America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 340, Section 338: The Acquisition of Warner

"A new world's richest person has been born, surpassing Bill Gates!"

"Breaking news! Facebook successfully went public, with a market value of $1533 billion on its first day of trading. Eric Cooper's net worth skyrocketed, making him the world's richest man at the age of 25."

"The new miracle of tech stocks: Facebook's IPO drove up the entire tech sector, completely dispelling the shadow of the internet bubble."

"A comprehensive overview of Facebook's history: how it grew from its inception to become the world's third-largest company!"

"Eric Cooper's Path to Genius: How Did He Become the World's Richest Man?"

"From film and television to technology, from best screenwriter to world's richest man, this young man has brought a shock to the world!"

"Eric Cooper's stroke of genius: Why is Facebook so valuable? How much impact has Facebook actually had on people's lives?"

"The world's most eccentric richest man is about to launch the biggest acquisition in the new millennium."

"MGM's acquisition of Warner is a repeat of history, and the lion is about to reclaim its rightful wealth."

"Eric Cooper's announcement of a full acquisition of Warner Bros. plunges Hollywood into turmoil and heralds an era of major industry reshuffling."

On the second day after Facebook went public, the news had already spread beyond the United States, completely dominating news headlines worldwide.

And it became a popular topic of conversation among people in the following period of time.

Whether it's Canada, Europe, South America, Australia, or Asia and the Middle East, or even underdeveloped Africa, people are quite sensitive to the term "world's richest person."

People love this kind of impactful news; it's no exaggeration to say that, for ordinary people around the world, it receives more attention than the US invasion of Iraq or Afghanistan.

Just like a super GG, it instantly sparked a lot of discussion among people.

Whether in private or online, many people who had never heard of Eric before have taken notice of this young man who is changing the world.

"Eric Cooper is actually going to acquire Warner Bros. Is he preparing to retaliate? I heard that Disney and Warner Bros. spearheaded the operation against MGM."

"It's definitely revenge, but why not just acquire Disney?"

"Disney is too expensive. It still has the strength to compete for the throne."

"Come on, use your brain. It's obviously more difficult for Disney to acquire it. They could even use a poison pill to sabotage it."

"But Warner Bros. is different. Once Time Warner makes its final decision, it will have to sell, even if it doesn't want to."

"If I had hundreds of billions of dollars in cash in front of me, I would sell without hesitation. It's impossible for Warner Bros. to make hundreds of billions from copyright resources even in twenty years."

"Besides, even if it's sold, it's not a big deal. Time Warner also owns HBO, Time Magazine, CNN, and a whole bunch of other high-quality resources."

"If I were the decision-maker, I would buy another medium-sized film and television company."

"Although resources such as copyrights, equipment, and distribution networks are gone, intangible resources such as personal connections cannot be lost."

"Even if they can't create a new Warner Bros., it shouldn't be difficult to rebuild a new Line or Lionsgate in ten years, right? But can they make tens of billions of dollars in ten years? Don't be ridiculous!"

"Wow! It seems that classic films like Tom and Jerry, Gone with the Wind, and Ben-Hur are going to return to MGM."

"I don't care about anything else, but please release a new version of Tom and Jerry soon. The Warner version is really unwatchable. I still miss the hand-drawn feel."

"You're right, Warner Bros.' Tom and Jerry is a complete disaster. The Flash animation style makes me feel like I'm eating shit, ugh!"

"That's because it's cheaper to do animation this way. Hand-drawing is too difficult and inefficient. As times change, that model will inevitably be abandoned. Businessmen are profit-driven."

"But Miyazaki Hayao always insisted on hand-drawing, which is why he became a world-renowned animation master."

"Yes! But that's precisely why there's only one Miyazaki Hayao in the world. It's just too difficult, and look at Miyazaki Hayao's production speed; he can't keep up with the ever-faster pace of the times."

"Just announced, Eric Cooper has arrived at Time Warner headquarters."

It has been almost half a month since Eric announced his intention to acquire Warner.

