Early the next morning, the weather in London was still gloomy.
There was no schedule in the morning. After having breakfast with Mayer, Eric was looking through the financial reports of EMI and BMG, two major record companies, in the villa on Garden Street, when he received a call.
Not long after, Mayer walked in with a girl with a timid expression. It was Poppy Delevingne whom she had met the last time she was in London for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
The girl was wearing a long pink hoodie, with two slender white legs, and a pair of flat shoes. She looked like a girl next door who was visiting the next door, looking slim and graceful.
Eric noticed the restrained look on the girl's face, smiled and patted her side, and said, "Isn't it cold?"
Feeling Eric's gentle smile without any sense of alienation, Bobby Delevingne immediately relaxed, walked over and sat down obediently next to Eric, and said, "A little bit, but it's okay."
Eric picked up the coffee pot on the coffee table in front of him and poured a cup of coffee for the girl, handed it to the side, and said, "Yes, beauty is the most important thing."
Poppy Delevingne thanked politely, took a small sip of coffee, but looked around with her nimble eyes.
Mayer had to go to the headquarters of the British branch of the group to pick up Bobby Delevingne, and the girl changed her clothes, said goodbye to Eric, and left.
After Mayer left, Bobby Delevingne relaxed a bit, changed a more casual posture next to Eric, and looked at the document in his hand: "Eric, what is this? "
"Financial statements, you won't be interested," Eric showed the girl slightly, and asked again: "Aren't you going to class today?"
"Today is Saturday."
"Oh, I forgot," Eric turned over the 1998 financial report of EMI in his hand, and said casually, "How are your parents doing?"
"Very well, but Dad is in Asia and Mom is not in London."
Eric was deeply touched by the pair of parents in the Delevingne family last time, and asked curiously, "Then who will take care of you?"
"Where do they need to take care of me? I'm already an adult, and my sister has a nanny to watch over."
Eric looked at his watch, it was not yet half past eight: "Then you must have not eaten breakfast, right?"
"I seldom eat breakfast," the girl nodded lightly, and said, "I called you right after I got up, and I was worried that you wouldn't talk to me anymore."
"It's not good for a little girl to always skip breakfast," Eric said, picking up the phone, but after thinking for a while, he still couldn't think of a number. Calling the female assistant for such a thing would definitely be resentful, so he got up Said: "Let's go, take you to eat something."
Poppy Delevingne nodded with a curved mouth: "Okay."
Although it is already April, the morning temperature in London is still only about ten degrees, with a strong dampness and cold.
The two walked out of the villa, Eric was wearing a windbreaker, but he didn't feel anything, but the girl beside him was visibly shivering, her slender body seemed to have shrunk a bit.
Eric felt a little funny and said, "Do you want to wear my clothes?"
Bobby Delevingne looked at the windbreaker on Eric's body. Although it was not long, it was enough to wrap her whole body. However, noticing the smile on the corner of Eric's mouth, the girl nodded rebelliously: "Eric, this question is usually not allowed to be asked."
"Oh, it seems to be my fault."
As Eric said, he took off the windbreaker and wrapped it around the girl.
The cold and dampness was cut off in an instant, and it felt warm, with the breath of the man beside him. Poppy Delevingne's face was slightly hot, and she stretched out her small hand from the wide and long sleeves, and wrapped it around the man beside him. After hesitating for a while, he said boldly, "Eric, you look a lot like my boyfriend."
"I know this meme, but it's usually used by boys to pick up girls in nightclubs."
"I'm not joking," Bobby Delevingne said with dissatisfaction on his small expression, and then asked curiously in a blink of an eye, "Have you ever picked up girls like this in a nightclub?"
"I, I'm old, I don't go to nightclubs anymore."
"hehe."
The Royal Garden Hotel is just across the street, and Eric took the girl directly into the hotel restaurant from the street.
Walking into the restaurant, Bobby Delevingne took off his windbreaker and handed it to the waiter, and the two found a place to sit down.
"I want a fruit salad, apple, strawberry, banana and pineapple, don't put too much salad dressing, and another glass of milk, um, that's all."
The waiter wrote it down carefully, then turned to Eric: "Mr. Williams?"
