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Boss Ma always flies in the sky when doing business, and he boasts that he has a great pattern. But even so, he was still frightened by Zhou Buqi's method.

When he was about to leave the United States, he warned him earnestly, saying: "I know you are talented, but you have to stop. The success of a man does not lie in advancing, but in retreating."

Zhou Buqi said: "The same words are also suggestions for you."

Boss Ma said: "The Purple Star Global project... is a bit too biased."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "It's not biased. Wait and see again in a few years. This is an important part of the Ziweixing system. If it really is biased, the most I can do is invest, so as not to end up in trouble."

"Is it possible to buy so many film companies in one go?"

"able!"

Zhou Buqi is really not bragging.

Two days after Boss Ma left, the good news came!

SoftBank Group has reached a preliminary agreement with General Electric, Vivendi, NBC Universal, and Comcast, agreeing to spin off Universal Pictures from NBC Universal for US$7.86 billion!

However, this is only a preliminary agreement.

Because there will be many additional expenses incurred during the split, who will bear these expenses and how much each party will bear requires further discussion.

At this point, the most important step of Ziweixing Global is about to be completed.

If nothing unexpected happens, Ziweixing Global Group will be officially established before the end of the year!

In comparison, DreamWorks Animation had it easy.

The current market value of DreamWorks Animation is US$1.9 billion. After a resolution by the board of directors, it has been finalized to complete the acquisition of this studio for US$2.4 billion.

When the news was announced, the stock price jumped 25% that day.

The next step is to start the delisting work.

Katzenberg took the initiative and said, "I hope to retain some shares of DreamWorks Animation."

Zhou Buqi frowned slightly, "I suggest not to do this. It will add a lot of additional operating expenses."

"Extra expenses?"

"Recently I have evaluated traditional Hollywood companies, such as Time Warner. One of the biggest institutional weaknesses is that the headquarters group's shareholding in subsidiaries and subsidiary companies is not clear. This is a huge operational burden for the group company. ."

"ah?"

Katzenberg clearly didn't understand.

He is a creative, but he is really not very good at managing a company. He was not unfair at all when he failed to become the president of Disney.

Zhou Buqi said: "That's right, I have been working hard to implement the middle office strategy. The so-called middle office is to package all general businesses into one large department, thereby reducing the operating expenses of repetitive departments. For example, in the finance department, I I think it is enough for Ziweixing Global Group to have only one large financial department, which will connect all subsidiaries and branches. But if the shares are not unified, integration will not be possible."

The advancement of the middle-end plan is very complicated, but what is more complicated is the coordinating process of many middleware for the Internet front-end project. But it is very easy to centralize the finance, human resources, logistics and other departments.

This is what Silicon Valley giants do.

If each subsidiary has a finance department, and each finance department makes suggestions for its own subsidiary, it will be a mess. Not only do we need to hire a lot of additional financial personnel, but the business docking and integration are also very complicated.

It belongs to creating difficulties without difficulties.

If there is a unified financial department to manage the finances of all business departments, subsidiaries, and branches, the group's finances will be integrated and centralized.

Once the group headquarters has financial power, it can control all complex departments, branches, and subsidiaries through financial power. It also avoids the pitfalls of siled management, and the finances are transparent.

A negative example is Time Warner.

Time Warner has three major subsidiaries - Time Group, Warner Group and Turner Group, which correspond to magazines, movies and television stations respectively. The relationship between them is very cold.

If HBO wants to get the rights to premiere Warner's new movie, the two sides will have to conduct complicated negotiations.

The talks failed, and Warner sent the film to a competitor at HBO.

If the talks are successful, Warner and HBO will have to settle their own accounts, trying to make the other party pay more taxes, negotiation fees and operating expenses as much as possible, so that the benefits will fall into their own pockets.

Depend on!

We are all a family, the relationship between the left hand and the right hand, is this the right thing to do?

The left hand gains, and the right hand loses. Taken together, it is a balanced result. On the contrary, because of the calculations, a lot of extra manpower expenses were spent in the negotiation, operation and bargaining process.

It would be much simpler if it were a centralized finance department.

Obey the overall situation and shut up!

Design a set of algorithms to evaluate assets based on this algorithm. The assessed value is what it is, and no one can bargain. The final benefit is reflected only through the changes in the numbers on the ledger, which will greatly save expenses.

Time Warner cannot do this, mainly for two reasons.

First, algorithmic mechanisms are not popular in Hollywood, and there is no digital standard answer. All transaction processes are the most primitive bargaining methods between people.

It's much easier in Silicon Valley. Just list all kinds of data, give the analysis model, and then do math problems based on the algorithm and model.

Simple, direct and the most fair!

There are too many human factors in the bargaining process and too much room for rent-seeking. Only cold algorithmic numbers are the most objective.

