The issue of charity is actually a bit sensitive for Simon. Amy Pascal just teased a few words and stopped continuing. Instead, she said: "I just got the news this morning. Vivendi has confirmed the internal promotion of Sandy Litwat and Bill Michanick has served as CEO and president of Disney respectively, and he will publicly announce his resignation probably next week, and Frank Wells will also retire."
Simon also got the news and nodded: "I know."
The acquisition of Disney was completed at the end of last year, and the French Vivendi Group has been looking for suitable professional managers for the company. However, some of the candidates Vivendi favored have expressed their rejection one after another, including CAA president Michael Ovitz, former Spielberg right-hand man Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, Hollywood gold medal producer Joe ·Silvo and even several executives under Daenerys Entertainment Group.
Everyone in the circle probably realized something, and coupled with Vivendi's conservatism in decentralizing power, these external candidates successively expressed their rejection.
In desperation, Vivendi had to promote executives from within Disney.
Sandy Litwat is vice president and head of Disney's legal department, and Bill Michanik is president of Disney's home entertainment division, which oversees video and television distribution operations.
The two were promoted to CEO and president of Disney respectively, which is equivalent to two promotions in a row.
However, in terms of actual powers, the two of them were only promoted one level.
According to the information Simon received, after Sandy Littlewater was promoted to CEO, he was actually in charge of the business of former president Frank Wells, mainly administrative affairs in terms of corporate personnel and legal affairs. As president, Bill Michanick will directly manage the production operations that were once handled by Jeffrey Katzenberg.
The core corporate strategic planning and financial power, which should belong to the CEO, are directly controlled by Vivendi's headquarters.
This is actually not the result that Vivendi's board of directors hopes to see.
However, there are not so many good things in the world that are neither willing to delegate power but also want professional managers who are good enough.
They have discussed in private more than once how to deal with Disney after being acquired by Vivendi Group. At this time, Amy just mentioned this matter to Simon. Seeing that her boss already knew about it, she said no more, and said: "Ace. Na is trying to invest in the Internet field. He is partnering with Ovitz and has finalized a project. Nancy and I had dinner at Morton's last night and happened to meet them and chatted about it. It was a very interesting idea. "
Simon was a little surprised and asked, "Is Eisner cured?"
Amy nodded: "It's no big deal now. It's just that the quadruple bypass surgery was very risky. It will be fine if you get through it."
Michael Eisner had a heart attack when he heard the news that Daenerys Entertainment would build Universal Studios in Europe. He almost didn't survive. Simon had already learned about this.
Disney CEO Frank Wells, who was supposed to die in a skiing accident last year, escaped death because of the influence of Simon, a giant butterfly. If Eisner died unexpectedly because of the news he released, Simon would inevitably feel a little guilty. Legitimate business competition does not reach the level of killing people, let alone Hollywood.
Simon nodded slightly, skillfully picked up some Chinese fried noodles on the plate with chopsticks, and asked with a smile: "What project did Eisner invest in?"
Amy took a sip of the juice at hand and said: "Probably, it should be regarded as a workplace social networking site. This is Ovitz's idea. As you know, Ovitz is very good at managing connections. He feels that he can completely integrate reality into The network business model in has been moved to the Internet. Unlike those recruitment websites that can only deliver resumes in a targeted manner, this workplace social networking site allows users to directly establish their own connections in certain circles and display their resumes more intuitively. Moreover, after forming a circle, you can also obtain more precise recruitment or application targets through mutual recommendations, and social network members can also recommend each other."
Simon across the table sounded more and more familiar, and he quickly understood.
Isn’t this the LinkedIn in my memory
In the past, due to the failure of the power struggle within Time Warner, Terry Semel left to serve as the CEO of Yahoo Hollywood. This time, Semel gained more advantages within the Time Warner Group due to the support of Daenerys Entertainment. It is becoming more and more obvious that he is likely to become the next chairman of the board.
Unexpectedly, Michael Eisner, who left Disney ten years in advance, turned to Silicon Valley.
After Amy finished speaking, seeing Simon's silence, she asked: "Simon, what do you think?"
Simon came back to his senses, smiled and nodded: "It's a very good idea, the key depends on whether they can find a suitable business model."
