Everyone had just finished dinner, and Brandon Johnston couldn't wait to leave Dume Point Manor.
Janet had put him in touch with a party in Hollywood.
Moreover, although he is a fan of the "Batman" series, Brandon is not a fan of Simon, and he is obviously uncomfortable staying with his uncle.
Obviously, because the two are the same age, Brandon should have received a lot of "someone else's XXX" comments in private.
Betty Johnston, mother and daughter did not go out, and Janet visited in the Shell Villa.
Simon and Anthony stayed in a living room on the first floor of the villa to discuss business.
"Probably seeing the rapid growth of the Internet industry in North America, Telstra made some concessions and was willing to reduce the shareholding ratio of the joint venture to 30%. At home, my father said that 20% of the shares would be enough for us. There is still 50% of the shares available for distribution if you wish."
Since last year, Simon has been preparing to enter the Australian telecommunications market, including legal lobbying for restrictions on Australia's related telecommunications industry and cooperation with local Australian telecommunications companies.
Before the 1990s, Australia's telecommunications industry had been dominated by state-owned enterprises.
Australia's largest telecommunications company, Telstra, is very similar to AT-T in the United States before 1984. This company almost monopolizes Australia's fixed-line telephone, cable TV and mobile communications industries. Some other second- and third-tier telecommunications companies are basically state-owned enterprises.
Because of the huge interests involved in the telecommunications industry, capital forces have been lobbying the Australian government non-stop in recent years to open the telecommunications industry to the private sector.
With the joint efforts of all parties, in January this year, the Australian government finally lifted the ban on the telecommunications industry and allowed private investors to participate in investment in Australia's local telecommunications field. As a result, the Westeros system was able to start its own layout.
The telecommunications business that Simon plans to develop in Australia is mainly mobile communications and Internet access services, and it will also cooperate with Yigret's portal business.
If you want to develop ISP business, the fastest way is to choose to cooperate with local operators like America Online.
Telstra, which has a monopoly on the entire Australian telecommunications network, is basically the only option.
Telstra was well aware of its advantages and did not make the same mistake that Bell Atlantic did when the three companies cooperated with AOL. They insisted on obtaining 50% of the shares of 'Australia Online' registered in Australia by Westeros Company, which was similar to AOL.
The Johnston family, which confirmed it would take a stake in Australia Online, has been in talks with Telstra in recent months.
Simon had actually known in advance what Anthony had just said, and had considered it. At this time, he said: "I have thought that in this case, we will simply abandon Telstra. Whether it is Internet access services or mobile communications, there are still It is an emerging industry in the early stages of development. Even if we cooperate with companies like Telstra, we still need to face the trouble of upgrading infrastructure equipment. The initiative in this regard is in the hands of Telstra, and we will still be greatly constrained in the future."
Because they signed an exclusive agreement and were unable to take a share of the emerging Internet field, during this period, Bell Pacific and NYNEX became increasingly passive in cooperating with AOL, which to a great extent restricted AOL's influence on the two companies. expansion of the region.
That's largely why Simon doesn't plan to work with Telstra anymore.
Because of the negative constraints of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX, AOL has now had to accelerate the construction of its own line network in the service areas of Bell Pacific and NYNEX.
Simon didn't care about Telstra's insistence on a 30% stake, he just didn't want to be constrained by similar constraints as AOL had with Bell Pacific and NYNEX.
If you are parasitic on another company's network, even if the other company cooperates, it is still not as good as building the network yourself.
Moreover, even if we cooperate with Telstra, it is impossible to launch business across Australia at once. We will definitely have to conduct trial operations in a certain area and then continue to expand.
In this case, the advantages of cooperating with Telstra are not so obvious.
After all, with Bell Atlantic and AOL, Westeros does not lack support in terms of corporate operations and technical teams.
All that needs to be invested is the investment in building the basic operating network.
If the service is only provided in a certain area, such as Melbourne or Victoria, the cost in this area will not be too large.
By building your own network, you can also take full initiative.
"Actually, dad means the same thing," Anthony nodded after hearing what Simon said: "However, even if it does not plan to cooperate with Telstra, I think this company still needs to give up part of its shares, which will make the company's future in Australia Development reduces a lot of resistance. After all, our family’s influence is mainly in mining resources.”
Simon nodded, shook his head, and said: "In the next one or two years, there will only be two joint ventures between us. After the situation opens up, we will give up some shares through financing. In addition, since we do not plan to cooperate with Australia Telecom, Internet access Instead of setting up two companies for both services and mobile communications, we can directly set up a Bell Atlantic Australian branch. Oh, by the way, I am planning to rename Bell Atlantic to Verizon Communications recently. This company Let’s call the company Verizon AU.”
