Chapter 153 152. If You Don’t Agree, I’ll Get You

Nicole Kidman's birthday party in Beverly Hills.

Eric looked at the man in front of him, stretched out his hand and shook it gently, and the two smiled at each other.

"Eric Cooper, hello James!"

The other party's surname is Murdoch, and he appeared in this occasion, so there is no surprise that he must be the son of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

There is no need to say much about this old man's name. Few people in the world don't know his wealth and power. His wife Wendi Deng is also very famous.

It controls News Corporation and 20th Century Fox, which in turn owns some of the most important media outlets in countries such as Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

20th Century Fox Film Corporation includes Fox Film Corporation, Fox Searchlight, Fox Television Network, Fox Broadcasting Network, etc.

Rupert Murdoch is not only powerful in the entertainment industry, but also has a great influence in the political circle.

This influence will last at least 20 years before gradually waning, as News Corporation's newspaper business has suffered a severe blow due to the impact of the Internet.

In 2019, 20th Century Fox was acquired by Disney for a staggering $71.3 billion, becoming the largest film and television acquisition since the millennium. When the news was officially released, it shocked the world entertainment industry.

From then on, Hollywood officially entered the five major eras, with only Disney, Warner, Universal, Sony and Paramount remaining.

Although it is said that things will eventually unify after a long period of division and will eventually separate after a long period of unification, before Disney announced the acquisition of 20th Century Fox, most people still believed that the weakest Paramount should be the first to be acquired, but unexpectedly it was Fox.

But that was more than ten years later. Mickey Mouse had not yet expanded to such an extent. News Corporation and Fox were still able to call the shots, and were at least much stronger than MGM.

The two clinked their glasses, and James Murdoch said, "Let me introduce myself first. Eric, you should be able to guess who I am, but you are not familiar with me."

"My father is the Rupert Murdoch you are thinking of. I also work for News Corporation and am currently the chairman of Star TV Asia."

"Ah? Star TV is owned by your family?"

Eric was a little surprised. For a person born in the 1990s, Star TV accompanied his childhood. Anime that were not introduced to the mainland were broadcast on Star TV.

For example, "Inuyasha", "Naruto", "Fruits Basket", "Magical Mimiru", "Detective Conan", "Cardcaptor Sakura Magic Card" and so on.

It has a very childhood filter, but I didn't expect it to be affiliated with News Corporation.

James Murdoch smiled slightly and said, "That's too absolute. Star TV is a subsidiary of News Corporation. It belongs to all shareholders. I am just the trustee."

"Compared to that, MGM is better. You have the final say, and this lion is completely your personal property."

Eric waved his hand: "What's the use of it belonging to me alone? MGM owes billions of dollars in foreign debt. I have a headache every day when I wake up. I don't know when the bank will take it away."

"You are too modest, Eric. MGM is developing very well now. It has been ten months since you took over."

"I have calculated that all investment projects are profitable. Although most of them are small-cost, the accuracy rate is simply terrifying."

"This proves that you have a terrifying sense of the market and that you can accurately analyze what the audience wants to watch. This is a very rare ability and it is enviable."

If an American grew up in a traditional way, he would definitely boast that it was indeed his own achievement.

But Eric felt that the guy in front of him had some bad intentions, so he decided to hide his weakness and observe what he wanted to do first.

He laughed: "This is not my credit, it is the result of the decision of MGM as a whole. I am just an executor."

"No matter what, MGM's development momentum is positive. Many people are waiting for it to be listed again. Have you confirmed the time? I plan to buy some shares then."

"The specific time is yet to be determined, but the relisting will definitely happen. The shares are public and anyone can buy them. If I had the money, I would also like to buy shares of News Corporation and Fox."

Eric looked at Uncle Wolf next to him and said, "Jack, you can buy some when the time comes. Good investments can make more money than good movies."

After listening for a while, Hugh Jackman could already feel that there was something wrong with the conversation between the two. He was a smart man and he didn't want to get involved in the muddy waters of matters between the big guys.

"Eric, thank you for your advice, I'll think about it. There's a friend over there, I'll go over and say hello, you guys can chat."

After saying that, he was decisive.

James Murdoch made a gesture of invitation: "This location is not very convenient, how about we talk over there?"

The two walked to a corner of the living room. There were not many people there and it was much quieter.

"James, what do you want to talk about? You don't want to acquire MGM, do you?" Eric said jokingly.

"Of course not. Although career is important, one still has to eat one bite at a time. My ambition has not expanded to this extent."

"But I heard a piece of news that Facebook, which has been popular in the United States recently, seems to have some connection with MGM, right?"

Eric did not answer directly, but said lightly: "Go on!"

"Facebook is great. The emergence of this social media is disruptive and will change the way people interact with each other."

"I think it has great potential for development. Although it is now mainly spread in major universities in the United States, in the near future, Facebook will definitely cover the entire United States."

“Just imagine that maybe in a year, half of Americans will use Facebook, and then it will gradually spread to Canada, Mexico, and Europe.”

"We will take a year to gradually conquer these countries, and then Asia and South America."

"Maybe in five years, maybe longer, maybe shorter, Facebook's user reach will cover the entire world."

“At that point, it will not only be the first social media in history, but it will also be the largest social media in the world.”

"You and I both know what the biggest means. It represents monopoly, and monopoly symbolizes profit, which is far greater than any other profit."

Seeing James Murdoch's exaggerated statements, Eric was sure that others must have already determined that he was the actual controller behind Facebook, and there was no need to deny it.

"James, what you said is very good. I agree with your vision for the future. So what do you want to do?"

