Chapter 13 13. Father-son conversation
As soon as the match between South Korea and Germany ended, Eric did not give the four players another day off, and asked them to return home the next day.
The four men's wealth skyrocketed in a short period of time. They knew who was the big king and who was the small king. Moreover, they were not football fans. After having fun outside for a month, it was time for them to return home.
It was not until the morning of June 24 that the four returned to Los Angeles one after another.
Cooper's home in Beverly Hills.
After thanking Emily Cooper who brought them the fruit drinks, the four followed Eric into his room.
"Warren, your face has gained weight. How is the food in Hong Kong?"
Warren rubbed his fat face and said, "I knew I shouldn't have gone there. All my previous efforts to lose weight were wasted. But the food there is damn delicious."
Judy jumped directly onto Eric's bed: "Latin beauties are the best. You have no idea how crazy those girls are. This is such a wonderful memory."
"Singapore is not bad either, it's a beautiful city, but I saw a foreigner being whipped for spitting."
Only Bordeaux gently touched his buttocks and said, "Let's get down to business. What are we going to do next?"
The four of them turned their eyes to Eric at the same time. Nearly 1.1 billion US dollars was an astronomical figure. They all wanted to know how Eric planned to use it.
"First, I need to set up a company, a shell company will do, and then I plan to acquire MGM."
"MGM? You want to go into the film and television industry?"
"Right, that's why I plan to acquire it, and MGM's new movie is done, now would be the best time."
"But Eric, we don't understand the film and television industry, and this decision is a bit too bold."
Eric glanced at them with a smile: "Have you forgotten that my dad is the CEO of MGM?"
In an instant, the four friends understood that this was actually a big game.
"Okay, give the orders Eric, what do you need us to do?"
Warren said enthusiastically that before they knew it, they had already regarded Eric as the gang leader, as if that was the right thing to do.
"It's very simple. First, set up a shell company, then learn the knowledge of the film industry. After the acquisition is completed, you will have a lot of things to do."
"Also, if you are willing to invest, I would also welcome it."
Half a month later, a company called AK Films was established in Los Angeles. Although the name sounded fierce and domineering, it had nothing to do with arms. It was just the initials of Eric Cooper.
On July 13, "Windtalkers," which had been released for nearly a month, was finally taken off the screen. The North American box office did not even reach 40 million US dollars, and the global box office was only about 77 million US dollars.
It was a failure, a complete failure. After deducting the profit sharing, MGM could only get about 30 million U.S. dollars. Although the cost of 130 million was exaggerated, it still meant a loss of at least 80 million U.S. dollars.
There are also publicity and promotion costs. Even if MGM does its own publicity and promotion, the cost is almost 30 million US dollars. Adding all the factors together, it is estimated that MGM will lose more than 100 million US dollars.
What's even more terrifying is that "Windtalkers" is different from John Woo's previous film style, and it is not popular in the disc market. The revenue in other aspects is almost negligible. This result can only be described as tragic.
Eric has been keeping an eye on MGM's stock price recently, and it has indeed plummeted. This is the case with a film and television company; the stock price will soar because of the success of a movie, and will also plummet because of the sudden failure of a movie.
Late at night, Eric heard the sound of the door and knew that his father was back. He had been coming home very late in recent days.
"Dad, are you working overtime again?"
Charlie Cooper was stunned and looked down at the time. It was already 2 o'clock in the middle of the night. He didn't expect that his son hadn't rested yet.
Eric walked over and took his dad's coat, looking at the tiredness on his face and asked, "Want a drink?"
Realizing that his son was waiting for him, Charlie Cooper sat on the sofa even though he wanted to sleep.
Bang! He unscrewed the beer and passed it to them. They drank half of it first.
"Are you having a headache over Windtalkers?"
"What else? Could it be Spider-Man?" Charlie Cooper laughed bitterly at himself. He had nothing to hide from his son.
“Is the loss serious?”
Charlie Cooper nodded: "According to the current situation, the loss will be at least $100 million, which is no different from a disaster for MGM."
As he said this he gulped down another big gulp of beer. He really wanted to get drunk to forget his sorrows.
"Dad, is there something wrong with you inside MGM?"
Charlie Cooper frowned: "Why are you asking this? Don't worry, I will take care of everything. I don't want to talk about those troubles at home."
Eric took out another bottle of beer and handed it over: "Dad, do you remember our agreement more than a month ago? Now is the time to talk. I need to know the real situation of MGM."
Hearing this, Charlie Cooper paused for a moment, and suddenly remembered that his son took the 10 million US dollars he gave him and stayed at home for more than a month, seemingly doing nothing.
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I have been busy with company matters recently and have neglected him. After all, it is 10 million US dollars, which would fill a truck if converted into white paper.
"Okay Eric, tell me the situation first. How much of the $10 million is left now?"
In Charlie Cooper's mind, his son must have spent most of his money.
Eric dipped his beer in the water and wrote the number 11 on the table.
"Only 11 dollars left?" There was a sudden exclamation in the living room.
Eric smiled and shook his head, "I have some confidence in your son. It's $1.1 billion, but there's $20 million of that in financing, so to be precise, I used $10 million to get $1.08 billion, with a net profit of $1.07 billion."
After Eric finished speaking, the living room suddenly became quiet, and Charlie Cooper looked at him as if he was a lunatic.
"Son, I'll take you to the psychiatric department tomorrow for a checkup. Do you have frequent headaches recently?"
Seeing that his father really didn't believe him, Eric repeated his words very solemnly.
Ding!
The beer bottle fell to the ground, and the splashing beer soaked Charlie Cooper's shoes.
"Eric, is what you said true?"
"Of course it's true. If you still don't believe it, I can take you to the bank to check your bank statements at dawn. I can't fool you, right?"
At this moment, even the father who had seen a lot of storms couldn't help but hold his head and yell: "Why. I don't understand. How did you do it?"
True or false, Eric told his father the whole story, and it took him a while to recover.
He looked at his son as if he were a monster: "So, you were really not kidding when you said you wanted to acquire MGM?"
"Why are you kidding me? I was serious all along, Dad. I need the truth about MGM."
(End of this chapter)