My Age of Investment

After the two parties sat down in the conference room one by one, Gao Lili was the first to speak: "Mr. Egger, thank you very much for coming to participate in the negotiations for Disney's acquisition of Lilith in person today. This makes us feel valued."

Robert Egger glanced at Xia Jingxing, who was looking at him with a smile, and showed the standard smile of a host. He spoke slowly and calmly: "Of course I have to take action myself. After all, Lilith is represented by Darren. The two women who founded the company are also well-known young entrepreneurs in the industry, so Disney naturally has to show the best and most sincere attitude."

"But I feel that Disney's acquisition offer is seriously lacking in sincerity."

Robert Egger still kept a smile on his face, raised his hand, and motioned for Gao Lili to continue speaking.

"Lilith is the earliest and largest organization on YouTube. After three years of development, it already has 20,000 signed channels. The video content it produces covers 150 million subscribers, accounting for 500 million total YouTube users. 30%.

Based on the total acquisition price of US$100 million quoted by Disney, the average valuation of a user is less than 70 cents, only 66.66 cents. "

Gao Lili spread her hands and said, "Sorry, I don't see any sincerity from Disney in this offer."

Robert Egger was very magnanimous and was not angry at all when the little girl criticized him. Instead, he laughed loudly, “I used to be told how good and amazing Chinese people are at mathematics, but I still didn’t believe it.

Now that I see Lilith’s mathematical calculation ability, I choose to believe it.

The number you calculated is very accurate. The price of 66.66 cents per user is exactly what we at Disney have calculated carefully after investigation.

Lilith, don't rush to refute me, just listen to what I have to say. "

Xia Jingxing watched with interest as Iger traded penny for penny with the two little girls. The CEO of the Fortune 500 was indeed very patient and friendly. Even as his opponent, it was difficult for him to win. Have a bad feeling towards him.

“First of all, we recognize that Lilith’s channels have a total of 150 million subscribers, but this 150 million accounts for less than 30% of YouTube’s users.

Because there are a large number of overlapping subscribers between Internet celebrities, after removing duplicates, Lilith’s total subscribers are probably less than 100 million.

If we use another valuation method, our valuation of each user is actually more than 1 US dollar. "

"Lilith's revenue last year reached US$10 million, and the revenue channel is very single. It mainly comes from the advertising playback share of the YouTube platform. After obtaining it, Lilith still needs to share the revenue with its video creators."

"In the three years since its establishment, Lilith has hardly generated much operating profit and has been in a state of micro-profit."

"So, no matter how you look at it, Disney's $100 million valuation is a pretty sincere offer."

After Iger finished speaking, Shen Xinyi began to refute point by point.

"Mr. Iger, let me remind you that the growth rate of Lilith subscribers is faster than the growth rate of users of the YouTube platform. I believe that as time goes by, the proportion of Lilith subscribers in the total YouTube users will become higher and higher. In the future, even It’s not impossible to exceed 100%.”

"Since you became CEO, you have been pushing Disney to make changes and embrace technology and new media."

"As a leader in the new media field, Lilith can help you and Disney make better changes after joining Disney."

"IPs such as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse are becoming more and more outdated for today's young people. Although they understand them, they are not interested."

“For these old IPs to have new life, they must undergo changes, and that’s what you want to do.”

"If Disney wants to change the appearance of Mickey, or plans to launch a new animation, through Lilith, you can instantly push relevant news, pictures, and videos to hundreds of millions of users around the world."

"This is a communication capability that Disney currently has at ABC TV, and it is also the transformational force that Disney needs most urgently."

Robert Egger smiled and admitted that the other party had basically hit the point.

Disney owns animation, movies, TV stations, and theme parks, and has very complete content production and distribution channels.

But the Internet has always been a shortcoming of Disney.

The rise of online video platforms such as YouTube and Netflix made him see the possibility of distributing content through the Internet.

However, Disney is a traditional enterprise and has always been unable to gain access to the Internet.

The establishment of Hulu Video has slightly made up for their shortcomings in the Internet, and it also assumes the important task of exploring online videos for Disney.

However, Hulu Video has too many shareholders and Disney cannot completely control this company. It can only be used as a testing platform and cannot bet on it.

In the future, we will eventually build our own online video platform.

Important things must be in your own hands!

The acquisition of Lilith is their new attempt in the field of online video.

However, Xia Jingxing, a co-shareholder of Youtube and Hulu Video, was sitting across from him. He must not reveal his true intentions, so as not to arouse Xia Jingxing's vigilance and cause other unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, Robert Egger said sincerely: "The online broadcast channel of Disney content has always been handed over to Hulu Video, and Lilith cannot bear this important task.

If we really want to cooperate, we will directly sign a cooperation agreement with the official YouTube platform, so why bother looking for something far away? "

Shen Xinyi smiled and continued: "Let me explain the problem of Lilith's single income. In fact, we have been trying to create personal IP for video creators recently, and build brands around personal IP, and develop and sell peripheral products.

