May 7, 1993, the Phantom Building, located in the most prosperous area of Central, Hong Kong. Half of the floors of this 68-storey building belong to the Phantom Group, which has just moved to the 48th floor.
.
In the spacious and bright office of the chairman of the board of directors on the 48th floor, Xiao Ran put his hands on his back and stared at the high-rise buildings around him. Wei Dongling was beside him. Although his position was not as high as other buildings, no one dared to ignore it now.
One floor master.
Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling are both getting older. Wei Dongling is three years older than Xiao Ran and is now thirty-three years old. Xiao Ran will have his thirtieth birthday in a few days. Wei Dongling, Xiao Ran's best assistant and best partner, is now also
Becoming more and more powerful, he has monopolized the highest-paid CEO in Hong Kong for four years. Now his annual salary is as high as 30 million, and he has been selected as one of the top ten CEOs in Asia for three consecutive years.
Xiao Ran has also changed, and three years have been enough for him to become more like a tycoon. He is still the richest Chinese in the world, and his ranking has been rising for three consecutive years, currently ranking 18th.
From 1985 to 1993, a full eight years, Xiao Ran's foresight and decision-making, coupled with Wei Dongling's operation execution and gradually trying decisions. In the first six years, Phantom expanded at a high speed, and in the seventh and eighth years
, Phantom allowed the pace of expansion to slow down and transform into stabilizing the market.
Thanks to the efforts of Wei Dongling, the general managers of its subsidiaries and all the united employees, Phantom Group has successfully transformed into a company with the three major industries of entertainment media, electronic telecommunications and real estate as its core in the three years from 1990 to now.
Large multinational groups.
In the entertainment industry, Shuxiang Media, under the leadership of Bai Pengfei, even annexed the Ming Pao Group, which controls countless newspapers, magazines and publishing houses in Hong Kong and overseas, and is almost comparable to Murdoch's News Corporation. In the television industry,
With the support of the parent company, ATV has become the most influential television media group in Asia through acquisitions and mergers.
In terms of music, Teana is also developing rapidly. Its foreign singers are increasing day by day, and its influence is gradually expanding, making itself the leading record company in Asia. In terms of special effects, Infinite Vision still maintains its leading position in the world, and fantasy animation is in the production level.
It's enough to compete with Disney.
In the film business, Phantom has always controlled film production. Every year, at least 50% of the first-round films produced in Hong Kong are invested by Phantom. While the local market still maintains a monopoly, Hong Kong films have a global presence.
The influence is growing, and Hollywood has even deeply felt the threat from Hong Kong films, or rather the threat from The Phantom.
A huge movie empire has been born, and Xiao Ran doesn't even need to take care of it himself. He is just waiting for the battle with Hollywood, but before this battle, he must first solve the mainland market.
The Chief Minister's promise has been fulfilled. Not only has the policy not changed, but the market is gradually opening up. The censorship system has been opened to Hong Kong's distribution companies, and the video tape market has also been opened up. Joint ventures with mainland companies are allowed, and 100% of the market can be controlled.
Fifty-one equity.
The only thing that has not yet been done in the mainland market is to liberalize the investment restrictions on theaters, but that day is coming soon. Xiao Ran received news that on his birthday, the government will send someone to celebrate his birthday and confirm this matter.
Xiao Ran can no longer wait any longer. Overseas countries have noticed the impact of Hong Kong films on their own film industries. The French government, which has always been open to Chinese-language films, is currently preparing to introduce a policy to protect the domestic film industry.
If Phantom can no longer win the mainland market, it may be in trouble. However, Xiao Ran is not worried about the Hong Kong film market shrinking completely, because those regions are already inseparable from Hong Kong films. Currently, Hong Kong produces more than 150 films every year
, at least thirty of them have achieved global distribution, and the others are generally distributed regionally.
However, if we can no longer win the mainland market, the Hong Kong film industry will definitely have a hard time in the future. This is inevitable. If the original market share is reduced every year, the profits will be much smaller. It is sad.
Inevitable.
This is what Wei Dongling and Xiao Ran were talking about just now, but what he is talking about now is another matter - Li Ka-shing wants to acquire Wheelock's shares from Phantom. Due to financing and other reasons, after two years of operation
, Wheelock's current market value has reached 150 billion Hong Kong dollars, and more than 40% of the stocks held by Phantom have been spread to 34 due to financing.