"Just give me a cup of coffee and a copy of The Times."
The waiter nodded and turned to leave.
Bobby Delevingne put his arms on the table and said, "Eric, don't you eat?"
"I ate before you woke up."
"Then you brought me here for breakfast?"
"Isn't it touching?"
Poppy Delevingne nodded her head seriously: "Dad never asked me if I had breakfast."
"I can't explain this to your father."
"He always looks busy, and so does Mum, and I don't think they're as busy as you."
"I happened to be resting this morning, otherwise I wouldn't have time to pay attention to you."
"You definitely will," the girl suddenly became very sure for some reason, and said, "Eric, I've seen the trailer of "Iron Man", it's very cool, can I go to the premiere the day after tomorrow?"
"Okay, I'll ask Mary to bring you some invitation letters. If your parents come back the day after tomorrow, we can go together."
"If they don't come back, can I bring my friends with me, it will save me a lot of face."
"For issues related to face, I must help. Are five cards enough?"
Poppy Delevingne nodded vigorously and smiled coquettishly: "Well, enough."
After breakfast, the two returned to Eric's mansion again.
Bobby Delevingne obviously enjoys getting along with Eric. Although there are many entertainment facilities in the villa, the girl stayed by Eric's side like a kitten all morning, chatting about various things various topics.
At noon, I made an appointment with Colin Southgate, the president of the EMI Group. Near twelve o'clock, Eric came to the Royal Garden Hotel at the intersection of the street with Bobby Delevingne again. This meal The location of the narration is in the Minjiang Restaurant in the Garden Hotel.
At twelve o'clock, Colin Southgate also arrived on time. The other party was a gray-haired middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. He was wearing a dark red suit. He was tall and pampered. .
Seeing Eric appearing with a little girl, Colin Southgate felt a little unhappy. The two sides exchanged a few words and sat down. Colin Southgate said bluntly: "Eric Regarding the cooperation with Firefly Electronics, the board of directors of the company believes that this will further hurt the already sluggish record sales, and the measures taken by Fireflyer players in terms of anti-piracy are really not satisfactory, so we will not agree. "
Bobby Delevingne, who was quietly sitting next to Eric, did not expect that the gentleman-looking uncle on the opposite side would be so rude, so he frowned slightly, and then looked at Eric next to him, hoping that he could Fight back immediately.
"Speaking of piracy, I just remember that due to the promotion of CD-ROM drives for personal computers, sales of blank CDs reached 130 million last year in North America alone. Based on the record price of $20, this is equivalent to The company lost $2.6 billion in sales.” Eric signaled the waiter to pass the pre-dinner dessert to the girl next to him, and continued to talk: “As for the global market, I haven’t seen statistics, but It should be doubled, which is the root cause of the decline of the record industry. Just like Hollywood adapted to the video market, accepting the digital music player channel is the best solution to prevent the record industry from completely collapsing."
Colin Southgate obviously didn't pay attention to this information, frowned slightly, but still said: "Eric, you are too alarmist."
"I have read the company's financial report of EMI Group in the last five years in advance. Compared with last year, in 1997, 1996, 1995, and 1994, the annual net profit of EMI Group has fluctuated, but basically remained at About 400 million pounds. However, last year, if the non-operating income from the sale of Viking Records is not included, the annual net profit of EMI Group was only 310 million pounds, a sharp drop of 25% compared to the past. If you do not take action, the next few years It’s bound to get worse.”
"Can cooperation with Firefly Group restore record sales?" Colin Southgate was obviously stabbed this time, saying: "The sales model of Firefly Electronics is completely destroying the foundation of the record industry, and, although the entity Record sales are plummeting, but the Yahoo Music Store's global sales were less than $300 million last year, which is still nothing compared to the record industry as a whole."
"Colin, you are using the wrong comparison target. The sales of Yahoo Music Store in 1997 was only 50 million US dollars. In 1998, it was close to 300 million US dollars. The growth rate reached 600%. We don't expect the growth rate to reach 600% this year. %, but even if it is only doubled, the annual sales can reach 600 million U.S. dollars. If this growth rate continues, it will take less than five years for the Yahoo Music Store’s revenue to far exceed that of the five major record companies. of any one of your labels, or even the combined record sales of all your labels."
