King of Hollywood

\u003c/br\u003e Chapter 1 Bubble

It seems that in the West, there will always be some inexplicable rumors at the turn of the century, and these rumors always like to be mixed with disasters, especially at the turn of the millennium, these rumors are particularly exaggerated. It is said that when 1000 AD is approaching, Continuing plagues and famines have rattled the whole of Europe, and many believe the end is imminent. m

Even in 2000, this is still the case. The most famous ones are the predictions of Nocha Damas and the millennium bug. One involves occultism and the other involves science, which complement each other perfectly. This probably has something to do with the religious factors rooted in Western society.

Of course, at the moment when the most luxurious crystal ball in Times Square fell and the millennium bell rang, the terrifying demon king did not fall from the sky, and the nuclear bomb was not launched because the timer jumped to 00. The world is running as usual, and there is a scene of singing and dancing.

This is especially true in Hollywood. The past decade has pushed the film industry to a peak again, and a large number of outstanding directors and producers have emerged, the most famous of which is Adrian Cowell, who is known as a miracle director. By the end of the millennium, as many as 15 films had been directed, produced and released by him, with a global box office of nearly $3 billion.

If you look at it separately, although this result is good, it is not surprising. James Cameron has only directed six films so far, and "Titanic" alone has taken away more than 2 billion box office in the world, while Steven Spielberg's North American box office alone is close to 30 100 million. But the problem is that some things have to be combined with reality. It took Adrian less than ten years to complete these, and these movies have a variety of styles, which is dazzling. Many people say that without style is his style.

What's more, the calculations are all the movies he directed. If you add those works related to him, basically no one can compare.

Moreover, Adrian is not only a director and producer, but also the chairman of a very young media group comparable to Viacom and News Corporation. In less than ten years, the acquisition of tbs, the acquisition of Universal Pictures, and the acquisition of Universal Pictures have been multi-pronged but go hand in hand. Few mistakes are made. The rocket-like development speed is amazing and cannot be replicated, attracting many scholars to conduct research.

After the acquisition of tbs and Universal Pictures, Adrian contributed a lot to their rapid stabilization. He can always think of some excellent stories with high commercial value and make them into movies or TV series. Currently, the ratings are the highest Several reality shows are also related to him, all of which have given him countless titles, ace screenwriter, miracle director, gold medal producer, and no one questioned—anyone who doubted was swollen Face.

His vision is always talked about, and countless directors, actors, and producers want to cooperate with him, especially actresses, even if they know that he is a famous playboy.

The media named the actresses who worked with Adrian as "Wonder Girls". Everyone knew that he had a close relationship with them, even if the photos of other women with him alone were almost No. There are even rumors that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Hollywood's golden couple, will divorce because of him.

And this is all public information, as for those only known by insiders, there are more. Even so, the actress is still very enthusiastic about him, as long as he is favored by Adrian, it will not be difficult to soar into the sky.

He can always accurately grasp the characteristics of women. Cate Blanchett, one of the "Wonder Girls", won the Oscar for Best Actress at the beginning of last year because of him. Paltrow has also won several Oscar nominations for Best Actress because of him. The "Beautiful Legend of Sicily", which was fully released in January, received a lot of praise when it was screened. A "miracle girl" Monica Bellucci shines brightly, and it is already certain that she will be nominated for this year's Oscar for Best Actress.

Powerful and talented, how can such an attractiveness keep the actresses from moving forward? However, the sought-after Marvel director is now doing something that has nothing to do with movies.

"It's all gone?" Adrian at the desk looked at Claude in the spacious office and asked.

"Not yet, but it's coming soon," Claude smiled, "Don't worry, haven't you completely let go yet?"

Then, he turned the LCD flat-panel monitor in front of him: "Cisco's market cap is over $500 billion, it's insane."

In 1998, Apple developed a liquid crystal display, and then a year later, a liquid crystal flat panel display was also released. I have to say that Jobs is really a powerful guy. As shareholders of Apple, it is normal for Adrian and Claude to use Apple computers, and it is also no problem to customize a dedicated LCD flat panel display.

It's just that it's depressing that Apple computers never provide a mouse with a left button, and no matter how users react and protest, they are unwilling to give in. Although Apple's technology is powerful, it is also stubborn in some ways. Fortunately, Apple computers have been compatible with other mice since last year, otherwise Adrian would have to struggle with LCD monitors and mice.

"Yes, this is a bubble, and it may burst anytime, anywhere." Adrian nodded.

