Restart life

Chapter 507, page 0495: [Will you appoint a junior employee as the CEO of the US subsidiary?]

In early September, Tudou.com's stock price had already fallen below $5.

Those venture capitalists simply gave up and stopped holding meetings to discuss any issues, including the merger plan with Youku.

Because Youku can also ask for exorbitant prices.

Venture capitalists have a simple idea: let's just wait it out until the US debt crisis ends, and maybe the stock price will go up.

A good upward trend is naturally a cause for celebration.

If the price increases very slowly, we'll discuss solutions. A merger with Youku is negotiable, as is selling to Chen Guiliang; they won't act impulsively.

Chen Guiliang's real goal is the 20% stake in Tudou.com that has been publicly issued!

When the price dropped to one or two dollars, he went straight to the secondary market to buy up the bargains. This was much easier to buy than stocks held by venture capitalists.

……

Las Vegas, at the blackjack table.

Chen Guiliang casually tipped the dealer some chips, and the beautiful dealer immediately smiled at him with her chest puffed out.

A bald man was sitting next to him.

"Baldy" isn't quite accurate; it should be said that after becoming bald, he shaved his head completely. His forehead and the top of his head are shiny, while stubble of hair has grown around them.

This bald man is named Ophir Lupp, and he currently works for CAA in Hollywood.

CAA is a talent agency that represents big names like Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. Zhang Yimou and Zhao Yanzi also signed with this company when developing their careers in the United States.

Ophir Lupp is certainly a talent agent, but he's America's top "star game producer intermediary," meaning he connects top game producers with their networks.

THQ wanted to poach the creative director of Assassin's Creed, so they asked Ophir Lupp to step in and successfully persuaded him to switch jobs.

“Newbies always have good luck at the gambling table,” Ophir said to Chen Guiliang with a smile.

Looking at his nearly empty chips, Chen Guiliang nodded in agreement with the theory: "Clearly, you're a veteran. I guess you might need a commission."

Ophir said, "You can't even wait a week, flying straight to the casino to see me. You seem to be in a real hurry. So, tell me, which star game producer do you want to poach?"

Chen Guiliang said, "I want to start a game company, but I'm not satisfied with any of the CEOs that headhunters have found for me."

Ophir said, "You've come to the wrong person. I only have resources for game producers, not for poaching executives from game companies."

“I believe you can do it,” Chen Guiliang said.

Ophir asked, "My fees are very high."

Chen Guiliang said, "If it's worth the price, it's not expensive."

"My luck has been terrible today, I'll play one last exciting round." Too lazy to exchange his cash, Ophir left the blackjack table and bet all his remaining chips on roulette.

As expected, they lost everything.

Back at the hotel, Ophir quickly reviewed You Ke's information and inquired about Chen Guiliang's requirements for talent.

Ophir bluntly asked, "Would you like to work as an executive at Blizzard?"

"You can dig it up?" Chen Guiliang asked in surprise.

Ophir said, "We can't poach those with equity stakes, but we can try others. But poaching them is very expensive, often requiring annual salaries of ten to twenty million US dollars."

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "You should still try to earn a few million dollars a year."

Ophir named several candidates, but Chen Guiliang was not satisfied with any of them. The main reason was that Chen Guiliang wanted talent who understood how to manage MOBA esports games, but there was a shortage of such talent in the United States, and those he liked were difficult to recruit.

Ophir was practically a human machine, his mind brimming with all sorts of game industry talent. He racked his brains: "How about John Yokoyama? He's the vice president of PopCap, with experience in developing and managing high-quality games, and a proven track record of stable business operations. He also has cross-cultural management experience. Your subsidiary should have a team that knows about China, right?"

"Judging from this surname, he's Japanese?" Chen Guiliang asked.

John Yokoyama translates to 横山约翰 (Yokoyama John).

Ophir corrected him, saying, "He is a Japanese American."

Chen Guiliang doesn't discriminate against Japanese Americans, but PopCap Games makes casual games. Having the vice president of a casual gaming company become the CEO of an esports gaming company seems a bit far-fetched.

Chen Guiliang of PopCap is very familiar with the company, as he is the developer of games such as Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled, and Zuma.

Chen Guiliang simply snatched the "Plants vs. Zombies" game from this company.

The mobile game "Happy Match" launched by Youke also has some plagiarism of "Bejeweled" and was even sued by PopCap in a cross-border lawsuit last year.

"Let's get to know each other first," Chen Guiliang said.

Ophir then asked, "Do you need other executives?"

Chen Guiliang said, "I also need someone with expertise in publicity and promotion."

"Mark Skaggs, the vice president of Zynga, is known as the king of social games. His products defined the Facebook gaming era and currently have hundreds of millions of active users. He would also be suitable as a CEO, COO, or CTO. He is good at managing large teams of hundreds of people and is also proficient in marketing and publicity. He is a well-rounded talent," said Ophir.

"Just tell me how much," Chen Guiliang said, not holding out much hope, because this guy was too awesome. Ophir said, "A base salary and bonus of several million dollars a year will suffice. The signing fee will also need to be several million dollars. And we'll need to provide stock options worth at least thirty million dollars."

