Chapter 400 Shares

Link and Evaka visited the Getty Center for more than two hours and spent $1.6 million to buy five paintings and sculptures, all of which were selected by Evaka.

He couldn't see the good of several artworks, but Evaka said they were suitable for the Bay Villa and could improve the artistic taste.

When they got home, they asked the designer to install the ornaments. After taking a look, they found that there were indeed some changes. At least the overall price of this villa was more expensive.

Shortly after returning home, Ms. Cathie Wood called from Wall Street.

She said that Carl Icahn, the third largest shareholder of Lionsgate and a famous Wall Street investor, agreed to sell his 14.5% stake, but at a premium of 20%, because Lionsgate's stock price rose to $700 million last year, not the current $630 million.

Carl Icahn had planned to invest $350 million to acquire Lionsgate and $180 million in debt last year, but was rejected by the Lionsgate board of directors. The two sides were not happy, which also led to Carl Icahn preparing to sell Lionsgate shares.

After Link planned to acquire Lionsgate, Cathy contacted Carl Icahn through the channel of Pioneer Asset Management Company and prepared to take over his shares.

After two days of negotiations, the two sides reached a consensus that Link would acquire Carl Icahn's 14.5% stake in Lionsgate for US$108 million.

But at the time of the acquisition, Ms. Cathy told him that Golden Shell Investment did not have so much cash and needed to borrow part of it.

Link found that he bought a lot of things this year and made a little less money. After finishing these things, he should find a way to make some money.

After successfully acquiring 14.5% of the shares, Golden Shell Investment became the third largest shareholder of Lionsgate. In order to have decision-making power on the board of directors, he continued to send acquisition invitations to the first and second largest shareholders.

The largest shareholder of Lionsgate is Jon Fillmore, a famous producer, representative works "First Blood 4" and "The Expendables", and the current chairman of Lionsgate, holding 28.7% of Lionsgate shares.

The second largest shareholder of Lionsgate, media magnate John Malone, holds 22.4% of Lionsgate shares and is also a friend of Harvey Weinstein.

Link also made an offer to the fourth, fifth and sixth largest shareholders, offering a premium of more than 15%. His goal is to become the largest shareholder of Lionsgate and have decision-making power in the company.

After the news of his decision to acquire Lionsgate came out, the second largest shareholder John Malone also proposed to acquire several small shareholders. Under the bidding of the two parties, the stock price of Lionsgate rose rapidly.

It rose from US$7.4 to US$8.2 in one day, and the market value reached US$704 million.

The rise in stock prices also added some difficulties to his acquisition.

But Link didn't care. He spread the news to the outside world through the media, saying that no matter how much Lionsgate's stock rose, he would continue to acquire it until he had complete control of Lionsgate.

After this news was reported by The Hollywood Reporter, it caused a great sensation in Hollywood.

Everyone knows that Link is a new billionaire, and they also know that he has recently been in conflict with Hollywood tycoon Harvey Weinstein.

The rumor started when Harvey wanted to have a secret relationship with Jennifer, the heroine of Silver Linings Playbook, and was scolded by Jennifer's rumored boyfriend Link.

Harvey was furious and announced that he would ban Link and his actors in Hollywood, which led to Link losing two film projects, In Time and Friends with Benefits.

At the same time, Harvey used his connections at CAA to get rid of Jennifer's already-produced heroine of The Hunger Games.

The movie The Hunger Games is the largest project invested by Lionsgate this year.

Link was very angry and did not hesitate to borrow more than 100 million US dollars to acquire 14.5% of the shares from the third largest shareholder of Lionsgate. He also announced that he would completely acquire Lionsgate in order to help Jennifer Lawrence get the heroine of The Hunger Games and vent his anger.

Hearing these rumors, the Hollywood crowd talked a lot.

Some teased Link that he was young and energetic and wanted to conquer the unfathomable Hollywood with capital, and he would definitely lose everything.

Some said that Harvey played with the unspoken rules and got into trouble, and got into trouble with a tough opponent.

