Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 285: There are too many wolves and too little meat. You want me to cut the meat? Sorry, I can't do it!

After arriving at the company, Link read the newspaper for a while, and then called several senior executives including Michael Leeson, Joe Fillem, Jon Gordon, and Liu Xiaoli to a meeting.

In view of the fact that there are many rumors in the circle at present, Link asked them to do a good job in ideological work among the company's employees, regardless of whether the seven major film studios want to suppress Guess Pictures or whether the company's second round of financing can be successful.

What everyone should do is concentrate on handling the company's work, including the promotion and distribution of the new film, the work arrangements for next year, and the participation of "The Butterfly Effect" in the Berlin International Film Festival early next year, so as to avoid mistakes in these important matters.

Leave the rest to him.

Michael Rison and others said they understood.

While in the meeting, Link received a call from Greg Davis, chief investor at Vanguard Capital.

Greg Davis told him that because his offer was too high, Vanguard Capital's investment department did not intend to participate in the next round of financing after research.

However, if he is willing to lower the price, he can reduce the market value of Guess the Movie to below 8 million, and at the same time take out more than 50% of the shares for financing.

He is confident that he can convince the investment department of Pioneer Capital to continue to participate in the second round of financing.

Shortly after Greg called, Paul Hankerson from Morgan Investment Company also called and said that Morgan was giving up this round of investment for reasons similar to those of Vanguard Capital.

Paul Hankerson said that the shares he handed over were too small, which prevented many large investment companies from participating, resulting in uneven distribution.

Investment companies that have not benefited will suppress Guess the Picture Company through the seven major film studios.

This is bound to affect the development of Guess.

Paul Hankerson suggested that he put up more shares for financing. With more capital parties involved, everyone would benefit, and other investment companies would no longer target Guess the Picture Company.

Link understood what the two meant.

There are too many wolves and not enough meat to go around.

Let him be the scapegoat.

Link told the two that 16 billion was the lowest offer and it would not be lowered any further, and 30% of the shares in the second round of financing was also the limit.

These two bottom lines will never change.

It doesn’t matter if they don’t want to continue raising funds, guess what, the film industry is in good shape and growing very fast, and there is no shortage of investors.

"Link, think about it again."

Greg Davis was unwilling to give up and began to persuade him, "Guess What Pictures has made too much money in the past two years, and before Guess What Pictures, this money originally belonged to the Seven Major Pictures and the shareholders of the Seven Major Groups.

If you don't accept their investment, it will anger them and they will impose sanctions on Guess What Pictures through the Big Seven.

As one of the company's investors, Vanguard Capital does not want to see this happen, but those capitals are too powerful for Vanguard Capital to resist. Guess what, the development of the film industry will definitely encounter more resistance and its profits will decline.

On the contrary, by accepting more capital financing, Guess Pictures has gained support in terms of funds and channels, and its development speed has accelerated.

In the long run, lowering your bid and increasing your financing will actually be better for you and Guess What.”

"I put out 30% for financing, which is a lot."

Link said.

"But the price was too high and no one would accept the offer."

"Greg, I really don't understand your thinking. A company that the seven major film studios regard as their mortal enemy and need to work together to deal with, a company that all Wall Street investment companies are optimistic about and scramble to raise funds for, how can a market value of 16 billion be high? In fact, the market value of 16 billion was raised with the help of the seven major film studios. If they didn't value Guess What? so much, I wouldn't even know it was so valuable."

"Uh~"

Greg Davis wanted to refute, but found that what Link said made sense.

The fact that Guess What Pictures was targeted by the seven Hollywood giants and snatched up by Wall Street investment companies just goes to show its value.

At this time, even people who don't understand the market will raise the price.

"Link, although what you said is very true, have you ever thought about the consequences of going to war with the Big Seven? The consequence is that Guess What Movies will go bankrupt under the suppression of the Big Seven."

"Is this a serious consequence? If I have the ability to create Guess the Movies, which ranks first in annual box office within three years, then I have the ability to create another one. Do you believe it?"

Link said confidently.

Greg Davis grinned. This was the fact and he couldn't help but believe it. The development and growth of Guess What Pictures relied heavily on Link's personal financial resources and abilities. Link was the absolute core of the company. As long as he was there, even if Guess What Pictures went bankrupt, it wouldn't be a big problem.

"Link, you are right, but I still hope you can lower your offer. How about 12 billion US dollars? If you are willing to lower it to 12 billion, I am 80% sure I can convince the investors."

"My initial offer was 18 billion to 20 billion. Out of sincerity, I lowered the offer to 16 billion. 16 billion is the reserve price, and I will never give in again."

Link's tone was firm, and he continued slowly, "In addition, given the current complicated situation, the company needs to be prepared to face the pressure from the seven major film companies, and it also needs more funds. To be on the safe side, we will not distribute dividends this year, leaving sufficient funds for filming, promoting and distributing movies. At the same time, in order to improve the company's competitiveness, we plan to acquire several more film production and distribution companies."

"Ah, Link, you can't do this. The company made over 10 billion this year. million is enough for production and promotion costs, and the rest can be distributed as dividends."

Greg Davis said quickly.

“You’re right, but considering the current complicated situation in Hollywood and the suppression from the seven major studios, the studio is at risk of bankruptcy at any time. We must leave sufficient funds to guard against the suppression from the seven major studios.

