King of Hollywood

"Of course it was a mistake! And a big one! Have you read the Guardian newspaper? Since they dare to say that, they obviously have weighty evidence, and you should respond in a courteous and modest manner, not a High-level tone!" Murdoch exclaimed into the phone, his second son James Murdoch, this year, with the support of his father, became the chairman of Sky TV and is responsible for News Corp. Europe and Asia business.

Damn it! Murdoch, who put down the phone, cursed in his heart, wiped his face with his hands before closing his eyes, he suddenly felt a little tired. There is no doubt that this was done by the media. After the Guardian reported on the "News of the World" wiretapping incident, CNN and other subordinate media reported it at full speed. Although there were not many newspapers and magazines, but The media has the advantage of the Internet. You can see discussions about wiretapping incidents everywhere on Youtube or K. When you search for keywords on gle, all the reports that appear on the home page are unfavorable to News Corporation.

In short, he did not hide it at all, and expressed his hostility completely naked. This is very bad! Almost everyone knows what Adrian said that night. Now they've got the upper hand first, and they've made it so big, the situation is very bad for News Corp.

How would they know that the News of the World was wiretapping. Murdoch couldn't help but think so. To know that even he himself is not very clear about this. Could it be that... they already found out? The old man's brows furrowed deeply. According to the information collected so far, reports about wiretapping began to appear one after another two weeks ago, but the wealthy News Corporation has a wealth of contacts, and with their help, one by one settle.

But while those whistleblowers didn't make much of a difference, they left an impression on many. Therefore, when the former employee of the "News of the World" came forward to testify, he had a lot of evidence, plus the "Guardian", the opponent of the News Corporation. And the media spared no effort to harass, especially involving the royal family, and the situation expanded so rapidly.

However, Blair has already resigned, and now the prime minister in office is Gordon Brown, who has a very general relationship with News Corp. And often appears to the public as a conservative but liberal-minded. Will definitely support the investigation, then... the more Murdoch thought about it, the more he frowned.

Finally, he pressed the call button: "Mr. Miller? Please notify the crew immediately. I need to go to London immediately."

The Guardian's report on the News of the World eavesdropping on the lives of members of the royal family quickly swept across the UK and even Europe with the help of some people. At the urging of the House of Commons, Scotland Yard had to start a serious investigation, and then all kinds of turbulence began. At one point there were multiple cases involved, at one point the newspaper executives were unaware, at one point there was evidence that News Corporation was using its influence to exert pressure, and so on.

But Murdoch believes he can handle this. Even with the help of the media, they are still too impatient. If he waits a year for Brown to take full control of Downing Street, then he will face even greater difficulties. But now, although Blair has resigned. But the influence is still there, coupled with News Corporation's intricate connections in the UK, the media may have the upper hand for a while, but it will never last.

However, what he didn't expect was. Two weeks later, News Corp. has suffered a heavy blow from the United States. After entering August, CNN suddenly broke out that News Corp. was suspected of wiretapping the phones of 911 victims. Suddenly, the attention of the Americans who originally only wanted to watch a good show was drawn. 9/11 has become an anti-scale for Americans, and some people may think that the Bush administration's launch of the Iraq War is immoral. But for 911's retaliation is absolute support.

Under such circumstances, this kind of thing was brought out, and it was accompanied by certain evidence. In addition, CNN's report had a certain bias, which undoubtedly detonated the anger of some Americans. Let's investigate this matter thoroughly. Murdoch is finally starting to get serious now. Although the British side is important, if someone steals the foundation of the United States because of this, it will definitely not be worth the loss.

Fortunately, Bush Jr. is still in office, and he still has the confidence to control the development of this matter, but soon things began to develop in an uncontrollable direction.

On August 4, Bear Stearns, the fifth largest investment bank in the United States, announced that its hedge funds would stop redemption. In the eyes of ordinary people, this was no big deal, but in the eyes of investors, it was a heavy blow. It's not that no one realizes the possibility of the subprime mortgage crisis, but either thinks it's not that fast, or for some reason has to ignore it.

However, when Bear Stearns announced the suspension of redemption, everyone knew that it meant one thing, the subprime mortgage crisis had officially and completely unstoppable stage. Immediately, European and American stock markets fell into a round of plummeting across the board! Then Bear Stearns President Warren Spector announced his resignation, and several mortgage lenders declared bankruptcy one after another. Although the Federal Reserve began to inject funds to rescue the market, it was unable to prevent the crisis from continuing to expand, and two weeks later, it spread to the entire European and American financial markets.

