Chapter 1704 New Proposal

Such behavior is actually somewhat rude, but Feng Yiping believes that in such an occasion, this middle-aged man can be so presumptuous to find him, and he doesn't think it's for an autograph.

"I am, who are you?"

"Sorry to bother you, I'm Anthony from the Tracinda Group, and this is our chairman," Anthony stepped aside and let an old man with gray hair and loose cheek muscles behind him pass.

Mateo has stood up, and it's obvious that he knows the identity of this man.

Cummins was stunned for a moment, and then whispered a name in Feng Yiping's ear.

Is it him? This doesn't look like it.

The old man who looked like an old-fashioned British gentleman had already extended his hand to Feng Yiping, and it was indeed an authentic American accent, "Hello Mr. Feng,"

"Hello Mr. Kerkorian," Feng Yiping shook his hand.

Although this man was very strong, compared with the young Feng Yiping, he was naturally very soft.

In fact, it was already very good. He is currently 87 years old, and he looks really energetic.

"Hello Cork," Mateo also shook hands with him.

On Feng Yiping's side, Zuckerberg and his friends were asking people around them who this seemingly simple gentleman was. After finding out, they were all in awe. He was indeed an extraordinary person.

Kirk Kerkorian was born in Southern California in the 1920s. He grew up in a poor family and started doing odd jobs to supplement his family income at the age of 9. Later, after finishing junior high school, he dropped out of school completely. There are too many people in the United States who dropped out of school to start a business and became rich, but those who at least went to college, he did not even go to high school.

Later, in order to make money, he started boxing and eventually became the champion of the American amateur lightweight boxing match. Later, one day, when he got on a plane for the first time, he quickly fell in love with aviation.

Later, during World War II, he joined the British Royal Air Force to fight. He saved almost all of his salary at that time. After the war, he used this as capital to buy a single-engine plane for transportation. After accumulating some capital, he bought a small airline in Las Vegas in 1947.

After running the company for 18 years, he successfully listed the small company, and sold it to Pan Am, the world's leading aviation company at that time, for $140 million three years later.

He bought the company in 1947 for only $60,000, and the income 21 years later was more than 2,300 times his investment.

At the same time, he did not miss the most profitable business in Las Vegas. A year before selling the airline, he worked with others to build the world's largest casino hotel, the International Hotel, in Las Vegas.

Cummins and his team had talked to Feng Yiping about some of the subsequent experiences. The old man acquired MGM in 1970, and sold MGM to Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, for $1.45 billion in 1986.

Soon, Turner retained all of MGM's movies before 1948 to enrich his own TV shows, and then sold MGM back to Kerkorian.

In 1990, he sold MGM again for $1.3 billion, and six years later, he still spent $1.3 billion to buy it back.

Then in September last year, he sold it again - in Feng Yiping's impression, this was the last time he sold MGM, because he remembered that MGM should have gone bankrupt a few years before his rebirth.

This time, an agreement has been reached, but the acquisition is still waiting for approval from relevant agencies. The buyer is a consortium led by Sony, and the amount is as high as 4.8 billion US dollars.

No wonder MGM went bankrupt in the end. All the money that should be earned was earned in advance by this old man in the process of reselling again and again.

But it seems that this old man is really different from what Feng Yiping imagined. Not only does he look non-aggressive, but he also keeps his head down slightly, not very relaxed, which is completely different from his style in the business world.

Sure enough, you can't judge a person by his appearance - Feng Yiping didn't know that in the eyes of the other party, he is the same.

"Please sit down," several people next to him had already given up their seats.

Kerkorian sat down and chatted with the people who were interested in him a few words in a friendly manner, then whispered to Feng Yiping, "Can we talk alone for a few words?"

You have sold MGM and are now a casino tycoon in Las Vegas. It seems that you have nothing to talk to me about, "You haven't eaten yet, why don't you eat first?"

"We have already eaten," Anthony said.

"Then, can you wait for me for a few minutes?" Feng Yiping was really a little hungry, and he didn't know how long it would take for the old man to say a few words.

He had seen many guys who had stated in advance that "I will only say three words this time," but ended up talking for most of the day.

"It doesn't matter, you eat first," Kerkorian said with a smile.

He stood up, "Excuse me,"

Mateo from UBS was originally ready to leave. It was obvious that only Feng Yiping and his people would be more comfortable with such a dinner, but now he didn't want to leave.

It seems that this is an opportunity right in front of him, right?

…………

Eight minutes later, Feng Yiping, who had hurriedly eaten a plate of scrambled eggs and a pie, was already walking with Kerkorian on the mountain path behind the restaurant.

The roadside was a world covered in silver, and there was often a rustling sound coming from the forest, which was the sound of snow falling from the branches.

"Mr. Kerkorian," Feng Yiping decided to get straight to the point.

Kerkorian had the same idea, and before Feng Yiping could ask, he asked first, "If I decide to sell MGM this year, will you be one of the buyers?"

Feng Yiping answered directly, "We would be very interested."

In fact, Feng Yiping did pay attention to MGM's nearly half-year sale process last year, but he was not tempted.

First, it would disrupt his original plan.