The former LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft in 2016 for more than 26 billion U.S. dollars, which illustrates the feasibility of this workplace social platform concept. The key still depends on whether Eisner and Ovitz can find a company that can make this company a reality in the future. A business plan for the sustainable development of the website.
At the end of the day, ideas are never worth anything.
Just like LinkedIn in the past, Simon doesn't believe there will be only one workplace social networking site in Silicon Valley, but LinkedIn will eventually stand out.
Across the dining table, Amy paused after hearing what Simon said, and said, "So, Simon, are you interested in this project?"
Simon looked up at Amy, seemed to understand something, and smiled: "Eisner and the others asked you to ask?"
Amy shook her head and said, "No, but I think since they told me in detail last night, they probably want you to know. Maybe, if you are willing to invest, that would be better."
Simon said: "The Eisners shouldn't be short of money, right?"
Amy shrugged: "You know, it's not just about money."
Simon thought for a moment and finally understood.
First of all, Amy Pascal, Michael Eisner, Michael Ovitz, they are all Jewish.
This can be regarded as a typical mutual help among Jews without conflict of interest.
Secondly, it is probably true as Amy said, if they did not intend to let Simon know, Eisner and the two would not have talked about their project in such detail at a dinner by chance. This was obviously to attract Simon's attention.
As for the money issue.
Eisner and Ovitz were certainly not short of money, and it would have been easy for them to come up with several million dollars in start-up capital. However, the two obviously still maintain a certain inertial thinking in Hollywood.
The first rule of Hollywood movie investing: never spend your own money.
The same is true for Silicon Valley.
Everyone only sees the success of websites such as Yahoo, Google, and Amazon, but they don’t know that behind these successful people, more than 90% of the projects ended up in vain, and hundreds of millions of investors’ funds were not even used. heard.
Moreover, if Simon is willing to invest in Eisner, it will not only ease some of the past frictions between the two parties, but this project will also be supported by the Westeros system.
This is crucial.
Nowadays, there are more than one photo-sharing websites in Silicon Valley. Why is Instagram, which was founded only half a year ago, so popular? Is it really the business model of this website that is so outstanding
the answer is negative.
At least most of it is negative.
The key is the entire Westeros system’s all-round support for Instagram in terms of hardware, software, and network traffic.
Speaking of which, Simon has always admired the latter of Eisner and Ovitz.
After the rise of the Westeros system, Simon occasionally considered recruiting Ovitz to join, because the huge Westeros system required a huge number of interpersonal relationships to be reconciled and maintained, and in this regard, Ovitz happened to be an expert.
However, ideas are just ideas after all, and if you want to put them into action, there will be many obstacles in the way.
Such as loyalty.
Because it is not a direct lineage like Amy Pascal, who has risen together from scratch, and lacks the recognition and loyalty formed by long-term running-in, it would be very rash to invite the other party to maintain a very sensitive system relationship.
Regardless, Simon admired Ovitz as a person.
As for Eisner, there was no friction between the two parties before. Just because of some information in his memory, Simon didn't have much favorable impression of Eisner.
Now, many things have changed, and Simon has never been a person who cares about everything. He thought about it for a moment and said, "In that case, you can help me ask. If you are free on the weekend, let's drink coffee and chat."
Amy nodded to take note.
Seeing Amy's stoppage, Simon became interested again and said: "In this way, I can give a name to their website first, LinkedIn." As he spoke, he also wrote down the word on the dining table, He also said in a joking tone: "The most troublesome thing in Silicon Valley now is coming up with a name, because over the years, slightly normal words have been registered by various companies. I guess this one must not be there."
Amy noticed Simon's gesture just now.
LinkedIn is obviously a combination of the two words Linked In. The literal translation is 'connection', which is very consistent with the idea of a workplace social networking site.
Understanding that her boss's naming habit has struck again, Amy smiled and promised, "I'll tell them."
After chatting like this, lunch time was over and the two of them returned to their offices.
The afternoon's work was something other than Daenerys' entertainment.
When Simon returned to the office, the female assistant reminded that Celia Miller, who had returned to New York, was online, and the documents to be read in the afternoon were already listed on her desk.
