Simon spent the morning working with Joseph Schlapp to re-formulate the lobbying plan for the federal media consolidation ban.
The French Vivendi Group suddenly launched an acquisition of Disney. In order to prevent more major Hollywood film companies from falling into the hands of foreigners, it is now pushing Congress to lift the ban on media integration. It will not be possible to pass it before Vivendi and Disney reach an acquisition agreement. question.
Simon had no intention of doing so.
From the perspective of the Westeros system, Simon hopes that Vivendi's acquisition of Disney will be successful. When another major film company falls into the hands of foreigners, due to the pressure of public opinion, the ban on media integration will be lifted in the future. Daenerys There will be far fewer political obstacles for entertainment to initiate acquisitions of television networks.
Moreover, if the ban on media integration is lifted early, it is likely that the three established TV networks will compete with Vivendi. Even if it happens to be the Metropolitan ABC Group that Simon prefers, it will be even more troublesome.
Even if it is not ABC, Disney and NBC or CBS will join forces to become another comprehensive entertainment media giant, which will definitely become a strong competitor for Daenerys Entertainment in Hollywood.
Simon is not afraid of competition and hopes that at the right time there will be a strong enough competitor to compete with Daenerys Entertainment.
But not now.
In comparison, if Disney is allowed to be acquired by Vivendi, this major Hollywood studio whose development momentum in recent years has been unsatisfactory due to the influence of Simon's big butterfly will only continue to weaken.
Neither Hollywood natives nor the U.S. government will make it easy for outsiders trying to break into the U.S. entertainment industry.
This has been proven by many previous and future examples.
If Disney merges with a local TV network and Daenerys Entertainment takes action to suppress it, it will definitely attract widespread public attention, and the federal government will not sit idly by. On the contrary, if Disney becomes a subsidiary of a French company, even if this major Hollywood studio with more than half a century of history goes bankrupt, many people will just turn a blind eye.
Want a level playing field
nonexistent.
Ultimately, this is protectionism.
Because he understands this, when the Westeros system expands overseas, Simon will basically establish close interests with local forces.
For example, Melisandre Company clearly had the opportunity to fully acquire Gucci and other companies, but Simon gave up on his own initiative. Nokia had just developed, and Simon also took the initiative to list the company in Europe in order to share the benefits. On the Russian side, the Westeros system provides almost all operating funds, but only requires half of the profit share, which can be called a vomiting of blood.
And Australia.
If the Johnston family hadn't been deeply rooted in Australia, Simon would never have gotten involved in the mining resources that are the lifeline of Australia's economy, nor would he have invested heavily in Australia's mobile communications and Internet industries. Because it is very clear that rushing to occupy territory without any foundation will only end in failure.
As a result, many overseas partners of the Westeros system felt that they had taken advantage and spared no effort to use their resources and contacts in their respective countries to assist the expansion of the Westeros system. Simon gained more as a result.
Let’s look at the outsiders in Hollywood.
Whether it is Japan's Sony or Canada's Seagram, relying on their wealth, they have chosen to take over all their targets in Hollywood, and now Vivendi plans to do the same.
Now that these companies have become wholly owned subsidiaries of your foreigners, the federal government's position has naturally changed.
Peter Cooper and Jon Peters severely damaged Columbia Pictures and even caused Sony a huge write-down loss of more than 2 billion US dollars. If Sony were an American company, Peter Cooper and Jon Peters would The two men will inevitably be investigated and charged for suspected serious economic crimes.
The result was that the two left Sony a mess, and they were able to enjoy their retirement life unscathed with the tens of millions of dollars in salary and benefits they had accumulated over the years.
Simon had lunch at Sophia's house at noon. Before Sophia's parents and their two children left in the afternoon, they left Greenwich together and took a helicopter to Martha's Vineyard, a famous tourist resort about 250 kilometers northeast of New York.
Sofia had already had one of Simon's properties here cleaned up in advance yesterday.
Martha's Vineyard is one of the historic tourist destinations on the east coast. Not only do a large number of rich people, politicians and celebrities like to buy properties here, many US presidents have used it as a designated vacation spot. There are many famous people surrounding this famous island. news events.
For example, Spielberg's famous film "Jaws" was originally filmed on Martha's Vineyard.
For another example, John F. Kennedy Jr., who was responsible for the revival of the Kennedy family, died when his plane crashed into the sea on his way back from a wedding on Martha's Vineyard. Of course, this happened in Simon's memory in 1999, when John F. Kennedy Jr. was still alive.
Two Black Hawk helicopters landed on the lawn of a mansion with a private beach in Oak Town, northern Martha's Vineyard. Unlike the 30-acre estate in Greenwich, this beach mansion only covers an area of about 6 acres.