AU is the abbreviation of Australia.
The reason why it is Verizon AU instead of AOL AU is mainly because Simon holds 100% of Bell Atlantic's shares and only holds 75% of AOL's shares.
Although AOL will still be involved, this time it will be dominated by Bell Atlantic, which is about to be renamed.
Anthony Johnston is okay with that, too.
The two continued to discuss some details, and Anthony finally decided to end things at MGM and go to the East Coast's Bell Atlantic headquarters to meet with Raymond Smith.
After discussing this matter, the two talked about MGM again.
"We bought 30% of MGM's shares for US$300 million. Although my father agreed verbally, he was actually a little reluctant in his heart. He was not optimistic about this company," Anthony said with a smile. "So, take the initiative. It’s up to you when you get down. If you really lose money, the old man will definitely lose his temper.”
The Johnston family previously purchased Australia's Seventh Television Network, which was definitely a high-quality investment with very good prospects. In addition, it could get involved in the media field, so the US$800 million was spent very willingly.
The investment in MGM was basically just to support Simon's ambitions in Hollywood.
It was well known that MGM was a mess.
If this company wants to recover, it is not something that can be done in a year or two.
Simon also smiled and said: "The end of the war in the Gulf, coupled with the turmoil in Europe in recent years, will definitely cause capital from all over the world to flow into the United States, and an improvement in the federal economic situation is inevitable. Even if MGM's The operating conditions are still not good. If you hold these shares for a few years, you can get good profits by reselling them. Many large companies in Japan and Europe are eyeing the big Hollywood studios."
Anthony smiled and said, "How about you tell me your specific plans for MGM?"
"My general plan is to first tap the potential of MGM's film library. Over the years, Disney has released video tapes of classic animated films such as "Cinderella", "Pinocchio" and "Sleeping Beauty" in the era of founder Walt Disney. Each of them has achieved very good success. Among them, "Cinderella" sold 6 million boxes and generated 180 million U.S. dollars in just one year after its release. This was a work in 1950. Although MGM is not known for its animation Movies are good at it, but their potential is actually greater. You know, a large number of excellent films such as "Gone with the Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "Singin' in the Rain", "North by Northwest", "Ben-Hur" and so on were produced during MGM's golden era. Even decades later, they are considered classics. It just so happens that Daenerys Entertainment now controls Blockbuster, the largest video chain store in North America. We can definitely use a method similar to Disney to release these classic movies. video tape."
Anthony said: "I remember that Turner Broadcasting took away many of MGM's film rights during the acquisition process a few years ago?"
Simon nodded and explained: "It's just the TV broadcast rights for part of the film. Moreover, the method used by Turner Broadcasting Company in that matter was not glorious, and the contract was not rigorous enough. Now that I control MGM, I will let Snow Leigh Lansing reconnected with Ted Turner."
"Okay, so, what next?"
Simon smiled: "The second is the development of some peripheral products and copyright operations in terms of image licensing. Daenerys Entertainment is planning to build a third Universal Studios in Japan. However, compared to Disney's Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and For animated images such as the princess series, Universal Studios is somewhat lacking in the accumulation of classic film and television characters. In this regard, MGM can provide a lot of support for Daenerys Entertainment, such as "Tom and Jerry" and "The Wizard of Oz" classic characters, and many other things. "Batman Begins" sold 2 billion in derivative revenue in the past year alone. MGM has so much accumulation, and in conjunction with the video release of classic films, it can also develop many additional products. Peripheral products."
Anthony nodded again.
Simon didn't wait for Anthony to ask, and continued: "In the end, of course, it is the movie business. I am very optimistic about this year's two major movies, "A Few Good Men" in July and "007: GoldenEye" at the end of the year. Daenerys Entertainment will take over In the future, we will also cooperate with MGM on other projects. Speaking of which, MGM has a very deep heritage. The main reason why it has fallen to this point is that throughout the 1980s, this company was regarded as a real estate company and The capital operation tools are being used, and if Kirk Kerkorian manages the film business patiently, the situation of this company will never be as bad as it is now."
MGM in my memory was still in decline throughout the 1990s. When it was acquired by Sony in 2005, the transaction price was still close to US$5 billion.
Therefore, as long as MGM doesn't suffer from some flops like "Heaven's Gate" in the early 1980s, the company's prospects will not be too bad.
Now that Simon is here, the chance of this happening will naturally be minimized.
The Anthony family did not stay at the Dume Point Manor, but lived in Simon and Janet's original villa on the west side of the manor.
Simon and Anthony continued their discussion until about ten o'clock in the night. Betty Johnston came over to remind them holding their little daughter Chloe, who had already fallen asleep, and they ended the conversation.
The next day I got up very early as usual.
