Simon stayed in San Francisco until Saturday afternoon, returned to Los Angeles, spent the weekend with his woman and children, and left again on Monday for the East Coast.
Today is May 15th.
The spring TV season has basically come to an end.
May is the month when major TV networks and production companies finalize their TV program production plans for the new year. As the center of the TV industry on the East Coast, various TV program promotion conferences are held throughout New York during this time in order to Production companies, large and small, market their television programs to television stations.
Now that the acquisition of ABC has been launched, it is no surprise that the merger will be completed in the second half of the year. Therefore, Daenerys Entertainment’s TV department must also start to prepare for rainy days to ensure that after acquiring the ABC TV network, it can make a smooth transition in the shortest possible time. Instead of going through several consecutive years of turmoil before stabilizing the situation like Tom Murphy and Warren Buffett did.
The core of a television network will always be content.
Therefore, this month of May is crucial.
Simon set off on the West Coast on Monday morning, and he was still on the plane. Another piece of news that was released on online portals and traditional media after discussions with Ygritte management last week has attracted widespread attention and discussion.
Things still have to start from Washington.
Before we knew it, it was mid-1995, and the preliminary campaign for the 1996 U.S. presidential election had begun.
Since taking office as president, although various troubles and scandals have continued, Clinton has basically tried his best to fulfill his election promises.
The problem is still the economy!
As the U.S. economy recovers, the federal unemployment rate has continued to decline over the past three years, from nearly 8% before Clinton came to power in 1992 to about 5% at this stage.
Not only that, the rise of new technology industries has become a highlight of the Clinton administration's efforts to promote it.
In order to warm up for next year's election, the White House plans to organize a gathering of new technology industry leaders in Washington in the near future, mainly to promote the federal government's great success in this field to the outside world.
After last year's midterm elections, Simon does not intend to interfere too much in next year's presidential election.
However, with the long-standing tacit understanding between the Westeros system and the Clintons, it is impossible for the new round of presidential election not to provide assistance to each other at all. It is inevitable to occasionally give the White House some 'small gifts' . Taking advantage of the upcoming gathering of new technology industry leaders, Yigrit officially announced on Monday an overview of the operational data of the Yigrit outsourcing platform exactly half a year after its launch.
In the six months since it was launched, the number of people who have activated membership on the Yigret outsourcing platform by completing at least one paid outsourcing task has reached 1.67 million, a total of 12.29 million outsourcing orders have been completed, and a total of US$127 million in remuneration has been paid.
After the data was released, the eye-catching and even dazzling data directly destroyed many conservative arguments about the impact of excessive development of the Internet industry on real employment.
Even though the average remuneration each activated member received from the Yigret outsourcing platform in half a year was only US$76, however, such a part-time platform, which was launched for only six months, brought a lot of benefits to more than one million people in a short period of time. More than 12 million job opportunities, alone, are enough to show the huge potential of the new technology industry to change human society.
Not only that, Ygritte also went out of his way to exaggerate some details.
The most important one is that more than 90% of the 1.67 million activated members are in the United States, and the same is true for the 12.29 million outsourcing orders.
Moreover, in just half a year, if we just rely on the natural development of the industry, it is certainly impossible to have an average of more than 60,000 outsourcing orders per day. This is actually the result of the deliberate promotion of the entire Westeros system, including temporarily retaining most outsourcing orders. Within the United States, rather than using overseas cheap labor as much as possible based on pre-planning, we can minimize costs.
All in all, this is a disguised subsidy plan united by many companies in the Westeros system.
Still a subsidy.
At this stage, many Internet companies have actually started a subsidy war. In order to attract users, Simon knows the many benefits of doing so, and also understands that this is an inevitable cost in promoting the rapid development of the industry. However, compared with giving it away for free, it is definitely Or getting paid through a certain amount of labor is more likely to achieve the best results.
Things you get for free are often not cherished.
As a result, the Igret outsourcing platform teamed up with many new technology companies in the Westeros system to jointly promote this disguised subsidy plan.
In terms of specific implementation, after Igret filters user data, the system will automatically select qualified users and proactively send outsourcing task invitations to the target via email, or image classification tags, or web page information editing, Or entering product information. Generally speaking, anyone who can use a computer can basically complete it easily.
After completing a paid task, the relevant user will automatically activate the outsourcing platform account.
