A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

New York, Mattel headquarters.

Established 30 years ago, Mattel is now the world's largest toy conglomerate, owning IPs including Barbie, My Little Mary, Transformers, Cabbage Rollers, Hot Wheels, and more. It also owns the largest children's television network in the United States, the long-established American toy manufacturer Magic Baby, and has invested in multiple properties in Manhattan and securities of several listed companies (including Disney and Pearson). Its assets are extremely substantial.

Over the past thirty years, Mattel has had three CEOs, but Audrey Hepburn has remained the chairwoman of the board. This is not only because Audrey Hepburn was the founder of the company and owned 38.5% of the shares, but also because everyone knows that Audrey Hepburn played a crucial role in Mattel's success in key intellectual property areas.

Therefore, Audrey Hepburn maintained a firm grip on Mattel, and any CEO who tried to use his influence to threaten her position was quickly dismissed by the board.

About seven years ago, Audrey Hepburn's son, 'Victor Hepburn', joined Mattel as a director, further solidifying the company's position as a family business.

Chen Wenou (Victor Hepburn) did not parachute into Mattel Group; rather, he joined the Mattel Group family as the founder of the "cabbage doll" and began serving as a director of Mattel Group, so he has always been a powerful figure.

Today, Mattel's market capitalization has exceeded $100 billion, more than five times that of Disney.

in the office.

Audrey Hepburn was completely absorbed in looking at the information in the tower. Although she already knew that her husband was omnipotent, she was still amazed at how he had managed to do it when she saw this information about Western fantasy literature called "Harry Potter".

Recently, her husband gave her the information about "Harry Potter" so that Mattel could first release it as a comic book, then publish it as a book, and eventually make it into a movie series, gradually developing the value of the entire IP.

Mattel has abundant resources for 'comic creation', so completing this is not difficult. However, this material is only equivalent to an outline plus a detailed outline. If you want it to be presented better, the cooperation of the writer is naturally required.

Therefore, Audrey Hepburn planned to invite British writers to participate in the creation, while American cartoonists would be responsible for the artwork, integrating resources to create a collaborative project.

This is not a difficult task for Mattel, after all, the Little Mary and the Transformers series are very successful.

"Chairman"

Call her "Mom"

Chen Wenou walked in and was immediately scolded by his mother. He quickly smiled and said, "Mom, what's making you so happy?"

Audrey Hepburn smiled and said, "It's nothing! We've just acquired another big IP, and Mattel is going to focus on developing it."

Chen Wenou was surprised. It seemed that his father had not run out of supplies and could still provide them.

"I also have some good news to share."

"Tell me"

Chen Wenou dared not lie to his mother and said, "The Disney Company is being hostilely acquired by Steinberg, Milken and others from Wall Street. Steinberg is supported by Drexel Burnham Lambert, the company behind Milken, and announced that he holds 11.2% of Disney's shares and will publicly acquire 37% of Disney's stock at a price of $4.28 per share. Steinberg also announced that once completed, he will spin off the Disney Company."

This is clearly a hostile takeover; they not only plan to acquire the company through open market transactions but also intend to spin it off.

Audrey Hepburn's years in the business world naturally revealed that this was indeed an opportunity for them. After all, Mattel Group had always held a 4.99% stake in Disney, which was actually losing money, but it was ultimately her husband's decision.

"What do you think?"

Now that her eldest son has grown up, Audrey Hepburn also has plans to promote Chen Wen-ou to chairman of Mattel Group, thus completing the layout of the family business.

Chen Wen-ou said, "There are more possibilities for cooperation between Mattel and Disney, such as us producing some Disney merchandise. In addition, my father has long been optimistic about Disney, so my idea is to take this opportunity to become a major shareholder of Disney and establish influence on the board of directors."

Audrey Hepburn nodded and said, "Your idea is not wrong! However, do you think this hostile takeover attempt on Wall Street will fail?"

Chen Wenou stated confidently, "With us joining, Disney will naturally be saved. Without us, however, that's uncertain!"

“Okay, I support your decision. You will represent Mattel and contact Disney’s board of directors. Tell them that we are acting in good faith, while they are acting in bad faith.”

"Yes, Mom!"

Chen Wenou did not leave afterward. Instead, he went to his mother's desk and reached for the Harry Potter materials. Audrey Hepburn did not stop him.

She added, "Your father not only gave us this information, but also hoped that we would acquire a film company to prepare for the future production of the Harry Potter film series."

Chen Wenou said with great interest, "Coca-Cola's Columbia Pictures or oil tycoon M. Davis's Fox Film Corporation are relatively easy to acquire."

Like his mother, he holds British and American citizenship, and Chen Wenou also holds Austrian citizenship, meaning he holds citizenship in three countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, and Austria.