For example, there is a girl named Michelle Pan. Her fake makeup videos are very popular on the YouTube platform. We are planning to build a brand new beauty brand around her that is in line with the aesthetics of today's young people.

The reason why Lilith's operating profits are not large is precisely because we have invested a lot of corporate profits in the future and are trying to diversify our revenue.

This is also the reason why we have been able to occupy the position of the number one institution.

We are not greedy for short-term profits and are willing to place more hopes on the growth of the enterprise. "

Robert Iger nodded, "It's a very good business plan and idea, but Disney doesn't need these businesses. We don't sell cosmetics."

Shen Xinyi smiled and said: "Cosmetics are just one of the IP directions we are trying. In the future, Disney can also try to market movies, cartoons, theme parks, toys, etc. through Internet celebrities."

Hearing this, Robert Egger fell into deep thought, but the other party's words provided him with a new idea.

Not only the exploration of online video and content distribution, but also the development of IP and the sale of peripheral products can also be attempted.

Seeing this, Gao Lili on the side immediately struck while the iron was hot and added: "Mr. Egger, Lilith is unique and an investment target that is very scarce in the market.

Except for us, no other organization can currently cover hundreds of millions of users around the world. "

Robert Egger suddenly raised his head and looked at the two people, asking: "What is the valuation you hope for?"

The two looked at each other, and representative Gao Lili replied: "200 million US dollars!"

Robert Iger immediately shook his head and laughed, "It's too much. The valuation of one user is more than 2 US dollars. According to the latest round of financing completed by YouTube, their single user valuation is only 30 US dollars."

"Right? Darren." Egg suddenly turned to look at Xia Jingxing.

Xia Jingxing smiled and said: "The organization has no bandwidth expenses and no need to build a platform. The profitability is much better than that of oil pipes."

Robert Egger smiled lightly, "Darren, according to you, institutions that rely on oil pipelines have more investment value than oil pipelines?

If the oil pipeline ceased to exist, the institutions that were born because of the oil pipeline would naturally disappear. "

Xia Jingxing said with a smile: "The oil pipeline is now valued at US$15 billion. Although it has not yet achieved profitability, other shareholders and I are still reluctant to let it cease to exist. We are willing to invest in the long term.

If it doesn't work, you can also consider bringing in new shareholders and stick with it until the day it makes a profit. There will definitely be no problem. "

Robert Egger nodded, then he turned his attention to Gao Lili and Shen Xinyi, and said: "The valuation of US$200 million is too exaggerated. We can add an additional US$10 million to the US$100 million offer."

Gao Lili shook her head repeatedly, "Too little. If the valuation cannot be reached at US$200 million, we would rather operate for a few more years and strive to have Lilith listed independently. By then, a market value of US$1 billion or US$800 million is not impossible."

Robert Iger pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, let's sign a performance commitment.

On the basis of the guaranteed purchase price of US$100 million, set business goals for the next few years. Depending on the completion of the goals, we can pay you a maximum of US$100 million in acquisition funds, totaling US$200 million. "

Gao Lili frowned, "After signing the performance commitment, do we still want to continue working in Lilith?"

"Of course, since we have given such generous conditions, we naturally hope that you will hand over a better Lilith to us."

Gao Lili immediately shook her head, "That won't work, we won't stay."

Robert Egger spread his hands, "Then there is no other way, I have given the best conditions within my authority.

If you don't agree to stay, then we will complete the acquisition in one go, and US$110 million will be Disney's final acquisition offer. "

Gao Lili and Shen Xinyi looked at each other, and then turned their attention to Xia Jingxing, letting him make the decision.

Xia Jingxing couldn't laugh or cry, thinking that I, a person who fluctuates over a billion dollars every day, still have to bargain with you.

"Mr. Egger, actually Mr. Redstone also wants to buy Lilith."

The smile on Robert Egger's face remained unabated, but there were already waves in his heart.

He knew very well how close Xia Jingxing and Red Shidong were. When they formed Hulu Video, the two had a fierce fight. Now that the distribution of Marvel movies is basically handed over to Paramount, the intimacy has become even higher. building.

And as far as he knows, Viacom really has the intention to acquire Lilith.

Thinking of this, Robert Iger felt that he could not repeat the mistakes of Marvel, and said: "Darren, since you said so, I will increase the price by up to 10 million US dollars."

"Okay, let's make the deal!"

Xia Jingxing felt that the price was about the same, so he asked for it himself, and even moved out the giant Buddha statue of Lei Shidong. If he squeezed it out, there wouldn't be much juice left.

Robert Egger stood up and walked over, holding out his hand with a smile on his face, "Darren, it's always such a pleasure to work with you."

Xia Jingxing stretched out his hand to shake Iger's hand, "We will cooperate more from now on."

"certainly!"