Chapter 1308 The Media Emperor Is Fading Away

Sumner Redstone, someone nicknamed him the Media Emperor.

His life is full of legends. Born in poverty, he had to work hard on the battlefield. He even had the title of World War II hero after participating in World War II. After World War II, he devoted himself to the field of media and began to work hard in this field. From starting a business at the age of thirty to almost sixty. His life is mediocre, and the company he works so hard to run is not at all emotional. Judging from this trend, even if he dies, it is impossible for him to become a media emperor. But when he was fifty-eight years old, a fire changed everything.

He was badly burned and nearly died. But he, who survived the catastrophe, did not get depressed because of this, but took it as an opportunity for his life to change. That is to say, from the time when he was sixty years old, he started his miraculous life.

At the age of 63, he sold his property and acquired Viacom, which was not well-known at the time, and developed Viacom all the way until he acquired Paramount at the age of 70. Then at seventy-six, the acquisition of the CBS television network for $46 billion. Until now, Viacom has become the world's top media company in his hands, and he himself has become a well-deserved legendary tycoon in the entire media industry.

Such a special experience has naturally brought him great prestige. Known as the king of media, he has always been the same in this company created by himself. Even now, as he's older and retired to the background, he still has that confidence. He thought that as long as he said so, shareholders would respond to his actions. But unfortunately, things are not what he thought.

Almost at the moment when he made his statement, some shareholders began to sing against him.

"Mr. Lei Shidong, I think you need to know. Our earnings have fallen sharply throughout last year. We have been in a sluggish situation in the stock market. Even before the shareholder turmoil, our stock price even fell by 100%. Twenty-five. Your Excellency, you should be very clear about what this means. Now, the turmoil in the stock market is intensifying, and our losses are also expanding. If we do not accept such a premium acquisition at this time, we will compensate our shareholders How long do you think we shareholders can last if we lose more money?"

"This is not a reason for you to sell the company, sir. You should know that the company's decline is only temporary, and the whole world is affected by the turmoil. We will recover, and by that time, the company's earnings will be enough to cover your today's income." Loss. All you have to do is wait, that's all."

The voices of shareholders Redstone cannot be ignored, but this does not mean that he will change his mind because of them. As a man known as the emperor, Lei Shidong's conceit in his heart is naturally far beyond ordinary people. So he refuted it almost immediately, and even said that he was almost using a strong tone to oppress these so-called shareholders.

He thought he could do it,

As long as their attitude is strong enough, it is absolutely impossible for these shareholders to ignore their opinions. It's just a pity that this idea was feasible in the past, but it is completely unfeasible today.

Viacom has developed to this day, even if he is the founder, it is actually impossible to completely control such a large group. He has a lot of shares, but it is absolutely impossible to override other shareholders to decide the direction of the entire group, and at this moment, once some shareholders have begun to express their attitude clearly, his words will not Then there is the weight of the past.

"Wait, Mr. Redstone. We have no time to wait. Our losses are so great that our assets have already been affected. Instead of wasting time on this kind of waiting without any future, we I would rather make this deal now. At least by doing so, we can make up for our losses, and even say that we may still make a small profit."

Some people said such words, and naturally, some people followed suit. That's not one or two people saying that, but many people are saying that. And when these people gather together, the power they represent is enough to determine the future of the entire Viacom Group.

This is something Lei Shidong never thought about, he never thought that he would get such a complete betrayal at this time. This made his heart overflow with anger, and his rationality suffered waves of powerful shocks.

At this time, he really wanted to yell at these shareholders who disobeyed him, but his reason told him that he absolutely could not do so.

Doing so will only completely push these shareholders to the opposite side, and once they completely stand on the opposite side of themselves, then he will be even more powerless. At this time, he must obtain the support of most of the shareholders, and in order to obtain such support, he must promise them an absolutely achievable benefit as he did before.

This was not a problem in the past, because the world in the past was a gold mine, and a big capitalist like him could dig out a large piece of gold just by swinging a pickaxe. But now, the United States has become like this, and most companies can only protect themselves. Of course he couldn't do it to the extent that he had done in the past.

At this time, he could only simply promise a blank check. And can a blank check impress these old crafty guys? He knew the answer without even thinking about it.

Could it be that the painstaking efforts that I have worked so hard to create all my life will fall into the hands of others? As soon as this thought arose in his heart, it already made his whole heart chill. He absolutely cannot let things become like this, he absolutely cannot let his hard work fall into the hands of others. He had to stop all of this, he had to stop such horrible things.

But what should he do? Lei Shidong, who is over eighty years old, is an old man after all, his energy is not as good as before, and his brain is not as active as before. At such a time, he couldn't even think of a reasonable way to break the situation. However, he is the media emperor after all, he is the legendary figure after all. Even if the brain is not enough, but the experience and experience are enough to point him in the direction.

There is a saying that one must tie the bell to untie it. He knew that his current predicament in the board of directors was entirely caused by those shareholders who were against her. So if we want to open up the situation, I'm afraid we still have to exert our strength from these people. That shareholder, the guy representing the consortium that once invested in Viacom, is the direction that he needs to work hard.

Knowing this in his heart, he no longer cared about those hypocrisy at this time. He almost made it clear that the chariot was on his way, so he said to the guy who had been contradicting him all the time.

"Sir, I don't know what you or the people behind you think. But what I want to tell you is, don't fool me for a fool. Yes, the situation in the United States is very bad now, but like you A guy with billions of dollars will never go bankrupt because of such a little turmoil. This is not an excuse for you to fool me, nor is it an excuse for you to betray Viacom. What exactly do you want? , tell me, as long as I can afford it, I'll pay it to keep Viacom safe."

"Save Viacom? Mr. Redstone, don't you understand? We're doing this to make Viacom better."

With a meaningful smile on his face, the shareholder who had been singing the naysayer said so.

"The center of the world is no longer the United States. Whether we admit it or not, this will not change. As an American company, Viacom has almost established most of its market in the United States. This has been true in the past , is the foundation of his success. But now, all this will only become a drag on Viacom. If Viacom wants to develop, the best way is to open up the mainland market on the other side of the ocean. Of course, you and I both know, This is something we can’t do with our strength alone. The market determines its limitations. If we want to open up there, we must have a special opportunity. And now, this special opportunity has been placed on our hands So why don't we try to catch him as much as we can, instead of shutting him out as you said? This is not in our interest. Don't forget, we are capitalists and capitalists should not Fight against your own interests!"

An extremely good reason came out of his mouth, but it made Lei Shidong even more angry. He admits that there is some truth to this sentence, but this is his enterprise, something he created by himself. Its future should not be decided by these so-called capitalists, but by himself. And it was impossible for him to accept such a decision.

"I said, what is the price? I would rather pay such a price than let you dominate Viacom's future. It is mine, and only I have this right."

"Why, do you think so?" With a sneer on his face, the shareholder said to him with disdain. "I'm sorry, Mr. Redstone. I don't think you can afford such a price. This is a joint decision of several major consortiums. We hope to use this opportunity to open the door of that country. You are chosen to be yours." Lucky. Of course, if you are not willing to accept this kind of luck, then I can only say that this will become your misfortune."

"The shareholders here are a testimony. You can ask them, are they willing to support you and stay on this broken ship that keeps them losing profits? Or are they willing to work with our consortium to open up a new century together? ?”