James Murdoch said seriously: "Cooperation is a win-win situation."

"Cooperation? James, cooperation requires sincerity. I need to see your sincerity." Eric said

"Of course I have sincerity. First of all, it's financial support. As you said, MGM's current development momentum is indeed very good, but it is also a fact that it is heavily in debt."

"As Facebook grows, the amount of operating capital required will only increase, and you have to admit that."

"At least until the user base is stable, it will be difficult for Facebook to start making a profit. It will be in a state of loss for a long time and it needs constant transfusions."

"So the first condition I gave was financial support, based on Facebook's registered users. For every 1 million registered users, News Corp was willing to invest $5 million a year in operating funds."

"And this number is floating. With the fluctuation of market prices, it will rise to 6 million, 7 million, or 8 million in the future."

Eric smiled slightly. This price is indeed very good. If you don’t consider expanding the business, it is actually profitable just from the operation perspective.

"Well, that's right. Please continue with the second condition."

"The second is naturally resource support, including connections and public opinion, which are what News Corporation is best at."

"I've noticed that although Facebook has only been online for a short time, some media have already said bad things about it. Did you watch that CBS interview program? It was full of concerns and condemnations about Facebook."

"Once we have the support of News Corp, Facebook will not have to worry about public opinion. We are the most authoritative news media."

"When Facebook expands its business in Europe, Australia and even Asia in the future, News Corp will also be able to provide strong support, at least to minimize the resistance it encounters."

"Eric, although what I said is very general, you should be able to feel the impact of News Corporation. Think about it."

Eric nodded: "James, I want to ask a question, this time you came to me, is it your personal behavior, or on behalf of your father?"

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Perhaps because he felt that Eric could not refuse him, or perhaps because he thought that he surpassed Eric in terms of status and power, James Murdoch did not hide it.

He said openly: "For now, this is my personal behavior, but I am confident that I can convince my father to agree to this."

"I have been working for Asia Star TV since 2000, and it has been three years now. During the early days of my tenure, the TV station had accumulated losses of US$650 million."

"It took me three years to bring it back to life, and I was able to enter the Chinese and Indian markets, helping the company turn losses into profits."

"Now that I am leaving Star TV, my father has promised that I can choose almost any position in News Corp or Fox."

"I was going to be CEO of Sky Broadcasting, but then Facebook came along and I found this pearl."

"From its popularity, the market potential of social media is huge, so this field will be my new target."

"I'm not afraid to tell you that if we work together, it will be a win-win situation, or if News Corp launches its own social network, we will become competitors."

Eric's eyes were stern: "Are you threatening me?"

"Eric, this is not a threat, but a benign advice. You can't survive in this world by eating alone."

"Haha. Do you know how much time MGM spent behind the scenes to develop Facebook? When News Corporation develops its own software, how much time will the market leave for you?"

"Eric, the premise you mentioned is redevelopment, but what if I already have a finished product?"

"What? How did you get it?"

Eric was a little surprised, and immediately thought of words like code leak and insider.

"Don't be so surprised, I didn't do anything illegal, someone sold it to me, it's called MySpace."

"If you agree to cooperate, we will work together to create the world's strongest social network. If you refuse, then Myspace will immediately compete with Facebook."

"MGM can mobilize celebrities for publicity, and so can Fox. We have the resources that MGM has, and we also have resources that MGM doesn't have."

"I don't want to end up in a situation where both sides suffer losses, Eric, I hope you understand this too."

James Murdoch looked at him intently after he finished speaking, and Eric finally understood where his confidence came from.

If they can't get you, they will use similar methods to destroy you. This method is not only good at penguins, but also good at capital groups all over the world.

Eric narrowed his eyes: "James, tell me what you want."

James Murdoch spread out his five fingers: "50% of Facebook's shares. Of course, the operating rights still belong to you. I have the right to make suggestions, and you are still the actual controller of Facebook."

Eric almost laughed out of anger when he heard the other party's request.

You are so bold to ask for such a huge amount of money. You ask for half of the shares. Why don’t you just go to heaven?

If it was 10% or no more than 20%, Eric would still seriously consider it, but 50% was complete nonsense.

Who would believe that they are not involved in the operation? At most, they will be honest for a while at the beginning. Once they have established a firm foothold, they will definitely try every means to occupy a dominant position. By then, Facebook is bound to face fierce internal fighting.

After drinking the wine in the glass in one gulp, Eric said coldly: "It seems that you are not sincere at all."

Seeing Eric was about to leave, James Murdoch hurriedly said: "Wait a minute Eric, this is just my initial idea, we can discuss the specific cooperation method."

"I don't think that's necessary. You can't reduce this number to 10%, just like I can't take away half of News Corp and Fox from you."

"You want to swap shares?"

"Yes, this is the best way to cooperate. I don't need your money. Your resources may be useful, but what if I don't have them?"

"Eric Cooper, share swap is impossible, especially since Facebook is just a new company. It seems you have to choose the path of competition." James Murdoch's voice also turned cold.

Eric didn't move, but turned his head to glance at him, with a hawk-like look.

For some reason, being looked at like this, James Murdoch suddenly felt uncomfortable and uneasy all over.

Just then, Nicole came over, but she didn't notice the problem.

"Why are you two here? Eric, let me introduce you, this is..."

"No need, I have already talked to Mr. Murdoch."

"Really? It's great that you guys already know each other, James, I've always..."

"Sorry Nicole, there's something urgent going on at the company, I have to go back and deal with it. Happy birthday to you, and I'll contact you when I'm free."

Looking at James Murdoch's leaving back, Nicole looked at Eric blankly.

(End of this chapter)