In the past year, IT stocks have started to soar like crazy. Cisco, which had a market value of more than 100 billion at the beginning of last year, has now passed the 500 billion mark in mid-January 2000. The same is true for other IT stocks, not to mention old IT companies such as Microsoft and Dell—Microsoft’s market value has also exceeded 500 billion—Yahoo’s market value has exceeded 100 billion, and eBay has tens of billions.

This is something that drives all stockholders and investors crazy. Investing 1 dollar can turn into tens of dollars in a few days, and hundreds of dollars in a few months. No wonder some people will shout, this is the best era.

But is that really the case? Regardless of the crazy market capitalization, a little attention to the actual assets of these companies will make people breathless. It is also a large company with a market capitalization of more than 500 billion. Cisco's actual assets are only more than 10 billion, and Microsoft has not exceeded 400 billion. billion, while General Electric, which has been number one in market value for many years, has actual assets of more than 500 billion, which is almost equal to the market value!

The value of a company in the stock market must be based on the actual assets of the company. If the market value exceeds the actual assets by too much, it will form a bubble and be very unstable. Cisco's actual assets are only more than 10 billion, but the market value has reached 500 billion, and it is still a common phenomenon in IT companies. What is this if it is not a big bubble that may burst at any time?

In fact, most finance companies have more or less realized this point, but what is the use of knowing? Some things are not transferred by human will. When the bubble will burst, even the guys on Wall Street who are waiting to get out and make a fortune by the way are not sure, not to mention that there are still many people applauding the strong it stocks, speculators and dizzy people can be found everywhere .

As a reborn person, Adrian naturally started preparing for it long ago. At the beginning of 1999, he asked Reggett to slowly sell the stocks in his hands and carry out equity transfers. The stock is not about how much it is worth in your hands, but how much you can get after selling it. Every sale will cause fluctuations in the stock price. Once a huge amount is sold at one time, the bubble may burst in advance. Investment banks are always ready to withdraw.

You know, the Cisco and Microsoft stocks in Adrian's hands, if they are put into the present, the market value will be at least 60 billion or more. It is very lucky to recover two or three billion yuan, and the taxes that need to be paid have not been included in it.

In addition, the media group itself and Claude personally still hold some it stocks, and when added together, the amount is even greater. Therefore, we must be careful when selling, and we must grasp the degree in the hearts of some people, so that they can raise the affected stock price for more benefits, instead of selling together and letting the bubble burst in advance.

In a sense, Adrian is taking food from a tiger's mouth. Although he is already a media tycoon, the media can be regarded as one of the few media groups. Compared with some people on Wall Street, he is still not enough. The qualifications are also slightly shallower. Countless accounts were used in the whole process, and each trader tried his best to grasp the market, but fortunately there was no problem.

In addition, under the pretext of needing money, for example, the media transferred most of Yahoo's shares to Jerry Young on the grounds that it competed with Bertelsmann for Random House. Every founder wants to be able to control the company in their own hands, and Jerry Yang is no exception, even if the media does not interfere too much with Yahoo's affairs.

However, Random House was still taken over by Bertelsmann, it just cost a lot more. If this is the case, there is no need to expand this area. The current publishing company is already famous because of the Harry Potter series.

In short, so far, except for some stocks that are considered from the future, such as Apple and Amazon-needless to say, the former, it is absolutely foolish to sell it now, and the latter, as Jeff Bezos Is a rare talent. When the IT bubble began to expand and the market capitalization costs of various companies increased, only he withstood the pressure from all sides and maintained Amazon's stable development. The current market capitalization is only more than one billion yuan.

Seeing that others are making a lot of money, most of Amazon's shareholders are very dissatisfied. Many people have contacted Adrian and Claude's agents, hoping that they will come forward to put pressure on Bezos. After all, the two of them The shares in the hands together are the major shareholders of Amazon. However, after thinking for a long time, Adrian and Claude declined their proposal, and even helped Bezos share some pressure.

If you just want to make a lot of money, the answer is very simple. As a major shareholder, unite all shareholders to force Bezos to absorb more funds, and then multiply it by dozens of times, and withdraw when it reaches tens of billions. But how much does that make? You must know that it took more than a year for those stocks to cash out. Moreover, there are not many it companies with such a vision as him. If they resign after the bubble bursts, what will happen to Amazon?

Well, even if Amazon goes bankrupt, there are other e-commerce websites to replace it, but that is equivalent to being out of Adrian's control. Although he doesn't know who Amazon was in his previous life, he still remembers that it has been developing very well. And Amazon also has a place in his plans. Of course, he could also intentionally use this method to bankrupt Amazon, then buy it out and hire Bezos back, but it will take a lot of time, and who knows what accidents will happen in the middle, and it is not in line with his vision for the future. idea.