On the other hand, Yigrit has made a small restriction on the details of withdrawals after payment of remuneration. The minimum limit for user withdrawals is US$100. However, in the past six months, the average user has only withdrawn from Yigrit. I got 76 US dollars on the Rite platform, and most people couldn't meet the withdrawal standards.
Although it is not possible to withdraw cash, users can use the money to purchase any goods they want on platforms such as Yigrit's software stores, game malls, and online malls. Users can also pay AOL's network fees, or pay hundreds of dollars. Video rental costs for Starstar, etc. As a result, most of the remuneration paid by Yigrit through the issuance of outsourcing orders returned to his own hands.
The final result of the implementation of this plan is that many web pages, images, audio and other files that require manual editing can be completed quickly and at low cost, including the search engines, online shopping malls and even peripheral Broadcast websites of Igret.
Especially search engines.
Igret's search engine team has been continuously optimizing its search algorithm for several years to allow users to obtain the best quality content and maximize user experience.
However, the algorithm can continue to be optimized. After all, it is impossible for machines to have the automatic classification and recognition capabilities of humans. This requires manual labeling and classification of massive amounts of information, including web pages, pictures, audios, videos, etc. After the marking is completed, the search engine team further optimizes the system algorithm through the marked content. The ultimate goal is to train the system's automatic recognition capability, which is artificial intelligence.
This is the inspiration provided by Simon to the Yigrit search engine team based on the fragmented information in his memory.
In fact, staying away is similar to early education for children.
Teach children basic knowledge through the numbers and words on some building block cards. To a certain extent, children will be able to recognize these marks when they appear anywhere else.
At this stage, many companies have tried to develop search engines, and many websites have also launched search functions. However, through more advanced search ideas and unsparing huge financial investment, the Google search engine owned by Yigrit has surpassed the rest, and has quickly formed a monopoly effect without even realizing it.
Among them, Yigret’s outsourcing platform heavily subsidizes the basic marking work that burns money.
Not only that, this plan also added millions of new users to Ypay, Yigret’s online payment tool, because activating Ypay is a prerequisite for users to receive tasks. When the system issues tasks, the priority is also to be active enough. Gao is not a user who has opened Ypay.
Finally, because the remuneration received by most users does not meet the withdrawal standards, coupled with Yigrit's deliberate guidance, these people often choose to consume on Ystore, steam, Amazon, Broadcast and other platforms. In addition to reinvesting most of the funds, Taking back has once again developed a large number of potential consumers for the e-commerce field.
Online shopping can be addictive, something Simon has proven in his memory.
Now, as long as you have experienced the first time, you will naturally start the second, third, and fourth times... When the remuneration paid by the outsourcing platform cannot meet consumer needs, users will naturally open their pockets.
Yigrit tracks the dynamics of relevant user accounts, and the results obtained also prove this point.
All in all, through this plan, Igret not only obtained more than one million cheap laborers, helped many new technology companies under the Westeros system complete a lot of work, and completed further optimization of search engines and other businesses, but also It has also developed its own business in online payment and e-commerce, achieving multiple goals with one stone.
Now, the implementation results of this plan have become a major highlight in the development of new technology industries.
Even though many media have keenly discovered the problem and pointed out that the average salary of US$76 per person for half a year cannot change anything at all, this is just the beginning. An emerging field can develop to such a scale in half a year and support millions of people in the future. Who dares to say that this is impossible
What's more, this is just the tip of the iceberg, which has brought a large number of job opportunities to society after the rise of the new technology industry in recent years.
It is not difficult to imagine that at the upcoming gathering of leaders of the new technology industry, as long as Mr. President typed this string of data during his speech, it would be enough to arouse cheers and applause.
When Igret released the news in the morning, the official Facebook account of the White House, which keeps up with the trend of the times, immediately reprinted the relevant news. At the same time, he did not forget to mention the many efforts that the President has made in recent years to promote the new technology industry. Barabara .
Moreover, affected by this obviously good news, after the East Coast stock market opened in the new week, the Nasdaq technology stock sector once again experienced a significant upward trend. The topic of Yigret's IPO has once again become the focus of media attention due to the news about the outsourcing platform.
Both the capital market and the general public are increasingly looking forward to the listing of Yigret.
Capital is for the pursuit of profit.
The public is curious about the heights that a technology giant like Yigrit, whose valuation has reached hundreds of billions of dollars during its IPO, will reach after it actually goes public.
Simon set off from Los Angeles at nine o'clock in the morning and arrived on the East Coast. Due to the time difference, it was basically already off work time here.