The first is several important cooperation results negotiated with Ukraine during this period.
Regarding the Rivne Oblast Nuclear Power Plant, with the help of the Westeros System, the First Boston team finally finalized a US$1 billion bond issuance contract with the Ukrainian Nuclear Power Company for Unit 4 of the Rivne Oblast Nuclear Power Plant. expenses such as the construction of the nuclear power plant and the transformation of the power grid lines between the nuclear power plant and the city of Rivni.
In Ukraine now, no investor dares to lend another US$1 billion rashly.
Therefore, in addition to the credit guarantee of the Westeros system, the Ukrainian Nuclear Power Company also conducted an actual pledge operation, targeting 50% of the equity of the Rivne Oblast Nuclear Power Plant. Once the Ukrainian Nuclear Power Company is unable to repay the principal and interest of the bond on time, First Boston It will have the right to auction 50% of the equity of Uzbekistan Nuclear Power to raise funds to repay investors.
Not only that, the annual interest rate of this US$1 billion 10-year bond is as high as 12%, far exceeding the industry average.
You know, the current 10-year Treasury bond interest rate in the United States is only 2.8%, and the 10-year bond interest rate for high-quality companies is generally only about 5%.
Although Ukraine's economy is not doing well, in fact, Ukraine's nuclear power's repayment ability is still very secure. While the power generation of other traditional power plants in Ukraine has plummeted, only Ukrainian nuclear power maintains a stable power generation of 50 billion kilowatt-hours every year, with annual revenue equivalent to about US$3 billion.
For such a monopolistic state-owned enterprise with stable income, as long as the repayment can be guaranteed, even if it offers an annual interest of 5%, there will be no one to take over.
The reason why there is such a bond financing plan that Simon thinks is quite stupid is that on the one hand, Ukraine obviously lacks experience in dealing with national financial giants, and instinctively puts itself in a weak position lacking confidence. Of course, they are international financial giants. What is said is what is said.
On the other hand, it is probably also true that the money is enough.
In his past memories, Simon often heard about similar nonsense.
To finalize such a contract now is nothing more than to cut off a portion of the funds that Ukrainian nuclear power can hand over to the national finance every year for the national economy and people's livelihood and use it to repay debts. Anyway, Ukraine's finances are already riddled with holes, and they don't care if they are further stretched.
Moreover, according to the initial estimate, this US$1 billion is actually completely unnecessary, and US$700 million is enough.
The current increase of US$300 million is mainly used to purchase power generation equipment from Westinghouse Electric in the United States. Because compared with local production in Ukraine, the price quoted for Westinghouse equipment is twice as high.
Simon also knows that this can actually be bargained for, and the range of bargaining can be quite large.
However, obviously, after enough money is given, no one wants to bargain. It is all the country's money anyway.
Not only that, the high-priced imports of American equipment can also be used for publicity. American equipment is of course safer. Everyone can sleep with peace of mind. There will never be a second Chernobyl accident.
This is not Simon’s imagination, but the trend of public opinion released by local newspapers in Ukraine.
good results.
In Ukraine today, due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the complete failure of the country's economy, the national mood is basically still in the mindset that the United States is good for everything and the country is useless, and it is destined to be difficult to get rid of for many years to come.
Of course, none of this has anything to do with Simon.
During the phone discussion, Simon only asked Celia to set up a special financial supervision group to ensure that the $1 billion in bond financing was spent where it should be spent. After all, whether it is the construction of Unit 4 of the Rivne Oblast Nuclear Power Plant or the transformation of the power grid between the nuclear power plant and Rivni, they will ultimately be used in the layout of the Westeros system in the Rivne Oblast.
Although the Westeros system actually paid nothing in this bond financing process, it still has the power to supervise because it relies on its own credibility to pull strings.
Even if all parties have their own little calculations, in the end they will definitely hope that the money will be spent as much as possible.
In addition to the nuclear power plant issue, there is also the issue of Nokia building a mobile phone production plant in Rivni.
After negotiations, Nokia successfully obtained a series of preferential policies from the Ukrainian government, mainly a 10-year tax preferential agreement and 150 hectares of free land in the north of Rivni for building a factory.