Chapter 289 287. The world's richest people rankings soar

Hasbro Chairman Alan Hassenfeld suddenly announced his retirement and is about to step down as chairman of the board.

When this news was posted, it instantly caused turmoil in the financial field, and Hasbro's stock price fell.

Sergei vaguely revealed that it was because of Allen's illness, but did not elaborate.

Then all kinds of rumors started to spread.

This kind of confusing news can easily cause panic and breed fear, and many retail investors began to sell their stocks upon seeing this.

Not surprisingly, the stocks they sold were bought up by the company's top executives who were ready to take action. This could be considered a ready-made bonus given by Eric to the directors.

And at the same time, not only Hasbro's stocks were taken over, but also Mattel's stocks.

Hasbro encountered major changes, and the happiest company must be Mattel. As a competitor, Mattel's stock price has soared.

Kill two birds with one stone, go long on one side and short on the other, it feels great to make money on both ends.

As for retail investors, they will always be cut off by information asymmetry.

There is a good saying in A-share market that retail investors invest in stocks to contribute to the country. The purpose is not to make money for you, and you will feel happy even if you lose money.

This situation lasted for a week, and just as the market was getting worse and many people's confidence was severely damaged, Hasbro announced a press conference.

It was also the place where the Transformers copyright signing event was once held, but at that time Eric was a guest, but now he is the host.

Most of the people present here today are media reporters from the financial field. As a company with a market value of over 10 billion and a top toy giant in the United States, everyone wants to know what happened.

"Mr. Sergey, what exactly happened at Hasbro? Is Alan Hassenfeld really retiring due to illness? This is too sudden," asked a reporter from the Financial Times.

There are a lot of rumors flying around now, one of which is that Sergei seized power and that illness and other things are all lies.

"Ahem. We have also noticed that there is a lot of bad news circulating in the market, so we are holding a press conference today to make a formal statement."

"As for the chairman of the Hasbro board, my uncle Alan, he did develop a serious illness."

"Everyone knows that he is over 70 years old. For an elderly person, illness is inevitable."

"None of us wanted this to happen, but unfortunately, the disease eventually found him."

"Given Allen's current physical condition, what he needs most is rest and recuperation, but Hasbro cannot stop and the company must continue to develop."

"So for the good of the company, for the good of tens of thousands of Hasbro employees, and out of a responsible attitude towards the market, Allen had no choice but to step down as chairman with great reluctance."

"So who will be the new chairman of the board?" the Wall Street Journal reporter asked hurriedly.

"Well, this is also one of the purposes of this press conference today. We are fortunate to have found a new leader who is capable, responsible and visionary."

"He has been personally screened and examined by Allen and has been recognized by the entire board of directors. He is an extremely outstanding young man."

"Let us welcome the new leader of Hasbro!"

Snap, snap, snap…

Everyone attending the press conference stood up and applauded, and Eric walked out from backstage.

He was wearing a suit and formal leather shoes today, and he also put on some simple makeup.

His already handsome looks were even more prominent as he strode to the center of the stage in front of hundreds of media outlets.

Wow...

When they saw that it was Eric Cooper who came out, all the reporters present widened their eyes, looking confused and unbelievable, and many of them couldn't help but exclaimed.

What's going on? Why is it Eric Cooper? Or rather, how could it be him? Does he have any connection with Hasbro? Maybe, after all, it was he who helped MGM acquire the rights to Transformers.

Moreover, the movie was very successful, driving up the sales of toys, so it is conceivable that both parties are now in a honeymoon period.

But that's all. For Hasbro, he can be considered a good partner, but he can never be considered a successor.

An idea popped into the mind of a reporter with a big imagination: "Could it be that Eric Cooper is actually Allen's illegitimate son?"

Looking at the confused reporters below, Eric sat down and turned on the microphone.

"I know that everyone is a little surprised to see me here, and that's normal."

"But this is not an accidental idea. In fact, Alan and I have established a deep friendship since MGM began to contact Hasbro more than a year ago."

"And Sergey, Pedro, Ginger, Raul, we have always been good friends and often meet up privately."

Several people nodded in agreement.

"I am very optimistic about Hasbro's development, so I also bought some of the company's shares. The specific share will be announced later. In short, I meet the requirements for joining the board of directors."

"Since a few months ago, everyone wanted to recruit me as a new director of Hasbro, but as everyone knows what happened later, it was delayed."

"I didn't expect that not long ago, Allen's body was suddenly found to have a problem, a very serious problem."

"Oh my god! This is such a sad thing." Eric looked like he was about to cry.

"After learning about this, I flew over to visit him overnight. His condition was not very good. The picture was heartbreaking. He was such a good person and should not have suffered such pain."

Eric's moving and vivid narration once again demonstrated his acting skills that were no less than his control over the five women, and it was so heartbreaking to hear and shed tears to see.

Some less experienced reporters at the scene could not help but be infected by him and had already imagined the deep friendship between the two friends regardless of age difference.

As for those old hands who are used to the intrigues and deceptions, they are naturally not so easily fooled.

On both sides of him, several board members had twitching lips and felt so sick that they were about to vomit.

Have some shame, have you forgotten what happened that day? Does the real situation have anything to do with what you said? Don't be too Eric Cooper!

At this time, Sergei took over the conversation: "Eric, calm down and let me tell you what's going on."

Eric nodded and continued to wallow in his sorrow.

"Alas! Due to his physical condition, Alan feels that he can no longer perform his duties as chairman. We held an internal meeting to discuss this matter."

"According to the original plan, if Eric had not been framed, he would have been a director of Hasbro by now."

"Although the procedure has not been carried out yet, Alan still hopes to make a choice between me and Eric."

