Reborn in 2010, the AI ​​in my mind is too powerful.

The night Cook returned from San Francisco, Chen Yiran issued the order: the acquisition of Warner would no longer follow the slow, deliberate path taken by management. Iger and Cook split up; Cook directed Apple's strategy department to contact minority shareholders who had long wanted to exit, while the other sought support from major institutional shareholders.

Even in a mega-corporation like Warner, where the company is consistently performing well, there will always be people who want to sell. Some funds are maturing and need to be liquidated, some clients are under pressure to redeem their funds, and some have simply made enough profit or are unable to make any more, so they prefer to convert their investments into cash for security.

These people were waiting for an offer, and when Apple's representatives contacted them, the response was surprisingly consistent: they would sell as long as the price was right.

Vanguard, BlackRock, State Street, Capital Group, Fidelity, and T. Rowe Price—these firms hold a significant share of Warner Bros.' top positions. Iger, as the head of Disney, began negotiating with each of them, painting a perfect picture of their future as Hollywood kings.

The core message is this: don't support the current board and management's reckless actions. If Bix really wants to implement a poison pill plan, don't join in the clamor and try to drive up prices; that's detrimental to unity. The benefits of a merger are definitely greater. Ideally, Bix should be replaced directly by the board.

The various institutions made no promises, but they also did not directly oppose the acquisition, basically adopting a wait-and-see attitude.

Of course, the Warner board of directors was not idle either. Warner's general counsel, Paul Capuchau, formally proposed a poison pill plan at the board meeting, saying it was to prepare a contingency plan in advance in response to a possible forced takeover.

Warner Bros.' top management lacks foresight, is prone to making reckless decisions, and has committed a series of textbook-worthy blunders. Internal strife among executives has undermined the company's success, leading to the departure of Legendary Pictures, missing out on HBO's independent streaming service, and rushing to copy Marvel without having a visionary leader like Kevin Feige. They are known as the most arrogant management team in Hollywood.

Those who are truly capable but incapable of internal strife have already been forced out.

Jeff Robinoff, a titan in the film industry, was known for his keen eye for talent at Warner Bros., having spearheaded projects like *The Dark Knight*, *Inception*, and *The Hangover*. However, he was ousted from the company after the head of the film division retired.

Warner Bros.' attitude towards its allies is even more outrageous. Legendary Pictures has been Warner Bros.' ally for eight years and its most important investment partner, co-producing many blockbusters. However, Warner Bros. is too arrogant. They actually expect their partners to be just pure money bags, and not to be mentioned at all, which directly makes the relationship between the two sides extremely tense.

Those who remained at Warner were all experts in internal power struggles; they felt they were best suited to fighting takeovers. They weren't good at running a business, but they considered themselves experts in political infighting. They didn't devise many strategies, only a preliminary plan to dilute equity should a new external shareholder make a takeover bid.

They didn't hide anything; they directly spread the word in Hollywood, adopting a prickly stance, believing that this would scare Apple away.

To their surprise, Apple didn't leave and continued to communicate slowly.

Moreover, a competitor suddenly appeared out of nowhere, throwing a price tag at them without even communicating with them, and setting the price at 80 billion US dollars.

The offer came from Rupert Murdoch, the world's leading newspaper magnate, News Corporation.

Murdoch has been making headlines recently. In June, he ended his marriage with Wendi Deng, although Deng only received a few tens of millions of US dollars plus a courtyard house and a few shops in Beijing.

However, during a hearing in the UK in 2011, when a stranger came up and threw a plate at Murdoch, even Murdoch's second son was stunned.

Wendi Deng's athletic genes awakened, and the former main attacker of the Xuzhou No. 1 Middle School volleyball team stood up and slapped the man across the face.

This slap directly established Wendi Deng's position in Murdoch's life. Later, Murdoch's children engaged in various open and covert struggles. Wendi Deng's two daughters were too young to participate in these struggles, but Murdoch never forgot them and eventually left them a substantial trust asset.

In July, News Corp. completed a stunning breakup, with Murdoch spinning off the declining publishing business and allowing 7st Century Fox to go public cleanly, giving him a more concentrated portfolio than before.

Fox Broadcasting Network, 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, National Geographic, and the important news asset, Fox News.

Fox, having just gone public, shouldn't be making a move against Warner so quickly. However, Murdoch has been holding Warner hostage for a long time. He originally planned to make his move in 2014, but now he has to act sooner rather than later. He can't accept Apple getting there first.

Warner's stock price has recently been fluctuating around $60, and the company's market capitalization is just over $50 billion. Murdoch went all in, making a super-double offer, a 50% premium, and submitting an $80 billion acquisition offer in cash and stock. This offer was sent to Warner's board of directors and to all major and minor shareholders.

Murdoch believed that the more he dragged things out, the lower his chances would be. After all, Apple was too wealthy, and he needed to take things one step at a time.

Wall Street analysts went completely crazy. The polarized reviews of Superman: Man of Steel had already made research reports very difficult, and everyone was still debating whether its valuation was reasonable. This offer completely stunned the market. This was much more significant than the moves rumored from Apple.

Murdoch thought he could at least move on to the next step and negotiate the specifics of the acquisition. He might need to continue bidding against Apple, and he was already considering how to persuade Warner shareholders when he lacked sufficient funds.

However, Warner's management did something he never expected: they didn't see the price as respectful; they felt it was an insult.

Apple even knew to come and discuss the acquisition. Cook personally visited to talk to them, and Eagle went back and forth several times, which shows that they gave them a lot of face.

Murdoch's current acquisition method, directly asking shareholders for bids, is he looking down on us management?

Jeffrey Bix was furious and immediately held a press conference with the entire management team, publicly stating that they rejected the offer. He said that this uninvited approach, bypassing management, was neither professional nor respectful.

The tone at the press conference was very impolite, making no attempt to hide the dislike for Murdoch, and declaring that Hollywood needs its own voice, cannot be arbitrarily acquired by various companies, and needs to maintain its independence.

Of course, no matter how much he vehemently protested, he couldn't stop the market's reaction. Now, two wealthy tycoons with deep pockets had their eyes on Warner, and a sale seemed inevitable. Warner's stock price began to soar that very day, heading straight for 80 billion.

At Apple headquarters, another meeting was held, but everyone's spirits were low. Eight hundred billion dollars to buy Warner seemed a bit too expensive. And if they wanted to compete with News Corp., eight hundred billion dollars might not even be enough.

Chen Yiran listened to the chaotic discussion below, but did not speak first. Instead, she kept looking at the feedback on her phone.

After a while, he slapped the table: "Don't rush, don't rush. There are already people more anxious than us. They've got our media to start hyping up Fox's debt problem. Its own market value isn't even 80 billion, and it still needs to raise funds in addition to cash and equity."

We're not going to go through all that complicated stuff; we'll just do a cash buyout! Compared to Murdoch, our political stance is more acceptable to all sides, and someone will help us oust Murdoch.