What Li Ka-shing wants is the stock in Phantom so that he can control Wheelock. In fact, as long as he gets Phantom's stock, he can control Wheelock. Xiao Ran knows very well why Li Ka-shing does this, because Phantom has been in recent years.
Lai has evil intentions towards Hutchison Whampoa and has repeatedly increased his shareholding. As long as he acquires another 15% of the shares, it will be enough to threaten Li Ka-shing's position as chairman of the board of directors.
Of course, Xiao Ran and Li Ka-shing still have a good personal relationship, and there is no enmity over business matters. Wei Dongling suddenly smiled. He remembered the scene when he and Xiao Ran started a business together. At that time, many people were crowded into an office of 100 square meters.
, he had to give up his general manager's office even for meetings. Unexpectedly, his CEO's office is now so big that he can roll around without touching the edges.
"Li Ka-shing is very strange. He wants to use Hutchison Whampoa's shares and cash to buy Wheelock's shares!" Wei Dongling quickly returned his mind to business: "Now everyone sees that telecommunications has a bright future.
, why would he give up the interests at hand?"
Xiao Ran's eyes finally moved back, but with a smile on his face, he gently spread his hands and said: "Don't forget, we have been so aggressive in acquiring Hutchison Whampoa shares recently. It's impossible for him not to know about it. If the negotiation is successful, plus
The equity in our hands is almost 20%, which is very threatening!"
Wei Dongling has been in the shopping mall for so many years, and of course he is no longer the inexperienced kid he was back then. Hearing what Xiao Ran said, he immediately understood: "You mean he saw that our company was developing so fast, and was determined to give up the position of chairman, and then he was happy and relaxed
.Run Wheelock for another two or three years, and then sell it again..."
Xiao Ran nodded. If he remembered correctly, Li Ka-shing was planning to enter the telecommunications market in the United States or the United Kingdom. He remembered very clearly that Li Chaoren once made hundreds of billions selling telecommunications companies in the United Kingdom and made hundreds of billions selling telecommunications companies in the United States.
Seventy billion.
Wheelock's current business is no longer limited to sales, but has also entered the hotel and other industries. There is definitely hope that the value will double again in two or three years. Wei Dongling nodded, he felt that this deal looked phantom
It is a big loss, but one of Phantom's core businesses now is electronic telecommunications, and it has acquired telecommunications companies and mobile companies in Europe and the United States. As long as this business can be integrated, it will definitely be very beneficial.
This is what Li Ka-shing is interested in. He knows that Phantom will definitely do it. If he exchanges the position of chairman of Hutchison Whampoa for the control of Wheelock, then everyone will be happy. Thinking of this, Wei Dongling nodded and said: "Look
It’s a good deal to come here…”
"However, I'm worried that Li Ka-shing's target is Hong Kong Telecom. If he takes over Hong Kong Telecom, it will be in big trouble!" After thinking about it, Xiao Ran still felt that it was unlikely. Hong Kong Telecom is still in a monopoly, and there is no reason to do so.
Successfully acquired by Li Ka-shing.
"Forget it, let's not mention this. How about entering the mainland? Now that other businesses have entered, only entertainment media is left!" Wei Dongling looked at Xiao Ran with a teasing look on his face and kept laughing. Wei Dongling was responsible for the entertainment media area.
Not much, mainly because Xiao Ran was making decisions. No wonder he was so happy to see the joke.
Xiao Ran glared at the boy and sat down on the sofa to think. It still takes time for the mainland market to be developed. The only good thing is that the status of Hong Kong films in the mainland is definitely deep-rooted, and there is no need to introduce imported films.
, but can be distributed directly. However, this damn distribution still has to be handed over to China Film.
At the beginning of the year, the Chinese government decided on a policy of importing ten foreign-language blockbusters each year. In July, "The Fugitive" was the first to enter the mainland with this qualification. Xiao Ran sneered, it was just a "Fugitive", for
Sniper, Phantom and other four major companies will release this year's highlight film during the summer vacation. Among Phantom's three summer blockbusters, two are action movies of the same type, aiming to make Hollywood's first step in China completely fail.