"Let's settle the Disney deal first, then we'll prepare to acquire the TV station. Funding isn't a problem; at worst, we can sell some of our Manhattan properties to other real estate companies. Your father had Mattel invest in properties back then because he didn't want to distribute all the profits, but rather preserve his strength."

Chen Wenou said with an admiring expression, "The key is that the market value of these properties has also increased a lot, and the annual rate of return is also very considerable."

In 1980, Walt's son-in-law Miller took over as president of the Disney Company, but he clashed with Roy E. Disney, the company's director and son of Roy Sr. (Walt's nephew), and the company was once in danger of being acquired.

With external enemies looming large, Disney's board members have had to hold frequent board meetings to discuss countermeasures.

Disney has 17 board members, making it a board-controlled company where many decisions require voting. Of course, if the board approves a new CEO, it shows considerable trust, but this isn't absolute.

Caldwell Jones, a Disney board member with a background as a seasoned lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions and compliance, began by saying, "For the American people, Disney is not just an ordinary publicly traded company, but a symbol of their spirit. So, to defeat Steinberg, we must fully utilize this public opinion!"

Roy immediately perked up and asked, "How exactly do we do it?"

Caldwell Jones said, "That is to use public opinion to drive up the stock price and make the other party's offer uncompetitive. The specific method is that we announce that we will borrow $20 billion to acquire a smart company and a greeting card making company. Disney will then become a highly indebted 'poison pill,' but the stock price will inevitably soar—this is exactly what we want to use as bait to make Steinberg sell his shares and cash out."

This move was met with enthusiastic approval from the majority of the board members.

Then, Roy Jr. said, "This move does have a chance of succeeding. I also want to tell you something else: Mattel's executive director, Victor Hepburn, contacted me and offered to help us stop Steinberg's acquisition of Disney; at the same time, he also told me that Mattel owns 4.99% of Disney's stock."

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked.

Since it doesn't exceed 5%, there's no need to disclose it. But what many people don't know is that Mattel has quietly acquired nearly 5% of Disney's shares. What is their intention behind this?
A director named Everett Holmes said, "Is Mattel also going to acquire Disney?"

He is the owner of a consumer company and a senior director of Disney.

Roy shook his head and said, "What they mean is that Disney and Mattel have many opportunities to cooperate. They are willing to make a strategic investment in Disney, but will not directly participate in Disney's operations. Of course, the conditions are not absolute. They want to have three board seats, while keeping the current number of seats unchanged."

For a moment, the directors in the conference room looked at each other in bewilderment; it was clear that this condition was unusual.

Of the 17 seats on Disney's board of directors, only two are held by the Disney family; the remaining directors are each from their own faction. Furthermore, the two directors on Disney's board—Roy Jr. and Miller—have a very bad relationship.

Caldwell Jones said, "If it's a strategic investment, there shouldn't be any major problems. We can use the high price they pay to buy the shares that Steinberg wants to sell, thus avoiding a sharp drop in the market price due to their massive cashing out (i.e., taking over the shares). As for the board seats, I think giving up one seat is the most we can do, so that there will be opportunities for cooperation between the two sides in the future."

"Then let them come and talk! We need to take the initiative, after all, we already have a way to deal with Steinberg."

Yes, the Hepburn family is quite famous in Europe and America. Mattel is one of the best-performing companies in the last thirty years, a toy company with a market value of $100 billion, which is hard to believe. In addition, the Hepburn family was once the "owner" of Monaco, and Audrey Hepburn's beauty and elegance made her a jewel of European high society.

Of course, Audrey Hepburn was also controversial, namely that she had a child out of wedlock, and the identity of the father remained a mystery (only a few people in high society knew some of it).

When Chen Wenou arrived at Disney with his entourage, his handsome mixed-race appearance surprised many people. He had about six or seven parts Western ancestry, while the rest looked like Asian ancestry.

In the conference room.

After hearing the bargaining among the Disney board members, Chen Wenou said directly, "If we acquire Steinberg's 12% stake, we will have a 17% stake in Disney. So, three board seats are not a lot, since Disney has 17 board members."

"Haha," Caldwell Jones laughed, "Mr. Vidocq, you should have seen our Disney response plan these past two days. So far, it's working very well. Disney's stock has started to rise, and Steinberg's hostile takeover has been thwarted by us."

Chen Wenou calmly said, "I have indeed noticed that. But I think if Steinberg cashes out at a high price on the market, it will inevitably cause Disney's stock price to fall again, back to the $2 era. At that time, Disney will still be a sheep, not a wolf, and will still become a target of Wall Street. But if it cooperates with our Mattel Group, the result will be completely different. At least no one can hostilely acquire Disney again."

The meeting room fell silent after these words were spoken.

The young man's words brought them back to reality.

