Chapter 2668 Return to the front line

If you want to promote Tesla's delisting, the most important things are two points, one is money and the other is procedures. The money is definitely no problem, the next step is the procedures.

Whether it is legal or not depends on the "rule of man".

Without a strong enough relationship, it is easy to encounter nitpicking. Carl Icahn is the big boss in this area. As long as he is willing to participate, he will be sure of success.

Then, we communicated some arrangements with PayPal.

Issuing some additional shares to Boss Ma to give him a legitimate seat on the board of directors; transferring some shares to Black Rock Capital, and then bringing Black Rock Capital to PayPal's board of directors.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Zhou Buqi returned to Manhattan on Carl Icahn's helicopter.

Meet with HBO.

This time they were very efficient.

Terms agreed!

Other agreements on platter investment cooperation, movies and TV series are actually similar. The general framework is similar, with only some differences in details.

It is this difference that Zhou Buqi pays attention to.

Movies can be released in theaters, but TV series cannot, which means that a large chunk of the TV series' income is missing. If you want the TV series platter investment model to work, the controlling party must transfer more rights and interests to make up for the investors' losses in this area.

After several negotiations, it was finally reached!

There are two main points.

First, for some TV series whose revenue does not meet expectations or even falls into losses, the main controller must take out the streaming media copyright and share it with investors;

Second, if the controlling party wants to end a planned long-form TV series hastily or cut it in half in advance, it needs to negotiate with the platter investors. If the investor is unwilling to end the series, it can become the controlling party and gain full control over subsequent episodes. If the investor does this, it needs to invest independently and give 30% of future profits to the original controlling party.

Zhou Buqi said that the project will be officially launched within the next three months. The total scale of the first phase of the platter investment project in cooperation with HBO will not be less than US$500 million.

At this stage, we need to find someone who understands both finance and film and television to take charge of this project.

There are also candidates, recommended by Xu Baihui.

Natalka Pauley, the president of Jieyu Media's US branch, is a woman in her early forties. She is mainly responsible for Jieyu Media's platter investment cooperation in Hollywood over the past few years.

However, Zhou Buqi had doubts about this man's ability.

Jieyu Media cooperates with Hollywood to make investments. The most profitable projects are all selected by Zhou Buqi. She is just performing some tasks that are not difficult.

It's okay to be a deputy, but it may not be appropriate to directly appoint her as the CEO of the new company.

The platter investment in movies deals with film companies, all of which are headquartered in Hollywood; the platter investment in TV series mainly deals with TV stations, and their headquarters are basically in New York.

There is not much overlap in the network of people.

It's better to choose another one.

This evening, there was a party.

Lao Zhang is coming to New York!

This is a rare visitor.

Zhou Buqi has not seen him for a long time. Recently, Changyou's stock price has continued to rise sharply, with a market value of more than 50 billion US dollars. It is not only mobile games, but also flexing its muscles in the field of PC games.

The big summer promotions have given the entire gaming industry a feeling of "crying wolf".

So perverted!

There's no way to play like this!

Doesn’t this bring the Internet’s price war to the gaming industry?

However, what Lao Zhang cares about is not the game.

But film and television.

Apparently they wanted to ask for something, so a big scene was put on at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel that night.

Zhou Buqi looked at such a large private room and was a little surprised, "Just the two of us? Such a big room? The American waiter will know you are a nouveau riche just by looking at it."

Zhang Chaoyang didn't care much, "There will be guests later."

"Who?"

"You'll know when you get here."

"What do you mean?" Zhou Buqi was a little surprised, "Are you here to be a lobbyist?"

Zhang Chaoyang said: "I just want to take the lead in meeting. Whether it succeeds or not has nothing to do with me. Something happened to Sohu recently, do you know?"

"What's the matter?"

How can Zhou Buqi have time to care about such a small company? He has no time to pay attention to many things in his own big company.

Zhang Chaoyang said: "My chief operating officer resigned."

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "Isn't this strange? It's been like this all these years. It's a good thing. Sohu has really cultivated a lot of people for the domestic Internet industry."

"So I decided that I wanted to return to the front line."

Zhang Chaoyang looked solemn.

He is now the chairman of the board and CEO of Sohu, but he doesn't care much about front-line business. The specific business is handled by his chief operating officer.

The so-called return to the front line means that he will take over the company's specific business.

Zhou Buqi is familiar with him and is not optimistic at all, "It doesn't matter whether he returns or not. As for Sohu's current businesses, none of them can be successful. The portal business can barely support it, the Weibo business has no future, and the real estate and automobile businesses have no future either." It’s hard to break out in the category, and the video business is even more confusing. Didn’t I tell you, if you have time to spare, you might as well become a physics teacher.”

Zhang Chaoyang said angrily: "You are so yin and yang!"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "The truth is hard to hear."

Zhang Chaoyang said calmly: "I will return to the front line of Sohu. Not only will I take over Sohu's business, I will also personally serve as the CEO of Sohu Video."

"Well……"

Zhou Buqi looked at him with eyes filled with helplessness.

However, this is fine.

Returning to the front line, there is always something to do.

Traveling around mountains and rivers and enjoying flowers is certainly what every man dreams of, but this kind of thing will get boring after a long time. At most, it is short-term happiness, and it is difficult to have a long-term sense of accomplishment.

Those who can continue playing for a lifetime are talented.

Most people, if they do this every day, will end up with one of two ends: one is to fall into more stimulating drugs and gambling, the other is to have mental self-doubt and fall into depression.

Lao Zhang lives a carefree life and will definitely not end up in the world of drugs and gambling.

Just afraid of depression.

It is impossible to return to the front line recently and achieve anything in my career. At least there is something to do, and hard work can prevent mental illness.

Zhang Chaoyang said: "I heard from Baihui that time that you have any new news?"

"What?" Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows, "Platform investment?"

Zhang Chaoyang smiled and said: "Yes, that's it. Have you mastered Hollywood and are you going to win over the entire American TV drama market?"

Zhou Buqi waved his hand and said, "What? I can't continue to invest in Hollywood platters, so I can only look for opportunities in American TV series. What are you doing? Are you interested?"

Zhang Chaoyang shook his head, "I am now the CEO of Sohu Video."

"Depend on!"

Zhou Buqi is angry and funny.

Zhang Chaoyang said: "Ziweixing doesn't have a video platform anyway. When you finish filming the American TV series, the domestic copyrights should be given to me first. My strategy for Sohu Video is to produce high-quality content. Don't compete with competitors for copyrights or funds. , Sohu Video only buys high-quality film and television rights to serve high-net-worth users. Data shows that high-net-worth users tend not to watch domestic TV series, but prefer to watch American TV series and Hollywood movies."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "As long as the price is right, then it's no problem. I'm not responsible for the specific business. When the new company is established, you have to negotiate with the new company."

"What's the name of the new company?"

"I haven't thought about it yet. Let's invite a few partners and let's sit down and discuss it together."