Of course, even this is not something that ordinary rich people can have, and it is even beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Simon and Sophia got off the helicopter, and two groups of bodyguards who got off another helicopter, led by Neil Bennett, carried various instruments and entered the villa first, conducting routine anti-eavesdropping inspections, and then installing and activating the devices around the manor. Monitoring and warning systems.
After being busy for more than half an hour, the bodyguards withdrew from the annex building, leaving only Simon and Sophia in the three-story resort-style main villa.
world of two people.
Sofia was no longer reserved, and Simon was still energetic after last night.
After a ridiculous afternoon, I woke up again in the big bed in the master bedroom of the villa. Through the bedroom glass window, I could see the sky full of stars outdoors. Unfortunately, this villa did not have a terrace, and Simon and I had no intention of going outdoors. Although Martha's Vineyard has a pleasant scenery and climate, there is no shortage of mosquitoes in summer.
The view from the big bed was very small, so Sofia simply pulled Simon up, went to the window, moved the original sofa and coffee table here, spread a blanket, and lay down again.
Sticking to Simon's chest, reflecting the starry sky, listening to the little man telling all kinds of weird stories about the starry sky from the East and the West, then having fun, and then falling asleep until early the next morning.
When Simon woke up in the morning, he made up his mind to abstain from sex for a week.
However, considering that I had to return to Los Angeles in the morning, I decided to start abstinence again from next Monday.
Sophia was radiant in the morning, her fair skin was rosy, making people want to take a bite.
After breakfast, I finally remembered that I still had some serious things to talk about.
In the past few years, Melisandre Company has been expanding at the rate of acquiring a company almost every year. After the original Gucci, it acquired Chateau Latour in 1990, Van Cleef & Arpels in 1991, merger with CK in 1992, and Christie's in 1993. auction.
If Simon hadn't interfered, Melisandre's company would have started a fashion TV station last year.
Naturally, the pace of expansion will not stop this year.
In fact, since the first half of the year, Sofia has been looking for various targets, but some transactions have not been successful due to various reasons.
In recent years, even though a large amount of money has been invested in expansion, because the profit margin of the luxury goods industry itself is very generous, even after paying dividends to other shareholders, Melisandre still unknowingly accumulated more than 300 million US dollars in cash. balance.
In this era, even many Fortune 500 companies may not be able to casually spend $3.
There is a reason why former LVMH boss Bernard Arnault became the world's second billionaire person after Jeff Bezos.
Due to the temporary lack of annexation targets, Sophia began investing all the money in the U.S. stock market in accordance with Simon's advice in the second half of last year, buying a large number of technology stocks that continued to be popular.
The current principal of US$300 million has increased by more than 50% and can be cashed out at any time for acquisition and expansion.
This time, Sophia brought information from three companies at once.
All famous.
Bulgari, Versace, Vacheron Constantin.
On the private beach of the mansion on Martha's Vineyard, Simon was leaning on a lounge chair under an umbrella and looking through the information of three companies. Sophia, who seemed to be wearing only a men's shirt, came over with a cold drink and put the tray next to her. On the coffee table, he did not go to the lounge chair next to him. Instead, he sat directly in Simon's arms and asked, "How is it?"
Simon put down the information in his hand, motioned to the woman to pass him a glass of juice, and said, "They are all good, and they all have problems."
The three companies, unlike Gucci or CK, which were bargain hunters at the time, are in very good operating conditions at least on the surface.
However, there are many problems inside.
Bulgari is an Italian jewelry and watch company that is still controlled by the Bulgari family.
Compared with Melisandre's Van Cleef & Arpels, this company is much larger, with a turnover of 530 million U.S. dollars and a net profit of 110 million U.S. dollars in 1993. It has recently begun to seek listing on the Milan Stock Exchange. , the IPO valuation is expected to be between US$1 billion and US$1.5 billion.
Melisandre's company has already been in contact with the Bulgari family.
Regarding listing, the Bulgari family has different attitudes. Of course, there are many benefits to listing a company, but it will definitely be subject to various constraints, with pros and cons.
This is Melisandre's chance too.
However, although some members of the Bulgari family are inclined to cooperate with Melisandre Company, according to the results of several previous negotiations, Melisandre Company can obtain up to 30% of Bulgari's shares.
This was not what Sophia expected.
Because Melisandre already owns a similar subsidiary, Van Cleef & Arpels, which has been developing very well in recent years. Its turnover in 1993 reached US$350 million. Compared with 1990 before the acquisition, the overall turnover increased by 105%. %, the scale is not much worse than Bulgari.
The most important point is that Melisandre Company’s shareholding ratio in Van Cleef & Arpels is 60%.
Therefore, if you can only acquire 30% of Bulgari's shares, you will inevitably face a problem of resource balance.
With the same resources, it is self-evident which side the operator will prefer between a subsidiary that holds 60% of the shares and a subsidiary that holds 30% of the shares.
This is not what Sophia wants to see.