Their poison pill plan is nothing more than a gimmick to inflate the stock price and force Steinberg to cash out. But once this 'gimmick' is exposed, Disney's stock price will plummet again, and then how will they deal with it?

At this point, Roy Jr. stepped forward and said, "Two board seats. Then Disney and Mattel can strengthen their cooperation in the future, since we do have many areas for collaboration."

The other directors remained silent, clearly agreeing to the compromise.

Chen Wen-ou doesn't place that much importance on Disney. After all, his father's recent new intentions—Harry Potter and the acquisition of one of the eight major film studios—fully demonstrate that Disney is indeed just one part of a strategic investment.

So he quickly conceded, "Okay."

At this point, Mattel was essentially acquiring Disney stock at $4.28 per share, which on the surface appeared to be a loss for them.

However, from a long-term perspective, Disney will experience significant growth under the leadership of its new president, Michael Eisner.

Moreover, Mattel has two board seats, which means it has already infiltrated Disney's board of directors.

Overall, Mattel Group played the role of a 'white knight' this time and successfully achieved Chen Guangliang's original goals, which is quite worthwhile.

Disney's stock price quickly soared to $4.88 per share, so Steinberg's plan to acquire the company at $4.28 per share naturally fell through.

Faced with this situation, Steinberg also considered retreating. At this time, Disney and Mattel took the initiative to contact him.

The negotiations went smoothly, with Mattel acquiring a 12% stake in Disney for $3.58 million, a price significantly lower than the market value. Simply put, if Steinberg wanted to cash out on the market, it would inevitably cause a major crash.

Steinberg's acceptance of Mattel's acquisition offer resulted in a huge profit of $5800 million, which can be considered a very worthwhile gain.

The three-way deal was quickly disclosed, and as expected, Disney's stock began to collapse. After all, American sentiment can't put food on the table.

Mattel Group.

The board of directors had no objection to Chen Wen-ou's move this time, after all, the 'Hepburn family' had long been the soul of Mattel Group.

Just as no one can shake the influence of the Disney family as long as Walt Disney is alive, Roy Jr. now represents the Disney family and also has a great deal of influence within Disney.

Of course, this influence will gradually fade.

Conversely, Mattel's board of directors is very excited about the newly launched Harry Potter project, considering it Mattel's fifth major intellectual property.

Therefore, the board meeting of Mattel was peaceful, and Audrey Hepburn took the opportunity to raise a major issue.

"I propose that Victor become the CEO of Mattel and lead Mattel to even greater heights!"

Upon hearing this, no one was too surprised.

In Mattel's 30-year history, the chairman has dismissed professional managers twice, not because they were not good enough, but because their term of office could not exceed ten years. There was even one who was dismissed by the chairman because of his excessive influence.

The current CEO has obviously been in the position for eight years, and with the chairman's son now mature, this topic is naturally quite normal.

"I agree! But I have a question: Mr. Vidocq also owns the European Red Bull brand. Does that affect his work?"

Chen Wenou immediately said, "I already have someone in mind for the new CEO of Red Bull Europe!"

The implication is that his focus will be on Mattel Group, and he will only serve as the chairman or controlling shareholder of Red Bull Europe.

Originally, Mattel Group and Red Bull Europe were the businesses that Chen Wen-ou was supposed to inherit.

"I agree"

It was quickly passed unanimously.

After all, everyone knows how capable Chen Wen-ou is. He first introduced a beverage from Hong Kong, which has now become a heavyweight beverage in Europe and America. At the same time, Chen Wen-ou only took two years to turn Cabbage Baby into an IP with annual sales of $1 billion.

These achievements fully demonstrate that Chen Wen-ou is very capable!

After the meeting, Chen Wenou went to the chairman's office.

"mom"

Audrey Hepburn nodded and said, "The funds for this acquisition of Disney's shares didn't cause Mattel much trouble. So, Mattel, which you lead, has two goals next. The first is one of the eight major studios, with Columbia and Fox being the top choices; the second is Pearson in the UK. It's time to conduct a review of that as well. If we can acquire them, that would be best. If not, we should at least become a major shareholder and an important force on the board of directors, just like Disney. Both goals need to be pursued as soon as possible. In terms of funding, besides loans, we need to sell Manhattan properties, of course, to our own people."

"Okay, I will definitely achieve these two goals!"

Audrey Hepburn said with satisfaction, "Your father said that Mattel Group and Red Bull Europe are equally important. Now that you have to shoulder both responsibilities, you really need to be serious."

I believe I am capable of doing this.

"it is good"

Although Red Bull Europe's influence will gradually increase, Chen Guangliang will not allow it to go public.

Mattel Group, on the other hand, intends to become the public wealth of the three families, and its future market value will certainly not be low.

However, Chen Wen'ou already has two sons and a daughter, and his wife is still pregnant, so he will not lack heirs in the future. (End of this chapter)