The Industrial Giant Reborn

Disney's current affairs are actually the three upcoming movies. As for other businesses, such as parks, toy peripheral business, TV business, etc., they are in a state of normal development. After Chen Zhiwen acquired Disney, he allocated Part of Disney's US$200 million was used to maintain the park, expand peripherals and other businesses. However, this amount of funds is still not enough. It is currently only maintained. Under Eisner's leadership, these businesses have rebounded, but If you want to make a qualitative change, firstly, it takes time, and secondly, you need larger-scale funds.

This can only be done after the film business has achieved results. Once successful, it will not only be the income of the animated film itself, but also an increase in confidence. If subsequent films continue to be successful, you can easily borrow more from the bank. funds to develop various businesses.

At least for now, animated movies are the most important in the Disney system. As for the acquisition of Marvel, it is also important, but it is mainly for the future.

After discussing Disney's business development, financial situation, and personnel issues with Eisner, Chen Zhiwen left Disney.

The biggest advantage of being a hands-off boss is that you don’t need to ask too much, you just need to know the direction of development.

The next day, July 8, Chen Zhiwen and Liu Xiaoli met an old friend in a Starbucks coffee shop in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles.

"Eric, your girlfriend is very beautiful." After Henry Morgan saw Chen Zhiwen and Chen Zhiwen sitting by the window, he walked over with a smile and sat down and said.

"I heard that you have been married four times." Chen Zhiwen laughed and said that it is too common for rich people in Europe and America to marry multiple times. Even the first couple who share the joys and sorrows will change their minds after they get rich, and then they will The "wave" mode is turned on.

"I met true love." Henry said with a smile.

"You have a lot of true love." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. These European and American people are a bit weird. It doesn't matter if they are rich and have fun, but they get married, and then divorced after two years, and they have to pay a large amount of alimony. And then continue, even if it happens.

Of course, there is a legal guarantee here, that is, if you get divorced after getting married, it is impossible for those women to get half of their assets. Although the law has provisions in this regard, it is not difficult for rich people to get around it. They only need to pay appropriate alimony. Just the fee.

"The coffee here doesn't feel very good." Henry said after taking a sip of coffee.

"You can't expect civilian coffee to be the same as what you drink every day." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"Yes, Starbucks has developed so fast in the past year or two. It's no wonder you invested in this company in the first place." Henry said.

"In this world, except for a few commodities, most of them are the most profitable and the largest for civilian consumption." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

As early as 2 years ago, Chen Zhiwen remembered Starbucks, the future coffee giant, by chance, so he asked Morgan Stanley, the company behind Henry Morgan, to investigate the company and then invest in it.

At that time, or even today, Starbucks was not very large, and it was an ordinary industry. Facing large capital investment requirements, as long as the money was in place, it was not a problem at all. With the temptation of appropriate funds and some low-interest loans Next, Chen Zhiwen obtained 25% of Starbucks shares.

However, he did not come forward during this process. For such a small company, it was a bit strange for him to come in person. This is just like Alibaba in later generations wanted to invest in a small company worth several million, and then Ma Yun came to discuss it in person.

"That's the truth. Most industries make a little bit of everyone's money." Henry said with a smile: "For example, Eric, your Costco supermarket has become one of the most popular supermarkets in the United States in less than ten years." One of the largest supermarkets, it’s incredible!

Eric, your vision is so great. Wal-Mart has become the most promising retail company. If you had known, I would have invested a little bit. Are there any other good companies that I can invest in? "

"Yes, currently in the United States, I mainly invest in Nike, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, General Electric, and Chrysler Automobile Group. You can invest in all of these except Chrysler. There are other investments that are not listed. It is useless to tell you." Chen Zhiwen Said nonchalantly.

These companies are his pure investment projects in the United States. Except for Nike, they can be said to be just for economic gains and have no other major purposes. And if anyone really wants to check, they can find it. Tell others too. It doesn't matter, if others increase their capital and invest, it will only increase the value of their own stocks, which will benefit you without any harm.

"Chrysler? Why can't you invest? Is it because it has reached its limit?" Henry asked.

"It can be said that Chrysler has indeed turned around in recent years, but the upper limit of the future is still limited. Internally, it cannot beat General Motors, and Ford is not easy to deal with. Externally, Toyota and Honda are about to produce cars in the United States. The entire American automobile industry Everyone will be affected, and the American auto unions will definitely try their best to get benefits from American car brands, so the future is worrying, so it would be good to maintain the current status." Chen Zhiwen explained.

Four years ago, in 1980, relying on a large amount of money earned from gold futures, Chen Zhiwen acquired AMC Automobile and officially entered the automobile industry. In order to help the development of AMC Automobile, in that year, he financed With the help of capital, he acquired 330 dealerships in the United States of Chrysler, one of the three American automobile giants, and purchased thousands of automobile technology patents. During this transaction, he also met the legendary American CEO Iacocca. , knowing that he could save Chrysler in the future, Chen Zhiwen also invested an additional US$300 million and became Chrysler's largest individual shareholder.