This is not a big problem for News Corp. Although it has also suffered an impact, the stock price fluctuation is not very big when someone rescues the market. After all, they are not involved in the real estate industry. Even after the wiretapping incident, some people have shorted News Corp. stock, the loss is also within the acceptable range. But the next thing made News Corp. suffered a big loss. In the continuous reports on the subprime mortgage crisis, CNN suddenly broke the heavy news again. Bernard? Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme has been brought under police control, and two News Corp executives are also involved, the crime being the possible use of power to help Madoff cover up the scam.

This blockbuster made the entire United States, or the entire American financial community, caught in the subprime mortgage crisis, unable to recover for a long time. Bernard Madoff is also a prominent figure on Wall Street. The stable return of his asset management company of 1% to 2% per month has allowed him to attract countless clients, and they are all high-end clients. He founded the Palm Beach Country Club. It is also well-known in the industry, and the name of "no entry unless invited" has attracted many investors.

Such a big man is suspected of using a Ponzi scheme to deceive investors? how is this possible! But soon more and more evidence emerged that Madoff's asset management firm was indeed a Ponzi scheme. So under the guidance of some people, investors with huge losses began to get angry. The News Corporation, which was forcibly linked to the public because of eavesdropping on the 911 victims, began to be spurned by more and more people.

"You should know, Barry, this has nothing to do with us! Many people let Madoff manage their own funds. Are they helping the crook to cover up the problem?" Murdoch, who was talking in a tone of voice, had an unusually ugly face, and his hand gripping the armrest was also unusually tight.

finally. He closed his eyes. Then he slammed the microphone on the landline, making a snapping sound. Murdoch has never been so tired. He was confident in the beginning, but he did not expect to become this situation after two or three months.

Two of News Corp.'s top executives on the U.S. side did have investments on Madoff's side. But at that time, private behavior had nothing to do with the group. It should be the victim, and none of the decent people in various investment banks were caught by Madoff. But the guys at CNN are trying their best to tie News Corporation to this shocking fraud case! What the hell!

However, no one cares about the facts. Just like X News Network did, the same kind of content can attract a lot of people with an exaggerated and special title. Then, no matter what the content is, they start to attack based on what they want to see. CNN is just doing what it does.

It would have been fine at other times, but now, after the 9/11 wiretapping incident and the subprime mortgage crisis. Ordinary people just need a scapegoat to vent. What scares Murdoch even more is that it is definitely not just the media that has attacked News Corp. The various behind-the-scenes people who have participated in the suppression of the media before have now appeared in the suppression of News Corp.

In the simplest case, the Madoff thing would never have had as much of an impact as it does now. The damage he caused was not irreparable. It's not that no one saw Madoff's tricks, but he took the upper-level route at the beginning, and he had little to do with ordinary people, and he was very well-connected. Especially if he is still a Jew, Wall Street also has to worry about his face. So the biggest possibility is that someone jumped out to justify it, and then the big thing was reduced to the small thing, and finally returned to the original track.

But not this time, the catastrophic consequences of the subprime mortgage have sparked public anger, and Wall Street must have an explanation. Madoff was just placed in the front as a scapegoat, and then... Add another negative impression among Americans due to the wiretapping incident. What about the massively increased News Corporation?

These bastards! These hungry vampires! Murdoch slammed down the armrest again. If it was just the media, he was confident that even in this situation, he would still be able to deal with it, but if everyone started targeting News Corporation, then it would be at risk, not to mention ...

Why are they timing their timing so well? The question has been plaguing Murdoch, and that unease is even greater. Finally, he reached for the phone and reluctantly dialed a number.

"It's me, Sam, can you... help me contact those two?" At this moment, he seemed to be several years older.

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Under the blue sky, even though it is winter, the vegetation outside still looks extraordinarily green in the sun.

"That's why I like Los Angeles. Although it has less rain, it is definitely a good place in winter." Adrian, who was sitting at the round table, said casually with a smile.

"You can't deny that New York has the benefits of New York." Redstone continued with a smile.

"That's right, at least it's good to walk down the drizzly streets of Manhattan in summer." Claude walked over with a golf club, followed by Jeffrey Bickers, the president of Time Warner.

"What do you think, Rupert?" Redstone turned to Murdoch with a smile.

"Every place is different and worth nostalgic." Murdoch smiled, and Redstone shook his head indiscernibly in his eyes.

