Chapter 2240 Double Happiness

Zhou Buqi really can't understand that John Riccietti has brought EA to this point, yet he has not stepped down and passed the test of the shareholders' meeting.

This company is really bad.

Market sentiment is also very negative.

After the shareholders' meeting, EA's stock price has fallen for three consecutive days.

John Riccitillo was a bit high-spirited and participated in a technology forum hosted by Stanford University. Stanford University is much more prestigious than the Wall Street Journal.

Everyone attends things hosted by the Wall Street Journal to save face and not to offend; the technology forum hosted by Stanford University is truly an IT forum.

In this forum, John Riccitiello looked forward to the future of EA in a high-profile manner and was full of confidence in the next development of the gaming industry. He also said that the market currently has some misunderstandings about EA, which is normal and time will tell.

As a result, halfway through the event, he received a call and was stunned on the spot.

FIFA has just officially announced that it has reached a ten-year cooperation plan with Changyou from 2013 to 2022. The scope of cooperation includes but is not limited to the use of the "FIFA" trademark, sponsorship of the World Cup, promotion of the football industry, and youth training. Campus construction, spread of football culture, etc.

Coincidentally, Zhou Buqi received an invitation from Yang Zhiyuan and was dragged over to participate in this forum.

He also got the news immediately.

Looking back, I happened to meet the dumbfounded gaze of John Riccietti.

Zhou Buqi smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up.

John Chictillo looked ashen.

Without caring about the etiquette of the venue, he stood up and turned around and left.

Yang Zhiyuan, who was sitting next to him, looked at him curiously, "What are you so happy about?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "Evil never prevails over good."

Yang Zhiyuan's mind was filled with Yahoo, and he immediately thought of the most "evil" person, Carl Icahn, "Have you really taken care of that Wall Street hunting dog?"

Zhou Buqi was very relaxed and said with a half-smile: "Lao Yang, it's much easier to deal with capitalists on Wall Street than with entrepreneurs like you."

Yang Zhiyuan glanced at him, "He wants money?"

Zhou Buqi said: "Yes, many people will ask for money."

"How much does that cost?"

Yang Zhiyuan feels that this plan is a bit exaggerated.

Yahoo's current market capitalization is US$22.8 billion. Its shares are extremely dispersed and are in the hands of countless small shareholders. No individual or capital institution holds more than 5% of the shares.

There is an even more important point.

Purple Star International is not a listed company, which increases the difficulty of transactions and will inevitably lead to many shareholders wanting to get cash instead of exchanging shares of Purple Star International.

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "I heard from Lao Ma that the final date of the agreement between Yahoo and Alibaba is the end of May?"

"Um."

Yang Zhiyuan did not hide anything and nodded.

By the end of May at the latest, Alibaba will buy back 20% of its shares from Yahoo, and there is only one month left.

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "After completing the transaction, won't you have money?"

Yang Zhiyuan was speechless.

Letting Yahoo pay for itself is too capitalistic!

However, he couldn't say anything about it.

The agreement between Yahoo and Alibaba was originally finalized by Yang Zhiyuan. He said thoughtfully: "Even so, the money may not be enough. According to my rough estimate, if you want to complete Yahoo's privatization and delisting, you must at least prepare $10 billion in funding.”

Zhou Buqi asked someone to do the math, "Well, just a lot more."

Yang Zhiyuan said: "Don't forget, you promised me that you would not downgrade Yahoo, and you would also set aside a large amount of money to develop Yahoo's own business."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "It's just money, I have a way! Facebook is about to go public, and this wave of cash out will be worth billions of dollars at least."

This amount of money alone may not be enough.

But it doesn't matter, he has wanted it for a long time.

If you want to push Ziweixing International to complete the acquisition of Yahoo, you still need the support of Masayoshi Son. If you want to gain his support, you have to promise him enough benefits just like you do with an old horse.

…

Zhou Buqi has been really busy recently, traveling back and forth between Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and New York.

I don’t even want to watch Manchester United’s Champions League semi-finals live.

It is difficult to return home to see my wife and children.