Time Warner made a statement during this period, neither saying it was good nor bad, adopting an ambiguous attitude.

However, Richard Parsons, the current president of Time Warner, extended an invitation to me a few days ago, hoping to discuss the matter in detail.

The purpose is self-evident; they definitely want to test the waters, since you only said you wanted to acquire it, but didn't say how much money you would spend.

"This way, Mr. Cooper."

As Eric and his group arrived at the 17th floor, Richard Parsons and his men were waiting to greet them in the corridor as soon as they stepped out of the elevator.

"Eric, it's been a long time."

"Yes, the last time we met was at a charity gala in Salt Lake City, wasn't it?"

"Young people have such good memories. How is your father?"

"That's good. He doesn't have much work now; he spends his days traveling with my mom."

"My ideal life is also my goal for the future."

"You're still a long way off, Richard. I think you'll have at least another thirty years of hard work ahead of you."

"Hahaha. Come in quickly."

Inside the meeting room, both sides sat down, and the jovial atmosphere vanished.

Relationships are relationships, and business is business; we're now on opposing sides.

"Eric, we'd like to hear your thoughts on the acquisition of Warner Bros. Pictures."

Eric likes this style of getting straight to the point.

He glanced around at the Time Warner executives present, said nothing, and held up four fingers: "$400 billion, that's the price I offered."

"This price far exceeds the value of Warner Bros. You're insiders, so you definitely know better than I do."

"What I'm trying to say is, I'm very sincere about making this deal happen. What's your attitude?"

Upon hearing the figure of $400 billion, everyone present was stunned.

Judging from their individual abilities, apart from Eric, none of them could ever reach that level in their lifetime.

It's not an astronomical figure, it's a cosmic figure.

But Richard Parsons shook his head slightly: "NO! The price you offered doesn't meet my expectations."

"Eric, are you keeping an eye on Warner Bros.' stock price? It's approaching $300 billion now."

"A $100 billion difference, with a premium of only 33%, that's not how business is done."

"It's $305 billion now, the market capitalization after the market opened this morning," a middle-aged woman in a blue dress added.

"$305 billion, what does that mean? It means the stock price is still rising, and it might reach $350 billion in half a month. You need to be more careful with your offer, Mr. Cooper."

Upon hearing this, Judy let out a somewhat mocking laugh.

"Madam, I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"Danna".

"OK, Ms. Dana, what you're saying is very unscientific and very unrealistic."

"We know perfectly well why Warner Bros.' stock price started to skyrocket: it's because Eric made an offer to acquire it."

"But this only represents market forces, not Warner Bros.' true value."

"It's like a pig standing on the cusp of a strong wind; it can fly without any effort."

"If we abandon the acquisition, everyone knows that the stock price will return to its original position in just half an hour."

"We have shown great sincerity. If you want to do this deal, you also need to show equal sincerity."

Richard Parsons glanced at Judy and thought to himself that she was quite sharp-tongued and outspoken despite her young age.

"Judy?"

"Yes, Judy!"

"Judy Newhouse, my love, will also be a future manager at Warner," Eric added.

"Warner executives, you're implying that Warner has changed hands."

"No, I just believe you will make the right choice, Richard."

"I don't need to elaborate on how much debt Time Warner is still carrying."

"Actually, from another perspective, Facebook's IPO has revitalized the entire tech sector, and countless companies have benefited from it."

"Even AOL is the same, so you should be thanking me."

"Accepting this money will benefit us all. To be honest, I know more about making movies than you do."

That's true. Everyone has to admit that Eric led MGM out of the mire and back to its peak.

"Eric, we can't accept $400 billion. If you want to take Warner Bros., you'll have to come up with at least $510 billion."

"And it's in cash. This is the result of our internal discussions and it's the bottom line we can accept."

Upon hearing this, Eric sighed: "It seems that Time Warner wasn't sincere. You've taken me for a fool."

"I do have money, but I don't like to waste it. It seems we should call it a day."

After saying that, he stood up and prepared to leave.

Seeing this, Richard Parsons was speechless, thinking to himself that this is how business is done: asking for the moon and then settling for a bargain.

