Chapter 1212: They are all worth dealing with

Walter said, "Boss, I've thought about what you said. You said that celebrities trick people into joining franchises, which not only earns them fame but also money. Those with dirty money can use the dirty money to join franchises themselves, which allows them to launder the dirty money while earning dividends, speeding up the money laundering process. But what about celebrities? They can make money without even lying down, which makes them invincible."

Xiao Peng snapped his fingers: "The analysis is absolutely correct."

Walter exclaimed: "What a powerful technique, is this what you call a 'little trick'?"

"Of course!" Xiao Peng said, "There are many more powerful techniques than this!"

"Boss, tell me something!" Bruch asked.

Xiao Peng rolled his eyes at him: "Why? You still want to learn?"

Bruch shook his head and said, "Boss, we are all your bodyguards! If your bodyguards go out and don't understand anything, wouldn't that be a disgrace to you? Even Kasin can say something like 'market law', how can I not make progress?"

Kasim directly gave Bruch the middle finger, but instead of refutation, he looked at Xiao Peng eagerly. He also wanted to know the answer.

Xiao Peng thought for a moment and said, "Basically, those celebrities have a bunch of companies under their names. Just like Fabian."

Walter and others nodded together.

Fabian registered a bunch of companies just to avoid taxes, which was known to Walter and the others, so they didn't find it strange.

"Is this to avoid taxes?" Khedira said.

Xiao Peng shook his head. "The laws are different. Our country's laws don't recognize certain methods. In our country, that's tax evasion. Bills like 'yin-yang contracts' can be collected through these companies. For example, our country introduced a 'salary cap' to curb sky-high film salaries, but there are countermeasures to the policy. Celebrities can continue to receive high salaries by 'multi-tasking': an actor's salary going to Company A, a 'screenwriter's salary going to Company B, a 'consultant's salary going to Company C, a 'artist's salary going to Company D... and so on. The 'salary cap' can't stop them from making money. And the purpose of these companies isn't just to collect high salaries; they're also used for money laundering."

“How do these companies clean up?” Khedira asked in confusion.

Xiao Peng said, "Let me give you an example. I'm very famous now, and I used my fame to set up a company. What are these companies usually used for? The first is to invest in film and television dramas to promote myself, and the second is to sell them."

"Sell it?"

Xiao Peng nodded. "That's selling it. That's equivalent to selling my IP to the buyer. The buyer will then buy all kinds of trending searches to hype me up, like 'Persisting in performing for fans despite a 62-degree fever,' 'Persisting in dancing despite having comminuted fractures on both legs,' 'Practicing dance for over 25 hours a day,' 'Not proud of having 30 billion fans,' 'Persisting in holding charity performances every February 30th,' 'Giving away money to Swiss children who can't afford to go to school,' 'Protecting Earthlings from being wiped out by alien civilizations,' and so on..."

"Isn't this fucking nonsense?" Walter couldn't help but swear.

Xiao Peng laughed, "Which celebrity hype isn't based on nonsense? I just added a little 'exaggeration' to it. Just get the gist. Fans love stories anyway. Once these stories create a buzz and attract traffic, the stock price of the company behind the celebrity IP will skyrocket. At this point, those with dirty money can pour large amounts of capital into the company's stock market, causing the stock price to skyrocket again, leading people to lament the 'celebrity effect.' But then, when the market reaches a certain peak, the big investors, including those behind the dirty money, withdraw and cash out. The big companies profit from the money launderers' money and share their share of the money launderers' money. The money launderers successfully clean up their money, the celebrities earn their share, and can even take back the IP when the stock price plummets. In the end, only the unlucky followers are left hanging."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, Walter said, "This is too damn shady, isn't it? Boss, we originally thought that with your legendary status in this industry, if you went public, we all believed you would become the world's richest man. But now I'm beginning to understand why you didn't go public. It would be easy for others to exploit you in the capital market!"

Xiao Peng nodded: "That's right. Although some money can be made quickly, it's very hard to spend. In fact, this is not the worst. They have other means. Can they play it more advanced?"

"Anything else?" Walter exclaimed.

Xiao Peng nodded. "Let's say someone wants to buy my company. I won't sell it to them right away. Instead, I'll sign a bet with them. That is, you invest a few hundred million in me. If I make a profit within a few years, we'll be done with it. If I don't, I'll give you my company or pay you back. If I win, I'll earn the investment from the big company. If I lose, it's just a buyout. Then it's back to what we were talking about earlier—hype, stock market speculation, black money entering, skyrocketing prices, exiting. The money I make from this far exceeds what the big company paid for my company, and this cycle repeats endlessly. In the end, the unlucky ones are always the ones who follow the trend and invest like leeks. Just like a famous director in our country recently lost over 200 million yuan in this kind of bet. Many fans are worried about him—but what's the point of worrying? The money he's earned would take several trucks to load!"

Walter was silent for a while and then said, "Boss, I understand why celebrities in your country have high incomes. Among so many money laundering methods, celebrities are the most important link. Without celebrities, these money laundering methods would not be feasible. And to get celebrities to cooperate in money laundering, they need to be given sufficient benefits."

Xiao Peng nodded and said, "That's right. If you think it's too difficult to find a star or if they have too big an appetite and want too much, then just create a star. It's really easy to create a star now. There are so many talent shows in the country. As long as you are willing to spend money to hire a group of online hype to make someone famous, it's not difficult. Then you can use various money laundering schemes. Our country has some new idols now. Some of them come from deadbeat families or families involved in gangs. Why do they make their own children famous? It's to launder money. This way, the money they owe becomes their children's 'regular income', and the money they get from gangs also becomes 'regular income'. Even the children of drug dealers can be idols! How can the country not deal with them... huh?"

As Xiao Peng was talking, he suddenly looked out the window, frowned slightly and stopped talking.

"Boss, what are you looking at?"