Fortunately, Baoshan has finished her confinement, so there is no need to keep her at home. Shi Jinglin and Zhen Yu, who are pregnant and pregnant, have come to Silicon Valley together.

Baoshan gave birth once in China, and it was like a zoo, which was really torturous.

Shi Jinglin and Zhen Yu had better not give birth in China.

It’s more comfortable to pay less attention.

On May 1, 2012, Zhou Buqi flew to New York again and finally finalized a big deal. After 12 rounds of negotiations, Changyou finally completed the acquisition of the well-known gaming company Take-Two for a total price of US$2.25 billion.

Because Changyou is a listed company, it is relatively easy to operate. All it takes is stock exchange, and the actual cash paid is only US$450 million.

Don Mattrick was in good spirits.

As the CEO of Changyou before, he did not have the feeling of being a leader in the gaming industry. Although Changyou has a high market value and strong earning power, its foundation is too poor and it is a bit like a nouveau riche.

This is also the reason why EA dares to clamor against Changyou.

But it's different now. After acquiring take-two, I really feel like a flying dragon is flying in the sky.

Zhou Buqi relied on his identity and acted very calmly, "Where is EA? How is it?"

Don Mattrick sighed secretly and said, "I heard some things. I might not be able to survive this time."

Only then did Zhou Buqi smile, "Well, double happiness!"

On the morning of May 2, Changyou, take-two and Nasdaq announced at the same time that the transaction was confirmed.

Take-two's shares were frozen.

Waiting for regulatory approval, take-two’s delisting process will be officially launched.

It is expected to be between April and June.

This afternoon, EA also officially announced a piece of big news.

John Riccitillo has resigned as EA's executive chairman and CEO. He will temporarily act as the company's business representative to complete the handover of the business until he completely leaves on May 16.

There is no doubt that the two big news of this day have become important events in the game industry!

On this day, Changyou’s market value increased by 12.2%, reaching a market value of US$35.5 billion!

EA is miserable.

John Riccitillo has been EA's CEO since 2007. During his tenure, EA's stock price fell more than 70%...

At the same time, an internal open letter from EA also made it clear that John Riccietti's resignation was because he was 100% responsible for the company's failure to achieve its business goals...

Mattrick said: "When competing for the FIFA trademark, do you know what EA's quotation was?"

Zhou Buqi said: "I didn't ask!"

Mattrick said: "It seems to be 1.2 billion US dollars."

1.2 billion US dollars in 10 years, this is definitely a sky-high licensing fee!

You know, when Blizzard became bigger in 2004, in order to compete with Blizzard's "World of Warcraft", EA wanted to develop a game that could kill "World of Warcraft" instantly.

This is a huge challenge.

what to do?

Then, EA set its sights on the number one popular culture in the United States - "Star Wars".

To this end, EA spent $200 million to buy the 10-year "Star Wars" trademark rights from Lucasfilm.

Compared with the trademark rights of "FIFA", it is simply not worth mentioning.

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "FIFA is not a profit-making organization. The purpose of FIFA is to promote football. What's the use of having more money? In the final analysis, whoever is more helpful to football should be cooperated with."

This is definitely a way to stand and talk without back pain.

Without his operation behind the scenes, those at FIFA would not care about the derived terms. They must be just seeking profit.

Cooperate with whoever gives you more money.

If bidding really starts, it will be in big trouble.

Even if Changyou could snatch the "FIFA" trademark, it would still have to offer a sky-high price.

Not anymore.

Changyou has set out eight major clauses for FIFA to promote the development of the football industry in a high-sounding way... For FIFA, there is a natural reason. Promoting the development of the football industry is of course more important than making money.

As a result, Changyou signed a contract with FIFA at a price of US$850 million over 10 years.

After arriving in New York, Zhou Buqi came forward and signed an acquisition contract with take-two on behalf of Changyou.

Then it’s time to meet Carl Icahn again.

This month of May is very lively.

EA fired its CEO, Changyou completed a major merger and acquisition, Facebook was about to go public, Apple had an internal power struggle, and Microsoft officially sent a team to conduct due diligence on UC Group... The Yahoo case has also entered a countdown.