Why are you breaking up the business so easily?

However, he wouldn't try to stop him, since Eric was the one taking the initiative to acquire the company, not the other way around.

Seeing the other party's indifferent attitude, Eric knew he had to use a big stick; carrots wouldn't work.

"Judy, arrange to cancel the acquisition of Warner Bros., and also reschedule MGM's movie releases for this year."

Before Judy could respond, Richard Parsons indeed spoke up to persuade her to stay.

"Wait, we have to reschedule again. It's been a year, haven't we played enough games? This cutthroat competition benefits no one; we've all lost $10 billion."

Eric smiled. "It's not exactly the same as last year, because this time I'll be launching a precise attack on Warner."

"The $10 billion figure is from last year. Unless your movie stops showing in theaters, the losses will definitely be much greater."

"I have more cards to play. Whatever you did to me last year, I'll give back to Warner this year."

"These were originally intended for Disney, but it seems you'll have to enjoy them first."

"Are you threatening me, Cooper!" Richard Parsons said angrily.

Eric shook his head: "I just hope that both sides show equal sincerity."

The two stared at each other, while the others in the conference room stared blankly at them.

After a moment, Richard Parsons tapped the table, his voice softening: "Sit."

The other side softened, and Eric returned to the negotiating table.

He didn't want to embarrass Richard too much: "Richard, $510 billion isn't absolutely unacceptable."

"I can pay this money as long as Time Warner is willing to cooperate."

Richard Parsons looked at Eric with disbelief: "What do you want to do? How do I need your cooperation?"

"The first priority is to speed things up. I hope to complete the entire acquisition process as quickly as possible."

"Of course, I guarantee I will pay the money in full immediately, in cash."

"But I've heard there are many people within Warner Bros. who are resisting this acquisition. I hope you can manage your people and prevent them from causing trouble."

Everyone knows who Eric is referring to.

During this period, groups represented by Barrymeyer have repeatedly expressed their opinions to Time Warner headquarters, strongly opposing the deal.

"Don't worry, we represent the board's opinion, and no one can stop us!"

"That would be best. Secondly, I hope to buy New Line's shares as well. Time Warner still holds 28% of New Line's shares."

The true intentions were revealed, and Richard Parsons understood what Eric was planning.

This means buying the new line's shares as an add-on, essentially buying the big one and getting the small one free.

If he were to make a public acquisition, the share price of New Line Cinema would also rise, and that would be a completely different price.

"Eric, this isn't part of our deal, and the new line is worth a lot right now, didn't you know?"

"The Lord of the Rings trilogy was so successful that it is undoubtedly the world's number one fantasy epic film."

"I know, but so what? Besides Lord of the Rings and a few horror franchises, does New Line Cinema have anything else of value?"

"Richard, let's be frank. Although you hold the largest share in New Line, you do not control its operations."

"If we're lucky, a Lord of the Rings story will be published, and you'll make money. But what if we're unlucky?"

"Since Warner Bros. has already decided to sell to me, I might as well give away the entire film and television production business as a package deal."

"Otherwise, what's the point of keeping the equity in New Line? You can't participate in production and management anyway."

"Should we find Barrymeyer a new home? Bob Mayer may also have the Mayer surname, but he probably wouldn't accept it."

Richard Parsons smiled at Eric: "But if you include the new line, your price won't be enough, young man."

In fact, Time Warner has certainly discussed the new business line as well.

As Eric said, without Warner Bros., New Line Cinema's value would be greatly diminished.

Although they are independent, they are actually closely related.

"I haven't finished speaking yet," Eric interrupted.

"I want New Line's shares, but you can keep the DC Comics business to avoid problems during antitrust investigations."

"I only want the existing DC characters' copyrights beyond comic book publishing, including film, animation, TV series, and merchandise."

"Even if DC creates new characters in the future, they will still belong to you."

"If you calculate it this way, with one addition and one subtraction, you get $510 billion. This deal is a win-win situation for everyone."

(End of this chapter)