The second point is the reason why Zhou Buqi rejected Katzenberg.

Time Warner has a lot of subsidiaries and branches, but most of them are not 100% owned. This is a legal obstacle that cannot be overcome.

The law requires that the interests of minority shareholders be protected.

For example, in Warner, the major shareholder is Time Warner Group. If the interests of certain small shareholders are to be guaranteed, independent departments can only fight for their rights instead of obeying the requirements of Time Warner Group's major shareholders.

If DreamWorks Animation reserved some shares for Jeffrey Katzenberg, he would be a minority shareholder, which would be troublesome. In order to ensure the interests of him, a small shareholder, DreamWorks Animation cannot be centralized. It must be small and well-organized, and all businesses must have independent departments.

This will cause a huge burden on management, and it will cause haggling over trivial matters, seriously damaging the interests of the headquarters group.

Zhou Buqi explained this truth to Katzenberg, "I will not give in on this matter. During this time, I also discovered that the management structure of Hollywood companies is redundant and complicated. I watched MGM's The financial statements are really shocking. It is not because of the huge losses, but because of all kinds of unnecessary expenses. All subsidiaries of Ziweixing Global must hold 100% of the shares and must obey the unified dispatch of the group headquarters. This No precedent can be set.”

Katzenberg hesitated and hesitated to speak.

Zhou Buqi smiled and asked, "What's the problem?"

Katzenberg said: "I heard...I heard that Ziweixing International has also invested in many companies, and many of its companies have small shareholders. I saw the news in the San Francisco Evening News, saying that Ziweixing was acquiring We acquired 80% of Evernote’s shares and reserved 20% for the entrepreneurial team.”

Zhou Buqi was almost angry to death!

Depend on!

It's important for people to know themselves, why don't you understand?

Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are all the best among people, and they all have great ability to resist risks and "gold dig". They want to make money, but what they earn is not wages and bonuses at all.

What they earn is the appreciation of their shares!

In other words, as small shareholders, they don't care at all whether the interests of their own small shareholders are damaged. What they care about is the company's "data" growth.

This "data" is not necessarily financial data.

Financial statements have minimal impact on tech startups.

Even if the subsidiary company is sucked financially by the parent company and suffers huge losses. But the parent company has brought enough new users to the subsidiary and created more possibilities, which is enough.

This is a special way for technology companies to blow bubbles.

But the same cannot be said for Hollywood companies. All interests need to be reflected through financial interests. This is fucked up.

Ziweixing International can arbitrarily invade Evernote's business and seize Evernote's finances at will. As long as it can bring more users to Evernote, the small shareholders will be very satisfied.

The mere financial losses are far less than the huge appreciation of shares in the capital market.

DreamWorks Animation does not have such an advantage. Small shareholders must fight for business reasons to ensure their own finances. This is determined by the nature of the industry.

Zhou Buqi could only say vaguely: "Silicon Valley is Silicon Valley, and Hollywood is Hollywood. Different industries have different properties. In Hollywood, Ziweixing Global's principle is 100% holding."

"Yeah." Katzenberg was very disappointed. He founded DreamWorks Animation, and he was really reluctant to let go of it completely. He continued to fight for it, "I only keep 5%, can't I?"

Zhou Buqi sighed, "Jeff, this is not a question of 10% or 5%, this is a question of principle. This is a manifestation of the superiority of Ziweixing's global system and must not be destroyed."

"Um."

"I know what you are worried about, and you don't have to worry. I can give you a promise that you will retain the decision-making power for DreamWorks Animation. Not only that, but you will also be the chief creative officer of MSI Universal and all big project creatives. You can all get involved.”

"Um."

Katzenberg was silent and unhappy.

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "However, I can make an exception and give you a favorable condition. You cannot hold shares of DreamWorks Animation, but you can hold shares of Ziweixing Global. You are allowed to convert the shares of DreamWorks Animation into intangible Assets, participate in the total investment of this large project of Ziweixing Global."

"real?"

Katzenberg's eyes lit up, and he was very surprised.

The market value of the shares he holds in DreamWorks Animation is about US$500 million. If Ziweixing Global's total investment is US$20 billion, he can almost hold 2.5% of Ziweixing Global's shares.

This is a big bargain!

Because the acquisition and reorganization of a company is a capital operation, the value of assets will increase during this process. The original investment of US$20 billion in mergers and acquisitions may become US$30 billion after the restructuring is completed.

And he bought shares at the price before the restructuring, which is equivalent to the original shares, and there is huge room for appreciation.

Seeing that he was happy, Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "In that case, it's settled! For DreamWorks Animation, you have to hurry up! Also, you will be a shareholder of Ziweixing Global in the future, and you will also join the board of directors . Now your task is to buy back the distribution rights for past and future DreamWorks Animation films."