"After careful consideration by the board of directors, we finally decided that Eric would temporarily exercise the chairman's powers. I personally agree with this result and express my firm support."

"As Allen said, he is too good, and he has a lot of resources at his disposal, which can effectively complement Hasbro."

"We believe that under Eric's leadership, Hasbro's future is bright and will surely be even brighter tomorrow!"

As soon as Sergey finished speaking, several directors applauded.

The media reporters also realized that this was not a power grab as rumored by the outside world, but a deathbed entrustment.

Moreover, it seems that the transfer of power was very smooth, without any bloody, chaotic or confrontational scenes. This is good news for boosting market confidence.

Wiping away the tears from his eyes, Eric said loudly: "Alan Hassenfeld, he is a great man, a very respectable man."

"Under his leadership, Hasbro has been on a steady and positive path for decades, and even at this moment, he is still thinking about the company."

"Let's pay tribute to Alan!"

“Hail to Alan!”

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

It was a grand-sounding performance that resembled the ancient Chinese abdication. In short, the play was very well done.

Eric then took this opportunity to describe Hasbro's future development strategy.

When hearing that MGM would grant the copyrights of its major IPs to Hasbro, many people understood why Allen chose him.

The Walking Dead, Pink Panther, Peppa Pig, Frozen…

Any one of them is a big money-maker, and they are also very consistent with Hasbro's product positioning. The cooperation between the two parties is absolutely beneficial with no harm.

The press conference has not yet ended, but changes in the financial market have already begun. Hasbro's stock price ended several days of continuous decline and suddenly began to soar as if it had received a shot of adrenaline.

In almost an instant, the stock price rushed back to its original position and continued to rise all the way.

At the same time, the stock prices of MGM and Marvel also saw a surge.

Faced with such a big event, even TV stations like WB and ABC, which had a bad relationship with Eric, paid attention and broadcast it.

We have analyzed the pros and cons, and there are both praise and criticism. The specific situation still depends on the investors' own judgment.

Compared with the financial market, after hearing the news, most netizens were concerned about Eric's net worth.

"Eric Cooper has too much energy. He controls MGM, Facebook, YouTube, Lionheart, Doublestar Entertainment, Art Records and Marvel Group. Now he has a hand in Hasbro. Can he handle it all?"

"Haha. This question is too amateurish. Eric Cooper doesn't need to do everything himself. Judging from his work style, cultivating agents is still the most common method. Obviously, Sergei Hassenfeld is his new agent."

"Movies and TV, records, social networks, video sites, comic groups, toy companies, this is a big network, a closely interconnected network, Eric Cooper is connecting all aspects together, it's terrible."

"It is rumored that Eric Cooper holds no less than 10% of Hasbro's shares, making him the second largest individual shareholder. His wealth has made another leap."

"Oh my god! Who knows how much Eric Cooper's assets are? Forbes, please update it quickly. I really want to see how many places he can move up."

"Haha. Forbes is just watching for fun. Who would take that seriously? Those who make the list all have hidden wealth. Forbes can only count wealth that is allowed to be made public."

Just as this issue was being discussed online, Hasbro held a shareholders' meeting to confirm Eric's identity.

His shareholding ratio was also announced, with 17% ranking first with Alan Hassenfeld, and this number will soon rise to 21%, making him the largest shareholder.

I don’t know if Forbes was intentionally joining in the fun, but it also released the world’s richest list for June.

And adopted the 17% figure, giving a valuation of $1.955 billion based on Hasbro's current stock price.

Add to that Marvel Group's $1.837 billion fortune and MGM's $8.891 billion valuation.

The combined wealth of the three largest listed companies alone reached $12.683 billion.

These figures are verifiable and calculable. For example, five companies, including Facebook, YouTube, Lionheart Network, Doublestar Entertainment, and Art Records, have not yet been listed, and their wealth value is difficult to estimate, so they are not included.

However, even with a fortune of US$12.683 billion, it was enough for him to make it to the top of the list, rising to the 11th place like a rocket.

You have to know that when MGM went public again earlier this year, he was only ranked 51st, and the person ahead of him at that time was Amazon's Bezos with $5.3 billion.

And now?

Even though Bezos' wealth is growing rapidly, and even though Bezos also has a lot of hidden wealth such as private equity funds and financial management funds.

But no matter how invisible you are, you can’t be invisible for five or six billion dollars.

It has been left far behind!

When this ranking was announced, the focus of discussion became what the valuations of the already mature Facebook and DoubleStar Entertainment would be after they went public.

Facebook, in particular, has grown so rapidly that it has taken over the entire United States in just one year and has begun to expand into overseas markets.

Countless businessmen are waiting for it to start advertising business, and countless shareholders and institutions are waiting for it to go public.

Just like last time, Eric received and received countless calls of congratulations, while at the same time dealing with the excessive requests of the five women, who seemed to become even more fanatical.

Sure enough, money is a man’s courage and a woman’s aphrodisiac.

Half a month passed quickly in such a busy schedule, and the situation at Hasbro stabilized.

Alan Hassenfeld finally accepted his fate and chose to return to his hometown in Canada to recuperate, but no one knows what will happen to his shares in the end.

The rampant momentum of "Frozen" was also successfully blocked by "Troy", and it lost the box office championship in the fourth week.

However, what the other six did not expect was that "Troy" only held the top spot for one week, and was overtaken by "Frozen" in the second week.

It is the type that has a strong momentum but lacks stamina.

In its fifth week, "Frozen" officially broke the $1 billion mark at the global box office, becoming the sixth movie worldwide to gross over $1 billion.

Queen Elsa's pace of progress has not stopped.

(End of this chapter)