Colin Southgate shook his head and said, "Eric, you can't reach it, you don't have enough content."
Eric Tanshou: "So, this is what we are going to discuss today. Cooperation, EMI will get a new revenue channel, and we will also have enough content. This is a win-win thing."
"Eric, this is more like a single win for the Firefly system. Not only do you take all the profits from the digital music player, but you also have to share 30% of the revenue from our record company. What's more, you have complete control over the platform. In the hands of the Firefly system, do you think we will agree to such a completely one-sided cooperation?"
Colin Southgate said so, although his words were still unceremonious, his tone was obviously softened.
Eric did not directly respond to Colin Southgate's questioning, but said: "In fact, Firefly Electronics has already begun to discuss the split plan. We plan to separate the Fireflyer player separately. I think you must have got the relevant information." News?"
"Aren't you going to list the Fireflyer player business separately?" Colin Southgate blurted out his guess, but then paused, staring at Eric: "You mean, Firefly Electronics Are you willing to accept capital injections from other shareholders?"
Eric shook his head, corrected a little, and said, "To be precise, it's Fireflyer."
Colin Southgate was silent for a moment, and said, "Eric, I need to see your split plan first."
"The specific plan has not yet been formed, but I can ask my assistant to send you a draft in the afternoon," Eric explained, and added: "Also, I can guarantee that after the split, since there is no longer any need for With R&D costs covered by other business units of the parent company, Fireflyer's margins will actually improve substantially."
"So, Eric, let's be honest, how much equity can Firefly Electronics, or Fireflyer, transfer to EMI?"
"Eight percent."
"Too little, Eric, at least 20% is needed."
"Colin, the five major record companies, each of you takes 20%, so what's left for me?"
Bobby Delevingne, who had been sitting quietly by the side all this time, heard Eric's words, caught some kind of joke, and burst out laughing. Realizing her gaffe, the girl hastily stuck out her tongue at the two apologetically.
After being interrupted by Bobby Delevingne, Colin Southgate's thinking was not affected: "Eric, we all know that you don't need to win all the five major record companies, as long as there is a large The joining of the record group is enough for the Yahoo Music Store at the current stage. Moreover, as long as the Yahoo Music Store proves its potential, several other record companies will have to join in either actively or forcedly.”
"You're right," Eric nodded, and said, "However, the 8% equity transfer ratio has also been carefully considered by us. I didn't intentionally give a low number and let everyone negotiate with each other We have been seeing for a few months, everyone's time is very tight, I don't want to procrastinate like this. We can calculate that it is a foregone conclusion that digital music players will replace traditional portable players. , the market capacity of digital music players will reach at least 100 million units in the future. At that time, even if Fireflyer players only maintain a 70% market share, this will be an annual sales volume of 70 million units, and the average sales of Fireflyer players Based on the price-earnings ratio of 350 U.S. dollars, with a net profit margin of 15%, the annual net profit will reach 3.675 billion U.S. dollars. After the IPO, based on a price-earnings ratio of 30 times, the market value of Fireflyer can easily exceed 100 billion U.S. dollars. EMI Group holds 8 %, excluding the annual profit dividend, this equity is worth 8 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to the current market value of EMI Group."
Colin Southgate's expression changed, but he did not give in easily, saying: "Eric, this is just the most ideal digital model you made. No one knows what the actual situation will be. Many electronic companies now Manufacturers are all making digital music players. It is difficult to determine whether the Fireflyer player will decline in the next few years. Even if it will not decline, it is impossible for you to continue to maintain a high profit margin under the situation of intensified competition. Moreover, There's no way a company that's selling a purely digital music player is worth $100 billion."
"Colin, if you only see the Fireflyer player, it will make me look down. The Firefly system lays out a complete digital music ecosystem, and the Fireflyer player is just one part of it. Perhaps it can provide The entire ecosystem brings most of the profits, but if other manufacturers only see this, they will never be able to surpass us. Even if they see through the complete layout of the Firefly system, they still cannot surpass us, because the Firefly system has already left them behind. It's been a long way."