Greg, you are a Wall Street investment banker, you are well versed in business, and you should understand my approach. "

"me."

Farke! !
Greg Davis covered his phone and cursed loudly, his curse was particularly ugly. Dividends are dividends paid by a stock company to investors every year according to a certain proportion of the stock share out of its profits.

According to the normal dividend distribution procedure, after the box office revenue is recovered at the end of the year, the company will distribute dividends to shareholders in proportion in the next few months.

Last year, Guess What Pictures made a profit of approximately $10 billion, leaving $4 million as cost and taking out $6 million for dividends. With its 12% stake, Leading Capital was able to receive more than $ million.

When they acquired shares of Guess the Movies last year, they only spent 6000 million, which was equivalent to a one-year payback period.

This was a super cost-effective investment and also the most brilliant one he made during his tenure as Chief Investment Officer of Vanguard Capital. It has now been used by many companies as a classic investment case for study and research.

But now Link said that there would be no dividends this year and that he would use 10 billion in reserve funds to deal with the seven major film studios.

One billion in funding, this number is too exaggerated. Even the Fortune 10 companies don’t have such a huge financial reserve.

However, Link wants to use this money to compete with the Big Seven Studios.

Greg Davis was so angry that he gnashed his teeth. Vanguard Capital is not only a shareholder of Guess What Pictures, it also owns large shares in companies such as Disney, Time Warner, and 20th Century Fox, ranking in the top five on major boards of directors.

Link's use of $10 billion to fight against the Big Seven film studios is like the left hand fighting the right hand for Vanguard Capital.

No matter who wins, Vanguard Capital will be the loser.

Greg Davis was very angry about this and wanted to scold Link and tell him to distribute the dividends quickly.

But Link is the founder and major shareholder of Guess What Pictures and has absolute power on the board of directors.

He said the company will pay dividends whenever it wants, and if he said no dividends will be paid for the time being, any objection from other shareholders will be invalid.

If Link delays the dividends and tampers with the accounts and does not pay them dividends, it would not be easy for them to investigate.

Sometimes, in order to take care of Link's mood, they have to look at Link's expression.

This is precisely why they are eager to take control of the board of directors of Guess the Movie.

If the board of directors of Guess the Movies is controlled by an investment company, they can arrange for professional managers to manage the company as well. Whether it is the company's finances, film project costs, or annual dividends, the investment company can participate in the supervision.

Doing so can best protect the interests of the investment company.

If Link continues to be in charge of Guess the Movies, he can not only strangle the shareholders over dividends, but also take advantage of the opportunity to make movies to eat up those dividends. For example, when directing the company's movies, he can take the opportunity to demand extremely high salaries and box office shares, or offer extremely high salaries to his women.

Investment companies cannot intervene in such matters.

Now that Link heard that Vanguard Capital would not participate in the financing, he used this method to counter Vanguard Capital, and Greg Davis was so angry that he laughed.

Link, this bastard, is playing with fire.

If the investors under Vanguard Capital get angry about this incident and support the seven major film studios in suppressing Guess What?, or sell their shares in Guess What?, then Guess What? will definitely be removed from Hollywood.

Greg wanted to use this incident to threaten Link, but when he opened his mouth, he thought of what Link said. Link said that he was not afraid of competition, and it didn't matter even if Guess Pictures went bankrupt in the competition with the Big Seven Studios.

These words sound like they were spoken in anger.

But it’s also true.

Link is not an ordinary person, he is a billionaire, worth billions of dollars, the movies he makes are all hits, and if Guess What Movies goes bankrupt, he can indeed start a new one.

In the end, Link will lose hundreds of millions, and they will also lose tens of millions.

Link lost his own money, so the impact is not significant.

And what they lose is their clients’ money, with serious consequences.

Thinking of this, Greg Davis suppressed his temper that was about to explode, and persuaded Link calmly, saying that he would continue to lobby the company's top management to persuade them to continue to support Guess What Pictures.

"Okay, Gray, it's a deal. Once Guess Pictures gets through this difficult time, we will definitely reward shareholders for their support with generous dividends."

After hanging up the phone, Link smiled coldly. These bastards got the benefits but didn't want to contribute, and they wanted more benefits. There is no such a cheap thing in the world. Their shares will be diluted in the next round of financing.

Not long after, he received another call from Paul Hankerson of Morgan Investments.

Morgan Investments is one of the top five largest investment companies on Wall Street and also owns shares in the groups behind the seven major film studios.

Paul Hankerson had a similar attitude to Greg Davis, asking him to lower the price and put up more shares for financing.

Link's answer was the same, and he also said that he would not distribute dividends this year to cope with the suppression from the seven major film studios.

Paul Hankerson also suppressed his resentment and said he would continue to lobby within the company to persuade them to support Guess What Pictures.

Link also expressed his gratitude.

After hanging up the phone, Link continued the meeting and asked Joe Fillem, the vice president in charge of the company's development planning, to investigate other film companies and consider acquisition if they found suitable targets, so as to improve the company's production and distribution capabilities.

At the same time, we arranged for people to contact Pixar Animation Studios and Blue Sky Animation Studios to ask them if they had any plans to sell.

This year, Disney's animated film "The Lion King" grossed $700 million to $800 million worldwide, demonstrating the commercial potential of animated films.

If the two companies are willing to cooperate, Guess Pictures can also take the opportunity to enter the field of animation production.

(End of this chapter)