. Zhang Chen has long since transcended the category of celebrity and successfully become a capital. He is not someone these celebrities can mess with. I don't know what the point of these people coming here to mess with him is."

"What else could it be? The more powerful the person they are comparing themselves to, the more they can show off their status. Little do they know how ridiculous their behavior is in the eyes of ordinary people."

Zhang Chen's three companies went public one after another, and the wave of public opinion they triggered once again put Zhang Chen at the center of public opinion.

As part of his wealth was exposed, Zhang Chen also felt the change in the attitude of people around him.

Before it was respect.

Now, it's more of awe.

But for some people, it doesn't seem to make much difference.

“Leon, what right do you have to say that I’m not suitable!”

"Come on, why are you, a singer, auditioning here?"

"They said your movie is a musical, so why is it that a singer like me is not suitable?"

Zhang Chen felt a bit of a headache as he looked at Avril who looked indignant.

After he finished his company affairs these two days, he started looking for actors for auditions in the United States.

The audition was originally quite harmonious. No one knew where Avril got the news, but she just ran up to him and said she wanted to audition.

“Stop it. You’ve never acted in a play, so don’t join in the fun.” Zhang Chen rubbed his brows, feeling a headache.

"Everyone has a first time, right?" Avril snorted. "Everyone has their debut work. Why can't your music film be my debut work?"

"I you!" Zhang Chen didn't know what to say.

But out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Liu Yifei, who was holding a bag of potato chips and eating them with a snickering smile.

"Liu Qianqian!" Zhang Chen glared at Liu Yifei with gritted teeth, "Is it you?"

"Me?" Liu Yifei paused holding the potato chips and pointed at herself inexplicably, "What does this have to do with me?"

"Didn't you notify her to come?"

"No, no!" Liu Yifei shook her head frantically to deny it. "I just mentioned to her during a casual chat that your movie is a musical movie, and I wanted to learn from her."

"My mother is giving you extra lessons, and you still want to learn from her?" Zhang Chen didn't believe it.

"Of course!" Liu Yifei responded as a matter of course, "No matter how great Aunt Liu is, she can't sing everything, especially English songs."

"You really are good at making trouble for me!" Zhang Chen knocked the little girl's head helplessly, "You caused the trouble, so you have to solve it yourself."

After saying that, he ignored Avril who wanted to refute him and shouted directly to the door: "Next!"

But when the person outside came in
"Hi! Leon~"

"."

"Why aren't you talking? Is the audition over?"

"."

"Don't I have to audition?"

"Liu! Qian! Qian!" Zhang Chen threw the script on the table.

"Run, run, run!"

Seeing Zhang Chen's blushing face, Liu Yifei directly grabbed Avril and ran to Emma who was standing not far away with a curious look on her face.

She dragged the two of them out the door, fearing that they would be caught by Zhang Chen.

"This girl," Zhang Chen sighed helplessly, "Go on."

First it was Avril, then Emma.

The disruption caused by these two people really made Zhang Chen's mood fluctuate.

His face, which had been a little gloomy due to the fear of exposing his wealth, now had more expressions.

Although I don't know if the little girl did it on purpose, I still really thought it was fun.

In short, Zhang Chen was indeed in a much better mood after this incident.

In the past two days, his name appeared on various lists including finance, entertainment, and even power.

In the eyes of others, this is a piece of honor.

But in Zhang Chen's view, these are death warrants.

He, a Chinese, has accumulated so much wealth in the United States and was even put on the "World's Most Influential People List" by other nosy media.

The ranking actually surpassed .
　I'll just send you a big chapter of 8000 words. There seems to be some problems with Qidian's smart push notifications recently. It is said that there is no traffic even if more chapters are updated. It's hard to keep up!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)