Chen Guiliang said, "Too expensive, let's get another one."

Ophir said, "His deputy."

……

Ophir is really good at poaching people; he managed to get Johan Yokoyama to meet him in just a few days.

John Yokoyama greeted Chen Guiliang warmly: "Mr. Chen, I've heard so much about you. Your work, Plants vs. Zombies, is fantastic!"

"Not at all, not at all," Chen Guiliang said, overjoyed.

The original designer of Plants vs. Zombies was actually a Chinese man working for John Yokoyama.

Because the game was snatched away by Chen Guiliang, PopCap's profits did not explode, and therefore it did not attract EA's acquisition offer.

This might not be a bad thing for PopCap.

Because EA is a killer of game companies, any game company acquired by EA will inevitably suffer the fate of having its executives fired, its team disbanded, and its rapid decline.

After a few pleasantries, we got down to business.

Chen Guiliang asked, "What are your thoughts on MOBA games, Mr. Yokoyama?"

John Yokoyama said, "I've looked into it, but my understanding isn't deep. I mainly work on casual games. If Mr. Chen's US subsidiary mainly operates MOBA games, I'll need an assistant who is proficient in that type of game. As for other tasks, I think I can handle them."

“Mr. Chen’s company in China, in particular, owns a large number of web games, mobile games, and PC mini-games, which are now sold to the United States through distributors. If all of them were handed over to the US subsidiary and I were in charge of them, I could earn Mr. Chen several times the profit he has now.”

"As far as I know, the US distribution contract for Plants vs. Zombies expired a long time ago, and it's been renewed every two years since then. Once the contract expires, if you hand the game over to me, I can make over $1 million in profit annually in the US. Or even more!"

"And then there's Minecraft. This game has been poorly managed by its distributors. If I were to manage it, it could bring Mr. Chen huge profits as well!"

Chen Guiliang believed what this guy said because the man directly admitted that he didn't understand MOBA games and kept talking about casual games.

John Yokoyama continued, “Popularity’s employees come from different skin colors and ethnicities, and I can work with them amicably. If Mr. Chen sends a team to China, I can also work with them amicably. I have a wealth of experience in managing different ethnic groups.”

John Yokoyama speaks and acts with a distinctly American style, completely unaware of the concept of humility. He's been almost entirely assimilated by America.

"How much annual salary do you want?" Chen Guiliang asked.

John Yokoyama said, "My annual salary is at least $300 million, and I also want stock options from the US subsidiary. We can discuss the specific amount of bonuses and stock options later. I can forgo the signing bonus. Regarding games like Plants vs. Zombies and Minecraft, I can sign a performance-based agreement; if the targets are not met, I will forgo the stock options."

Leaving aside MOBA games, what Chen Guiliang wants to promote is precisely "Oracle Era".

But John Yokoyama dared to sign a performance-based agreement, confident that he could make Plants vs. Zombies generate over $1 million in annual profits in the United States. This greatly tempted Chen Guiliang.

In that case, send someone from the Youke headquarters to give John Yokoyama a deputy to be in charge of the promotion and operation of "Oracle Era" in the United States.

This deputy sent from China also needs to hire an American partner, otherwise he will most likely encounter problems adapting to the environment.

Chen Guiliang stayed in the United States for more than a month, personally witnessing the establishment of the framework of the American subsidiary before leaving.

By the time he returned to China, Tudou.com's stock price had fallen to around $3.

Youku is actually in a bad situation too.

Youku's IPO price was $12.8, but it surged to $27 at the open and closed at $33.44 on its first day of trading. This is the best-performing Chinese stock on its first day of trading since Baidu.

After that, Youku's stock price rose all the way up.

However, the US debt crisis hit in August, causing the stock to plummet to its lowest price since its IPO at $25.79. Youku continued to decline in September, reaching $15.20 by the time Chen Guiliang returned to China.

If Youku's stock price continues to fall, it will soon be close to its IPO price.

"You're finally back!"

Zhou Guangping and Ye Peng came over with smiles and shook hands.

Chen Guiliang said, "I will never forget the mobile phone new product launch event."

Ye Peng said, "It's not just about mobile phones, but also our tablets. Steve Jobs announced his resignation a few days ago, which attracted global attention, and domestic media also took the opportunity to compare HarmonyOS with Apple. If we release new products at this time, the attention will be very high."

Zhou Guangping asked curiously, "Is Steve Jobs really seriously ill? Boss, you've returned from the United States. Have you heard anything from there?"

"The American media has been making various speculations, but there has been no official news." Chen Guiliang did not want to say more about this matter.

Steve Jobs has become so thin he looks like a bamboo pole, and he will pass away next month.

The new HarmonyOS phone must be released first, otherwise it will be difficult to get Apple to play the victim card.

Apple held a new product launch event the day before, and even invited Steve Jobs, who was bedridden, to watch it via video link. Jobs died the next day.

The media hyped the iPhone 4S as Steve Jobs's last masterpiece, causing countless Apple fans and casual observers to weep and rush to buy it.

It's difficult to handle.

(End of this chapter)