Some people envied Jennifer for finding a good supporter, and for her, they did not hesitate to go head-to-head with the number one person on the Hollywood power list, and in order to help her get the role back, they even acquired a large independent production company.

This approach is just like the billionaire and playboy Howard Hughes in the 1940s who invested tens of millions of dollars in making a movie to support actress Jean Harlow.

Unfortunately, the movie suffered a huge loss at the box office, and Howard Hughes was almost bankrupted.

Unexpectedly, more than 70 years later, another playboy did the same thing.

Many people think that Link will repeat the same mistake and end up worse than Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes was the richest man in the United States at the time and had an airline, while Link was worth only more than 2 billion US dollars.

In Hollywood, where capital is concentrated, billions of dollars are used to make movies every year, and billions of dollars are used to promote movies. 2 billion US dollars is not a lot of money in Hollywood.

Many people predict that Link will exit this capital game dismally.

"This guy wants to buy Lionsgate for a role? Hahaha! How ridiculous! This is the funniest joke I've heard this year."

In the office of the president of Weinstein Films, Harvey saw the news in the Los Angeles Times and laughed non-stop with his toad mouth, and his big belly was also shaking with laughter.

"Harvey, don't laugh yet. With Link's worth, it's not difficult to buy Lionsgate Pictures. If he succeeds, we will have a strong rival in Hollywood in the future."

Bob Weinstein persuaded.

Although Link's announcement of a wholly-owned acquisition of Lionsgate Pictures was a little impulsive, like a young man who was passionate about face, rather than a world superstar and billionaire.

But Link is worth more than 2 billion. If he makes up his mind to acquire Lions Gate, the probability of success is extremely high.

If Link takes over at Lionsgate, Weinstein Studios will have a powerful rival in Hollywood.

"Haha, Link? Rival? Bob, you think too highly of him. He is a boxer and a singer, and he doesn't understand movies at all. What should Lionsgate be afraid of having a person who doesn't understand movies run it? I bet you, Lionsgate will go bankrupt within three years, so he wants to become our rival?”

Harvey smiled disdainfully.

Bob touched his chin and felt that Harvey was right.

People like them, who have been involved in the film industry for more than 40 years and are called modern film leaders, will also be cautious and step by step when running the company.

In this way, Weinstein Pictures continues to lose money year after year, and for someone like Link, who knows nothing about movies, to join Lionsgate Pictures, which is larger than Weinstein Pictures, it can be expected that this will definitely be a disaster.

Lionsgate may become the next listed film company to go bankrupt after MGM.

"Bob, I remember we still have some Lionsgate stock, right?"

Harvey asked, lighting a cigar.

"Yes, not many, more than 200,000 shares. The current share price of Lionsgate Pictures is US$8.2. Do you want to sell it?"

"No, doesn't Link want to completely control Lions Gate? Then let's help him and acquire some more Lions Gate stocks through our channels. The more, the better. Let's see how much money Link is willing to spend to buy it from us. This part of the stock.”

Harvey laughed.

"If Link's acquisition fails and it announces that it has given up the acquisition of Lions Gate, Lions Gate's stock price will definitely fall. Wouldn't our investment be in vain?"

"Haha, it doesn't matter. Hollywood is a battlefield. As long as you can defeat Link and embarrass Link, it doesn't matter if you lose hundreds of thousands."

Harvey said nonchalantly.

Bob frowned. Rather than defeating Link and saving face, he cared more about whether he could make money. He was never willing to make a loss-making transaction.

Bob thought for a while and said to Harvey,

If you want Link to fall into the big pit of Lionsgate, you should find a way to help him successfully join Lionsgate Pictures.

Allowing him to lose hundreds of millions instead of blocking him when he acquired Lionsgate would be helping him.

After hearing Bob's words, Harvey paused the cigar in his hand and found that what he said made sense.

If you want Link to lose a small amount, you should stop him at this time. If you want Link to lose a big amount, you should find a way to lead him into a pit.