This situation has been going on for a while. Although he was the lead, the two sides agreed to sit down and have a good talk, but until now, they have not talked about relevant topics, even if he has deliberately pulled Geoffrey Bix of Time Warner. , with Disney's Robert Eagle. Of course, he understands that Murdoch has been in the media industry for decades, and it is difficult to accept the fact that he has been forced into this position by his two juniors. Taking the initiative to make peace is already a sign of weakness. If he can, he definitely does not want to speak first.

And Adrian and Claude. As a rising star, young and full of pride, he was calculated by Murdoch a few months ago. Now that he is finally forced to this place, he is naturally more willing to negotiate with Murdoch as a winner. Speaking first is definitely not the first choice.

This sucks. Murdoch will have to speak sooner or later. After all, he proposed the peace talks first, but at that time, the peace talks will be very difficult. As the oldest media tycoon present. Redstone didn't want to see such a situation. After all, in the final analysis, the people on Wall Street were the ones worth guarding against.

Fortunately, the two young people in the media are not ignorant of the overall situation. Soon Adrian followed the topic of the subprime mortgage crisis and began to guide: "Obviously, everyone has a hunch, but they are not sure when it will happen. After all, no one can stop the flow of capital, just like people can't stop people from eating and drinking. "

As he said that, he looked at Murdoch with an indescribable smile: "For capital to flow, there must be transactions, but transactions are not limited to capital. Or money. This is a very special vocabulary. In a sense, it can be regarded as the foundation of the United States. The transaction can make criminals who should be sentenced to death only need to stay in prison for decades, the transaction can make the big drug lord not need to serve a long sentence, and the transaction can Let the police turn a blind eye to the petty crimes of billionaires. A deal can get a congressman to the presidency, a deal can make the president boldly break the law . . .

His unhurried words echoed in the ears of several people. It doesn't sound right, but it's the truth. Which of the few people here has never walked in the gray area, and who has never done a deal with the government.

"Sobering words," Murdoch finally said, "it's no wonder you have such a huge influence in Hollywood that some people even call you... the king of Hollywood now."

Although he tried his best to make it look like he was teasing with a light tone, it didn't work very well.

But Adrian didn't care, and still smiled: "You misunderstood, Rupert, I admit that this played a lot of roles, but most of it was obtained by my own efforts, just like the media."

Murdoch fell silent. Although his words seemed to praise Adrian, the actual meaning was: Don't you want to become the most powerful spokesperson in Hollywood? I can help with another push.

But Adrian's answer was: no. He now has an influence in Hollywood that no one else can have, and he is only one step away from the top, and he can go up without help. At the same time, he also vaguely said that he should not try to compensate for the financing that was disrupted by Murdoch's intervention as a breakthrough. As far as the current financial environment is concerned, the media will have a slight impact on financing, but it is not a big problem, so they will not consider it for the time being.

"Then, tell me, what do you want." Murdoch suddenly got tired of this way of playing dumb riddles, anyway, the other party has released some kindness.

Adrian and Claude looked at each other, and then Claude said: "We don't want too much, we can ignore everything you do, we can also help News Corp deal with the wiretapping incident-- It's going to have a bigger impact than you can imagine Rupert. We can even help News Corp stabilize and keep it going and deal with Wall Street and the White House together, you know, those greedy guys don't think about putting the We are in control and we have only one request."

"We want you to resign, Rupert." Adrian threw out the answer, Murdoch's eyebrows raised involuntarily, and his face became a little ugly.

"Don't worry, you can keep an independent director position on the board, or you can simply consult for News Corp as a consultant, and the Murdoch family can sit in that position, and you can continue to direct from the background. You don't even You need to resign now, and after these things have come to an end, you can step down with physical reasons. We can exchange mutual trust through cross-shareholding, and at the same time ensure that the people you want, who will listen to you, board the board That position." Claude continued.

"This is our only request, you have to give us an account." Adrian added.

Murdoch's face was a little red at first, and then became cloudy and uncertain. Several other people involuntarily took a breath, and at the same time their expressions became subtle. This proposal seems to be very beneficial to News Corporation, but what is hidden behind it makes it difficult to choose.

The two who sang and smiled at each other at this time, this is Yangmou. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (m) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)

PS: Finally... it's almost here... Although I've been looking forward to this time, it's really here, and it's full of flavors. Of course, I will try my best to write a good ending. If you feel that the ending is unpalatable, don't worry, because the essence is in the ending.

Thank you everyone.

In addition: I specially coded 4900 words today, which is a small gift.