I made an appointment with Robert Iger for dinner and talked about some details of TV network mergers and acquisitions.
On the surface, Simon and Amy are personally at the helm of this merger, but Robert Iger is more responsible for the specific execution. This executive of Daenerys Entertainment's television department will also directly become the head of the television network after the merger is completed.
The dinner date was at a restaurant inside Rockefeller Center in Midtown. Simon arrived at the destination at six o'clock, and Robert Iger had already arrived early.
We specially reserved a corner location where no one would disturb us.
After ordering the meal, Iger quickly talked about related matters.
For large-scale mergers and acquisitions with a total value of more than 20 billion US dollars, even if behind-the-scenes decision-makers like Simon can reach an agreement through several communications, it is still a very huge project to complete the merger.
Just like ABC.
To be more precise, it is actually Metropolitan ABC Group. It can be imagined that this company is definitely more than just owning a television network.
In fact, in addition to the ABC television network with more than 200 franchised channels, Metropolis ABC Group also has ABC radio stations across the country, a number of completely owned local television stations, national cable TV stations such as AE Television Network and ESPN, and a large number of newspapers. , magazines and other paper media assets, as well as the massive copyright reserves and countless real estate related to these assets, etc.
When Warren Buffett and Tom Murphy first acquired ABC, the company even had a very impressive collection of art, and the ABC headquarters located in the prime location of Rockefeller Center was also valuable. However, these were all taken over by the two old-school companies. The whole house was sold to offset the losses.
All in all, if you want to complete the acquisition, you must sort out the many assets of Metropolis ABC Group to the greatest extent and the equity, debt, copyright and other information involved in all aspects behind them.
Otherwise, you may fall into a pit.
When Sony acquired Columbia Pictures, it was because it failed to sort out these issues as an outsider. After spending huge sums of money to acquire this major studio, it lost more than US$1 billion due to various lawsuits and disputes, including It was just that Warner sued Sony for breach of contract to acquire the production company of Peter Cooper and Jon Peters and invited the two to serve as corporate executives, and it actually lost US$800 million.
Tuition fees are everywhere.
If Daenerys Entertainment does not pay attention to these, the possibility of being slaughtered as a fat sheep in the future is very high.
Before joining Daenerys Entertainment, Robert Egger was an executive under the Metropolis ABC Group. Whether it is the industry or the specific Metropolis ABC Group, he is well aware of it and is very familiar with various aspects of the industry. It would be perfect to create an invisible trap and let the other party be specifically responsible for this merger and acquisition.
Inside the restaurant.
Most of Robert Iger's topics were about these pitfalls: "The recent period happens to be a critical node for TV network program procurement. Boss, if we have determined the target, we should first inform the other party of all new purchase agreements signed during this period. Daenerys Entertainment must have the right to know and have the right to veto. Otherwise, some executives may sign a large number of program purchase orders without our attention. These projects cannot be guaranteed in terms of amount or quality. "
Dinner has been served.
Simon cut the steak in front of him and said, "You can communicate with Tom Murphy privately about this matter, but you must keep it confidential."
This is something Simon is very satisfied with Buffett's professional ethics.
At Melisandre's party in March, Warren Buffett had basically determined that Simon was most interested in Metropolis ABC Group. Unlike CBS's major shareholder Larry Tisch, who secretly let people know in order to increase the offer, Majority There has been no unusual news at all during this period of time in Metropolis ABC Group.
Iger nodded to express his understanding, and continued: "There is also ESPN. Steve Bernstein is a very enterprising person. I have roughly counted the total contracts signed by ESPN and major sports leagues in recent years. It exceeds US$2.7 billion. The funds involved in these contracts are paid year by year. Although they are normal operating expenses, because the amount involved is relatively large, it can still be used as a bargaining chip between us and ABC, which can be offset by the acquisition amount. .”
Simon thought for a moment and shook his head slightly: "If nothing else happens, Buffett and I will probably finalize this acquisition after a few more communications. You should know that Buffett is not a person who likes to worry about these details, and neither am I. The best possibility for both of us is to directly determine a certain premium based on the current stock price and reach an agreement."
Egg thought for a while and expressed his understanding.
After all, he has worked at Metropolis ABC Group for many years, so he is quite familiar with the behavior of the two talkers there.
Seeing that Iger understood, Simon added: "So, your job is to ensure that this company will not have unknown risks that are beyond our expectations. I am responsible for paying and signing the contract. What you have to do is to ensure this to the greatest extent. "