Harvey rubbed his cigar leather with his fingers, and after a moment of silence he said, "Bob, go see John Malone in person and ask him what he thinks. If he has any intention of selling Lions Gate's shares, let him do more at this time." Raise the price and make a lot of money from Link. In a few years, we will see Link lose to Lions Gate. If he doesn't have this plan, Link's acquisition is destined to fail. Then we will take action and block it at this time. Link, give Link some embarrassment."

Bob nodded, as long as the Weinstein Films didn't pay, it didn't matter to him.

"Also, find out who spread this news and shut those people up."

Harvey suddenly turned dark and pointed at the entertainment news section of the Los Angeles Times.

There is a news article above that, according to people familiar with the matter, the cause of the conflict between Link and him was the use of Jennifer Lawrence as the heroine of "Silver Linings Playbook".

Although the newspaper did not say that he had unwritten rules, Jennifer Lawrence failed and was scolded by Link. In order to apologize, he voluntarily agreed to hand over 50% of the film's copyright to Palm Beach Pictures.

But combined with this news, online rumors, and the actual situation, it seems to be true.

This kind of thing will affect his reputation, and he will never ignore it.

Bob hesitated at his words.

The reason why this rumor is so popular now is because it is very true.

Harvey is notorious in Hollywood, and everyone knows that he has a lot of dirt on male and female issues. It is also something he can do to say that he intends to hide the rules for Jennifer Lawrence.

Although Link is a philanderer, he has a good reputation among female stars, and scolding Harvey in order to protect Jennifer is something he can do.

Furthermore, when Weinstein Pictures fully owned the film copyright of "Silver Linings Playbook", it also took the initiative to hand over half of the copyright to Link. This is an undeniable fact.

According to this situation, this kind of rumors that are seven true and three false cannot be cleared up at all.

Arranging people to do media PR is also a waste of money.

But considering Harvey's bad temper and tendency to break things, Bob didn't say much and accepted the task.

Boom, boom, boom!

When he was about to get up to leave, Weinstein Films head of production Mickey Rocks came to the office and reported to Harvey, mainly to press for money.

The news brought by Mickey Rocks is that the main scenes of the "Silver Linings Playbook" movie have been completed and will then enter the post-production stage. Director David Russell sent someone to urge for funds for the follow-up production.

Mickey asked Harvey's opinion whether he should pay back the money.

"Put it off for now. This drama is not important to us, but it has a greater impact on the development of Palm Beach Pictures. They cannot get back the money they invested. They are more anxious than us at this time."

Harvey sneered.

"Mr. Weinstein, we have also invested US$5 million in this drama. If it continues to be delayed, it will also have an impact on our company."

Mickey said politely.

Bob glanced at Harvey and said, "I think this money should be given. I heard that Link's investment includes not only a company in Palm Beach, but also Skydance Pictures."

"Skydance? David Ellison's film company?"

Harvey frowned.

"Yes, I heard that Link has a good relationship with him. If we continue to drag it out and go to court and face these two people, our chances of winning the case are very small."

Bob persuaded.

He thinks he is not as good as Harvey when it comes to producing and distributing movies, but Harvey is prone to being emotional at work and often delays the company's money for the sake of saving face. He doesn't like this very much.

He thinks nothing is more important than making money.

"well!"

Harvey sighed helplessly when he heard what he said.

Logically speaking, David Ellison's family is also Jewish, so everyone should be in the same group.

But Jews in the United States are not all of the same mind. Some support the Democratic Party and some support the Republic. They often become opponents in the business arena.

If American Jews could unite, there would be Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, George Soros, Zuckerberg, Epstein, etc. in the financial world.

In the entertainment industry, there are George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, Woody Allen, etc. By then, not only Hollywood will listen to everyone , the whole world will tremble.

Harvey thought for a moment and told Close that he could fund the project, but he would have to keep the editing and distribution rights of the film firmly in his hands.

At the same time, Bob is asked to invite David Ellison to attend the next movie preview to discuss cooperation between the two companies.

"OK!"

Seeing Bob and Cross leaving, Harvey held his cigar and smiled coldly, Link, let's see how you win this time.