After the four ABCD girls came to his side, Simon no longer needed to prepare breakfast himself.
At six o'clock, Simon was jogging on the treadmill in the gym when Claire, the C girl, walked in, holding two boxes in her hands.
"Morning, boss."
"morning."
Simon said hello, gestured to the packaging box in the girl's hand, and asked, "Is it ready?"
Claire nodded and saw that Simon had no intention of stopping running, so she came to the treadmill and opened a square minimalist style packaging box that Simon himself provided with an idea similar to the packaging of later mobile phones. In the box lay a mobile phone that did not highlight the lens. card-type digital camera.
Girl C took the camera out of the box and placed it on the treadmill operating table.
Simon looked over and saw that the body was beautiful dark blue, with an overall length of about 18 cm, a width of about 12 cm, and a thickness of about 3.5 cm. Compared with other digital cameras of this era, it was already very compact.
In addition, there is a word printed on the front of the fuselage: Tinkerbell.
This is the name Claire gave to her company, Tinkerbell, the name of the elf in the novel "Peter Pan", and the name of Julie in Spielberg's "Captain Hawk", which is almost completed. Ya Roberts plays this character.
Now that more than half a century has passed since the publication of "Peter Pan", the name Tinkerbell will naturally not go unnoticed.
In order to successfully register Tinkerbell Inc. Girl C also spent an extra amount of money.
Simon joked privately that it was also named after a woman. If this company really developed, it might be considered the 'fifth woman' in the Westeros system.
Girl C admitted generously that this was what she thought.
In addition to the company name, there's also the naming of the camera itself: iCam 10.
iCam naturally means internet camera, which is also Simon’s instruction.
In the coming Internet era, any company related to the Internet or Com will receive much attention.
I remember that during the new technology wave around the millennium, many companies deliberately changed their names to cater to the concept of the Internet, adding 'i' or 'com' to the company name.
Tinkerbell Inc. couldn't add an Internet logo, so it focused on the product.
In addition to iCam, Simon also asked Claire to register trademarks such as iPlayer, iPhone, and iDisk around the world.
Of course, these are not needed at the moment, but they can be regarded as an alternative reserve.
Simon changed from jogging to walking. After slowing down, he picked up the dark blue iCam 10 card camera and started playing with it. In addition to the camera on the front, there was also a 1.5-inch LCD screen on the back. The camera used a traditional three-section camera. 5th battery, the use of lithium batteries in this era is obviously not realistic.
The storage device is a 3.5-inch general-purpose floppy disk. According to the instructions, it can store about 50 photos.
Girl C next to her quickly opened another box, and the one inside was lavender.
The electronic products of this era were mainly practical, with little regard for appearance. Simon was used to seeing all kinds of beautiful industrial designs later on, so naturally he would not tolerate them. At this time, there are one dark blue and one light purple in front of me, facing male and female customers respectively, which are also influenced by Simon.
In order to achieve these two shell colors, C Girl also invested a lot of additional costs.
"We have ordered the materials for 1,000 iCams, and they will all be assembled by the middle of this month. The cost may be a little higher, about US$320." Girl C took the initiative to demonstrate the operation of the camera in her hand and said, "After this is done , the initial funding of US$1 million is probably only US$150,000 left.”
After all, Simon has been paying attention to this matter because of the people around him.
It’s just 1,000 cameras. Calculated at US$320 each, the total cost is US$320,000. Previously, there were operations of the Tinkerbell company, camera research and development, equipment parts customization, etc., all of which cost money.
It’s not easy to still have $150,000 left in the end.
Neil Brantley, the engineer who is mainly responsible for research and development in cooperation with C Girl, originally hoped to customize a special CMOS sensor. Due to financial reasons, he could only choose the existing public version sensor.
To put it simply, although she was well prepared, Girl C was actually cautious enough in this matter, probably because she wanted to give herself more opportunities to start a business.
It was easy to master how to use it. Simon finally stepped off the treadmill and gestured to Girl C: "Strike a pose."
Claire understood and leaned against the treadmill with the lavender camera in one hand. A smile appeared on her beautiful face. Her slender body was slightly tilted, like a car model, with a slender white figure exposed between low-waisted casual pants and a tight black T-shirt. The waist even gave Simon the idea of tapping the girl's navel.
After pressing the shutter button and taking a series of photos, Simon walked out of the gym and said, "Let's go, let's see the effect, and I'll give you some advice by the way."
Claire found that her boss had just been attracted to her body, but he didn't make any move. This made her a little disappointed again, but she still followed quickly.
Anyway, it's not the first time it failed.
In fact, several girls have made a bet in private, whoever can make their boss fall in love, even if it's not going to bed, but just other levels of ambiguity, will be considered the winner.
It's a pity that no one has won until now.