So, it's better to help Bezos now, and he's earning enough on this. After cashing out those confirmed stocks, Adrian earned almost 20 billion, excluding taxes and trader's dividends! This figure seems to be far from the market value of 60 billion, but don't forget that this is cash! And it's his alone! Which individual can come up with such cash at one time? ! Even the current Cisco, the reserves may not exceed 10 billion! And it is almost the same as what Claude and the entire media group earned from it, although the entire group also held more stocks in their hands and did not sell them because of future considerations.

In addition, while selling and transferring, Adrian also exchanged 2 shares of Microsoft shares for 1 share of General Electric shares. In this country, those who control the energy and arms business are the real giants. Otherwise, how could General Electric's actual assets be equal to its market value? This super company whose origin can be traced back to the last century is the largest defense supplier in the United States. From aircraft to missiles, there is nothing they cannot produce. They also provide the neutron generator for the b61 nuclear bomb. To put it an exaggeration, if GM is about to collapse, and the United States is almost doomed.

1 shares seem useless, but Adrian himself does not want to enter General Electric, and General Electric's financial statements can sometimes play a big role, and it can get some useful news better and faster. To put it bluntly, it's like he invested in Blackwater in 1997, but he didn't care about it most of the time except to understand the situation to prevent being kicked out. He just wanted to share a small piece of cake with those giants.

Taking advantage of the IT bubble, Adrian made a lot of money, but he is not ready to stop. Although the sell-off and transfer have come to an end, there are other ways to make money, and it is easier to make more.

"I must remind you, Ed, predicting the date is the most critical and difficult." Claude said at this time.

"Yes, I know, what day do you think it will be?" Adrian, who was staring at the computer screen, nodded.

"It's hard to say. I'm afraid no one in the entire United States knows. Even those guys who are ready can't be sure when the best shot is." Claude shook his head and said, "You're gambling again, buddy."

Is there any way in this world to make a lot of money easily and at the same time? Of course there is, that is futures speculation! Often within a few days, tens of thousands of dollars may turn into millions, and hundreds of millions into tens of billions, just like magic. The profits are so lucrative that naturally many people persevere, even knowing that the risks are equally high. If you are not careful, you will be a millionaire today and bankrupt tomorrow.

When the IT bubble burst, there were at least trillions of funds flowing in the derivative financial market. How could it be possible not to make a fortune from it? ! Moreover, futures are not stocks. As long as someone takes the order, you are not afraid of losing money. Futures speculation does not require too much advanced knowledge, the key is whether the date can be accurately predicted.

At the beginning, Adrian relied on Claude to speculate in oil futures to obtain further start-up funds, and the most important thing for Claude to successfully complete the task was that Adrian gave him the exact date when the US military launched an offensive.

But the world develops linearly, and while some things are inevitable, like starting the gulf war, or bursting the it bubble, some things are very accidental, like the timing of starting the war and the bursting of the bubble. Adrian has never been a gambler. Although he has been to Las Vegas and Atlantic City a few times, he has never gambled heavily. He prefers to let everything develop according to his own plan than to look for excitement by spending a lot of money. He was forced to speculate in oil futures 9 years ago and had no better willingness to accumulate funds quickly. The world has enough influence to be worth a gamble.

But it’s not working now. He vaguely remembers that the IT bubble burst in the previous life in early February 2000, but in the past year, because he kept cashing out and transferring equity, the fluctuating stock market must be different from the previous life, so Cisco’s market value It has exceeded 500 billion at the moment, and there are very few companies that can reach this level, so it is hard to say whether the bubble will burst in advance.

"If you think about it more carefully, we must find clues." Adrian continued.

"I really don't understand, you've earned enough, why take such a big risk?" Claude teased.

He was right. According to estimates, the actual assets of the media are at least 50 billion yuan. Adrian, who owns 45% of the equity, has a net worth of more than 20 billion yuan. If it goes public, including those virtual assets, the market value of the group will be at least Double it. Coupled with the 20 billion earned back now, as well as some real estate, there is no pressure to surpass the cover and become the richest man in the world.

What's more, there are still many industries waiting for him to develop in the future. At that time, the wealth will only increase further, and there is no need to take risks-unfortunately, this is also the reason why he did this. I paid 10 billion to buy and sell, even if I was in vain, I can still afford to lose, besides——

"I still have to spend as much as I want, and there are a dozen women and five or six children to raise. It's a lot of pressure." Adrian shrugged very seriously, and then Claude rolled his eyes. \u003c/p\u003e