In order to avoid the emergence of competitors, large luxury goods giants often eliminate potential threats through early acquisitions.
Simon remembers that LVMH had done this kind of thing more than once.
However, Melisandre's company, which is in a stage of rapid growth, has not yet entered this stage.
If Bulgari is to be acquired, Sofia naturally hopes that this jewelry and watch company, which has a better foundation than Van Cleef & Arpels, can go further, instead of causing unequal internal competition due to uneven resource allocation, or even causing one of the eventually decline.
Therefore, if you want to maintain a certain balance, even if you don't get the same 60% stake in Bulgari, according to the evaluation of Melisandre's acquisition team, this proportion must reach at least 40%.
30% and 40% of the equity seem to be similar. For the Bulgari family whose equity has been dispersed among various family members, it means whether Melisandre will become the largest shareholder.
The Bulgari family is willing to accept external investors, but does not want to lose control of the family business.
If so, it might as well be an IPO.
Then at Versace, the questions were even more interesting.
As one of the most popular luxury brands in recent years, Versace's revenue in 1993 reached US$650 million, and its revenue scale even exceeded that of Bulgari.
For luxury goods companies, this is actually very surprising.
You know, Bulgari was founded in 1884 and has a history of 110 years, while Versace was only established in 1978. No matter how talented Gianni Versace is, the growth of luxury brands cannot avoid sufficient accumulation.
So, what's the problem
Sophia didn't sell anything in her profile.
Italian Mafia.
According to Sofia's investigation, just as Simon remembered rumors, the Versace brand was indeed used as a money laundering tool by the powerful Italian Mafia.
Ordinary people are always confused about money laundering. They always think it is mysterious and high-end. The actual operation process is very simple.
Take luxury goods laundering as an example.
The gang first signed a loan contract with the luxury goods company and lent them a large amount of money out of thin air.
The money definitely doesn't exist.
Then, the gang uses its own power to purchase a large amount of goods from the stores of the luxury goods company, contributing revenue to the luxury brand. The brand then returns this revenue to the other party in the form of debt repayment, and the original black money suddenly becomes legal income.
In order to save costs, purchased luxury goods can even be recycled.
However, overall, the costs of money laundering are often very high.
If someone can create a money laundering model that costs less than 30%, he will definitely be regarded as a guest by global gangs. The reality is that when black money becomes legitimate income, the taxes and fees may not be less than 30%, and the total money laundering cost is often more than 50%.
The key reason why many Western governments maintain varying degrees of tolerance towards gangs is that these gangs actually contribute large sums of tax money to the governments of various countries.
After the former Gianni Versace was shot dead, it was reported that the Mafia was trying to steal Versace's ashes to collect debts from the Versace family. This detail is evident.
Versace's operating conditions are so outstanding, with huge profits every year. Even if there is a problem with capital turnover, it can easily obtain financing through formal channels. How can it still borrow debts from the Mafia
Moreover, in the original time and space, at its peak in 1996, Versace's revenue once reached 1.1 billion US dollars.
This is even more unusual.
Luxury goods companies have very high profit margins, but their revenue scale is limited by market capacity but it is difficult to expand.
The revenue of US$1 billion in the 1990s was definitely a giant in the luxury goods industry. Could it be that a designer with a background as a tailor in an Italian countryside really has that much charisma to create all this
You know, after Gianni Versace was shot, even after another 20 years, the Versace brand recovered, but its turnover did not exceed US$1 billion. When Versace was acquired by another comprehensive luxury goods giant in 2017, its annual revenue was only 660 million euros, equivalent to US$750 million.
Moreover, after Versace's death, the Versace company quickly declined, with both revenue and profits plummeting, and it was once on the verge of bankruptcy where it could not even afford to hire catwalk models.
What's the problem
As a luxury brand giant that has achieved revenue exceeding US$1 billion in less than 20 years since its founding, even if the founder dies and no matter how incompetent the successor is, it should have sufficient ability to resist risks.
In this case, anyone with a little bit of brains can figure out the reasons for Versace's rapid decline and sharp decline in revenue and profits.
Because some of the original extra income disappeared.
Not only that,
The matter of stealing ashes and extorting debts is certainly not pointless.
However, the Mafia certainly would not be stupid enough to 'kidnap' Versace's ashes to force him into debt. This is obviously just a warning.
Warning for what
It's very simple. Coercing a dead person is not as effective as coercing a living person.
With the mafia's terrifying influence in Italy, Simon believes that even if Versace dies, the Versace family will not be able to escape certain 'debts' owed.
Therefore, in order to repay the 'debt', Versace will definitely have to withdraw a large amount of funds from the company, which is likely to cause the company's capital chain to dry up or even break. In addition, the part of the revenue originally supported by black money disappeared with the death of Versace. Adding insult to injury, Versace's decline is inevitable.