As he knew, Lee Iacocca was very capable. Coupled with the decline in oil prices and the decline in U.S. inflation, Chrysler finally returned to its peak. Last year, its net profit was US$700 million, and its stock price increased nearly four times. The trend this year is still very good. The US$1.5 billion borrowed from the US government has been repaid in advance. This is a major event that shocked the corporate world in the United States. Lee Iacocca has also been promoted to the altar of the management industry by all business schools. The stock price is estimated to be still good. Go up a little more.

After Chen Zhiwen cashes out these stocks, he will probably make a net profit of more than US$1 billion, even after deducting various taxes. Relying on this income, if he invests in AMC, he can stabilize the enterprise industry he invests in. Otherwise, he would be a bit reluctant to get money from other places. After all, in the short term, AMC's returns are not as good as those in other industries. of.

"The model called MPV launched by Chrysler this year is really good. I bought one. It's really convenient for business reception." Henry said with a smile.

"Yes, this MPV model is the first in the world. I have to say that the Liacocca is really awesome." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

The business MPV did not exist before the 1980s. It is said that this was an idea that Lee Iacocca had when he was working at Ford, but it was never implemented because it was suppressed too hard by the people above, that is, the second generation of Ford. After all, , the development of a completely new model was considered too risky by the Ford family at the time, but this was true. Several generations of wealthy families were able to maintain their wealth only by being conservative. The more radical families all left Not far away, the capabilities of the rich second and third generations are basically insufficient.

After arriving at Chrysler, the entire company had financial difficulties in the early days. Later, Lee Iacocca relied on his amazing skills to find various investors, and also persuaded Congress to obtain a loan of US$1.5 billion. As a result, he had R\u0026D capital, and by the beginning of this year Cannon and red.

It has to be said that when Chrysler was about to go bankrupt a few years ago, Iacocca still insisted on spending a lot of money to develop new models, which was an operation that ordinary people would not dare to do.

In fact, Chen Zhiwen also knew about MPV, but AMC did not have the R\u0026D capabilities at the time. Instead of going through so much trouble, it would be better to return the opportunity to Chrysler and make profits by buying stocks.

However, the Wuling Shenqi from the mainland should also be considered a kind of MPV, but it is mainly used to transport cargo.

"Okay, then let me buy some Coca-Cola and Nike stocks." Henry Morgan smiled and asked, "I heard that Costco is preparing to go public?"

"You also want to buy Costco shares? When you last raised funds, you also bought 0.5% of the shares, right?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

In the last financing, Chen Zhiwen still gave some opportunities to the Morgan consortium, about 3% in total, while Henry Morgan got 0.5% through his relationship with Chen Zhiwen. Besides, he now has real power within the family. After all, he has To control NBC, the President of the United States must give him three aspects.

"No one would complain that Costco has too many shares. Everyone can see the potential of Costco in the future." Henry Morgan said with a smile.

Even though many people are optimistic about Wal-Mart, no one knows whether it will be suppressed by traditional retail giant Celtic in the future. After all, their business models are similar, and at most they have many differences in management. The big difference is that Wal-Mart's management is obviously stronger, but it is not absolutely invincible. If Celtic suddenly hires a powerful management, it is possible to achieve further success. The two companies are competing for the same type of market.

But Costco is different. Although it is also a retail store, its unique membership model prevents it from competing with other brands. Only Costco can steal the share of other supermarkets. It is almost impossible for other supermarkets to do the opposite, because normal people can do it. After getting a Costco membership card, at least for big purchases, you will definitely go to the cheaper Costco.

Over the years, Celtic, Wal-Mart, and Sears have also tried member supermarkets similar to Costco, but the results have been very poor. Wal-Mart has persisted, but Wal-Mart's own business is also expanding rapidly and requires a lot of financial resources. , how can Costco, which has the ability to compete with the stronger Costco, compete in areas where others are good at?

"You came here just to become a shareholder of Costco, right?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"Yes, he is from our family. He wants me to ask you about Costco's next financing and listing plan. You also know that Morgan Stanley will definitely want to take on such a large listing plan." Henry Morgan said formally.

"It's still early to go public. It's too early to say this now. It's impossible for me to make a decision now, at least until after this financing." Chen Zhiwen said.

"Yes, so what are your requirements for investors in this financing?" Henry asked.

For a Costco that is developing so smoothly and has no shortage of funds, its financing cannot be for money, but will definitely be various requirements.

"I don't need the requirements of the industry itself. What I need is the support of ZZ to ensure that Costco can continue to grow. When it reaches the Celtic level or even higher, the White House and a bunch of congressmen in the United States will not If they cause trouble for us, or even if they are targeted, they are capable of solving the matter," Chen Zhiwen said.