Second, MGM is not an ordinary American company. Many American people have deep feelings for this film company that has been established for more than 80 years. He does not want to provoke the sensitive nerves of the American people.

Finally, and most importantly, he thinks it is not cost-effective to spend so much money.

Before deciding to sell, MGM's market value was close to 4.1 billion US dollars, and Sony's final bid was still nearly 20% premium, more than 4.8 billion US dollars.

Sony thus obtained MGM's 4,100 film assets, plus the 3,500 films of Columbia Pictures acquired in 1989, a total of 7,600 films, which will allow Sony to control 50% of the film resources in the US film market, close to a monopoly, which is why this acquisition has not been approved yet.

With such a foundation, Sony's DVD rental business will naturally take another step forward.

Feng Yiping also wanted to buy it. After all, he had made up his mind to go the route of self-made content. An old production company like MGM is naturally an excellent target, but he is really not interested in paying nearly $5 billion.

With that money, he can completely set up a new production company and invest in those hit movies he knows.

Which movies will make a lot of money and which movies will lose money is the biggest problem faced by all production companies in the world, but this is not a problem for Feng Yiping. At least he knows all the big-profit movies in the next ten years.

However, facing such an old man in his eighties, almost nineties, it is naturally not easy to say "We are interested, but we will not buy"

Kerkorian was obviously happy after hearing what Feng Yiping said. Now everyone knows that Feng Yiping has a good vision and he is interested in his company. Doesn't that mean he is optimistic about his company?

"After noticing that you acquired Netflix and launched YouTube, I immediately realized that maybe you are the most suitable new boss for MGM," he said.

I don't want to be your boss. It's too expensive!

And you are too smart and good at raising prices.

Before reaching an agreement with Sony, MGM almost reached an acquisition agreement with Time Warner for $4.6 billion, but just a few minutes before the meeting, Sony made a new offer, which made Time Warner choose to withdraw.

It would be strange if there were no small moves behind such a wonderful plot like in a movie! And the main instigator of those small moves can only be the old man in front of him who looks very gentlemanly and a little pedantic.

"The reason why MGM has performed poorly in recent years is that in this era of media groupization, MGM does not have any cable TV channels, TV networks or broadband networks, and has no media group to back it up, so it is restricted everywhere," he continued.

His analysis is obviously correct.

"But now you have Netflix, YouTube, and so many users. You are already a high-tech media group, so I think it would be the best result if MGM is sold to you. You know, Sony only values ​​our movie library, and they will even close the production department,"

He said this in a way that was not like someone who bought and sold MGM several times for profit, as if he was particularly concerned about the development of MGM.

"After all, we are a latecomer with limited strength," the shrewd old man praised himself too much, and Feng Yiping retreated protectively.

You said that your company has signed a sales agreement and said that I am the most suitable buyer. What's the point?

Even if I am, even if I want to buy it, I believe you will not only not save a penny, but may even raise the price.

"I roughly understand your plan," Kerkorian said to Feng Yiping.

"Oh, really," he noticed that Feng Yiping did not have too intense emotional fluctuations, and was not panicked at all after being seen through.

"So I think MGM is a very suitable target for you,"

"I'm sorry, shouldn't MGM be owned by Sony soon?" Feng Yiping said this directly.

Although the relevant institutions have not approved it yet, you and Sony have signed an agreement and received so much money in advance. Can you regret it now?

"Before the sale, I owned 75% of MGM's shares. According to the agreement, after Sony acquired a large part of it, I still hold a lot of MGM shares. If you need it, I am happy to transfer it to you," Kerkorian finally said the purpose of his search for Feng Yiping.

"If you become a member of MGM's board of directors, when Sony disposes of related assets and departments, such as the production department, you will naturally have advantages that others can't have. Isn't this great?"

It seems to make some sense.

Feng Yiping put his hands in his coat pockets, walked a few steps on the snow, and then suddenly stopped and asked Kerkorian who was standing there looking at him intently, "Mr. Kerkorian, are you going to do anything new?"

"Hmm?" Kerkorian was stunned, and then a little flustered, "No, no, I saw your plan after you acquired Netflix and launched YouTube, and I thought that MGM's shares should be what you need."

Although he knew that Feng Yiping was not an ordinary person, Kerkorian was still very surprised at this time. How could he think so far?

After being seen through, he was still confused. He didn't see it on Feng Yiping's face, but Feng Yiping saw it on his face.

So Feng Yiping didn't continue to ask, but he was sure at this time that the reason why the old man wanted to sell the remaining MGM shares now must be to prepare funds for his next project.

"Thank you very much for thinking about me, but Mr. Kerkorian, I am not very interested in becoming a small shareholder of MGM,"

He said this as if he was very interested in spending a price to become a major shareholder of MGM.

"Thank you very much for your wise opinion. I hope we will have opportunities to cooperate in other fields in the future,"

Kerkorian should not have expected this effect. He was also sure that Feng Yiping should be very interested in MGM, but now it seems that he guessed wrong?

"I am also looking forward to our future cooperation," he said.

"Well, I'm sorry," Feng Yiping hurried into the restaurant. Kerkorian's suggestion reminded him of another thing.