"It doesn't matter, I will catch up with you soon!" After saying this, Xiao Ran was still a little depressed. Chengji Infrastructure had just signed a project worth tens of billions in mainland China. This is simply incomparable.
After finalizing some things, Xiao Ran returned home. Lin Qingxia is taking a break recently and has not started filming. In fact, there is no need to take on so many films. The production cycle of Hong Kong films is getting longer and longer, and the average cycle of blockbusters is
Generally, it takes a year. A big star like Lin Qingxia, who is worth tens of millions, can only take on two dramas at most every year, and generally only one.
Xiao Ran is very proud of this. It turns out that a long production cycle can not only make the film more and more sophisticated, but also indirectly extend the life of a certain genre. For example, martial arts films, which have begun to decline, are still extremely prosperous.
vitality, this was an unexpected gain for him!
Back home, Xiao Ran saw Lin Qingxia playing with her one-year-old son and two-month-old daughter. She quietly walked behind her and suddenly hugged her: "How are you? Are you bored at home?"
?”
"Where is it? I am spending time with my son and daughter at home. I don't know how happy I am!" Lin Qingxia rolled her eyes at Xiao Ran, which made Xiao Ran very bored. After teasing the two children again, Lin Qingxia turned around and looked at Xiao Ran and said:
"By the way, your birthday party is almost ready, and the invitations have basically been sent out. Don't be busy with work these days. Stay at home with your children and me!"
Xiao Ran suddenly felt aggrieved. How could he not accompany Lin Qingxia? Last year, he took a month to accompany Lin Qingxia to travel around the world to relax, and also bought some properties. This is also called not accompanying him? He complained to her with a bitter face: "
You know I've been busy with the post-production of "Jurassic Park" recently, and I can't get away from it at all."
Historically, Hollywood has completely opened the door to the Hong Kong market with "Jurassic Park" and knocked on the door to the global market. But now, Xiao Ran is going to do the opposite, and he wants to return the film intact.
to North America.
However, in the film, he is only the producer, while Liu Mei and Liang Jun are the directors. After these two directors collaborated on several films in the past two or three years, their tacit understanding has become better and better, and they have been in love for a long time. In addition, Liang
Jun is very good at producing this type of large-scale scenes, so he is certainly a suitable candidate.
Only now did Xiao Ran realize that Chinese directors were not incompetent, but their talents were constrained by the stingy Hong Kong movies in history. But now they have definitely got a large enough display space, and a large number of talents have emerged one after another. Even Xiao Ran is shocked
.
The most typical one is Wei Changqing. When Xiao Ran handed over "The Killer Is Not Too Cold" to him, he was not at ease. He gave special instructions on how to shoot it and even sent Chen Musheng to assist in the filming. When the film was released, Xiao Ran
I was shocked. Although this film has been completely different due to different directors' techniques, it is still a classic comparable to the original version.
Returning to the topic just now, Xiao Ran can imagine the fate of "Jurassic Park" in North America. For the first time, the investment of this Hong Kong film exceeded 100 million, reaching 150 million, and a small island was rented in Southeast Asia to make it.
, turning this small island into a completely real location, this is also the only Hong Kong film that took two years to produce.
However, this is not the work that Xiao Ran really wants to use to hit Hollywood, because this film is actually very Westernized in a sense. What Xiao Ran longs for is the urban martial arts "Xia Zhe", which can interpret
Films of Eastern Culture.
The script for that film was completed last year. After being baptized by the inspiration of the Phantom Screenwriting Team, which gathered top screenwriters in Hong Kong, even an ordinary director could make a good film with this script.
But besides Xiao Ran, who else can freely use the entire Phantom screenwriter team, which currently has more than 20 people? Of course, even if the film is not directed by Xiao Ran, it will definitely have to go through this process.
As with previous rules, Xiao Ran finalized the entire structure after communicating and discussing with the screenwriting team, and left many sequels. In terms of plot, it is even more rich and perfect. What was created is a complete and scientific
The world of logic, in which some scholars and professors also participated in the establishment.
"What are you thinking? Forget it if you don't want to accompany me!" After Lin Qingxia had a child, she seemed to have become much younger, smiling and beautiful all day long: "Also, you don't even look at your son.