Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 888 Cooperation with Marvel
Stan Lee didn't dare to underestimate the young man in front of him. He shook hands and said, "Mr. Yang, I've long admired your name. I've seen your company's 'Dragon Ball' and 'Transformers,' and they are very good anime."

"Haha, thank you for the compliment." Yang Wendong nodded and then said, "I've also read Marvel's superhero comics, and I really like them."

This isn't fake; he actually did see some of them, either in later movies or in current comics.
For people who had many forms of entertainment in their previous lives, reading boring comics might be rather dull, but in this era, the only entertainment options are television, movies, radio, music players, newspapers, and books.

In comparison, Marvel comics are somewhat fun. When I came to the United States before, or on the plane, I would read Marvel or DC comics to pass the time. The content is very different from the movies I watched before, so it is also fresh information.

This is one of the reasons why Yang Wendong was willing to spend huge sums of money to help the development of Hong Kong's entertainment industry. Once the industry develops, it can provide him with a lot of entertainment, and the money he makes on the side is actually not much compared to the real estate and electronics industries.

“This is my honor. In the future, our companies can exchange ideas more on animation creation,” Stan Lee said with a smile.

Yang Wendong said, "That's why I came here; I hope we can achieve more cooperation in various aspects."

Stan Lee nodded and said, "Alright, let's go inside first. Mr. Yang, you can take a look around our company first, and we can discuss the cooperation later."

He was a smart man and knew that a top business tycoon like Yang Wendong couldn't have come to their company just for fun; he must have had some business purpose.

Subsequently, Yang Wendong and others followed Stan Lee on a tour of the Marvel Studios, where they saw countless people hunched over tables drawing.

Yang Wendong asked, "Mr. Li, have you considered using computers for drawing?"

It was only 1981. Although computers had been around for a long time, there were still relatively few personal computers and office computers, and even fewer matching software programs.

Stan Lee said, "I had this idea before and even tried it, but the results were very unsatisfactory. Currently, there are no computers on the market specifically designed for drawing; most are used for financial systems, industry, or normal business office work."

“Yes, that’s true. I also have a computer company in Hong Kong, but it doesn’t actually have any optimizations specifically for the field of painting,” Yang Wendong nodded and said.
In this era, software was not very developed. Many people would use whatever software was available on their computers after buying them, and only professionals would install other software.
The market is just beginning to emerge, and the biggest demand comes from industries, commerce, and finance. Painting, as a small industry, has not yet been developed.

Stan Lee immediately became interested and asked, "Can your computer company develop a computer specifically designed for drawing? I approached Apple and IBM, but they rejected me."

“This market is too small, it’s normal that they don’t want to do it. Here’s what I’ll do, I’ll go back and discuss it with the others.” After Yang Wendong finished speaking, he said to his assistant in Cantonese, “Ah Ying, make a note of this.”

Currently, teams are being assembled in Hong Kong to develop Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The combined profits of these three software programs are no less than those of the operating system itself, and they were one of Microsoft's biggest profits in its history.

Operating systems are too difficult and too sensitive, so Yang Wendong only needs to invest in Microsoft, which is the most efficient way. But he has the opportunity to tackle office software, so he naturally won't hand it over to Microsoft again.

Once developed, it will be a way to make money passively for the next two or three decades. The profits will be no less than those of the entire gaming industry.

As for Photoshop, he hasn't prepared for this project yet.

“Okay, Mr. Yang.” Ah Ying paused, then reminded him, “Mr. Yang, the software team in Hong Kong is already severely understaffed with developing those few software programs, and they still need assistance from teams in the UK and the US. Adding another large project like this, I’m afraid…”

As an assistant, although she didn't understand technology, she did have some knowledge of it, at least in terms of the allocation of company resources.
Yang Wendong said, "It's alright, let's start the project first. If it really doesn't work, we can hand it over to the UK and the US for research and development. Also, we should have the personnel in Hong Kong communicate more with the mainland and use foreign exchange to transfer professors from various top universities to help. I believe that the mainland will send people over for the sake of foreign exchange."

Compared to the profits from office supplies and Photoshop, the current labor costs in Europe, America, and mainland China are insignificant.
The most important thing is for the project to succeed. Even if we just develop some frameworks first and register patents, the market will be ours in the future.

However, Photoshop is indeed much more technically difficult than the three office suites, and its market size is smaller, so it cannot be prioritized as a priority. But we can still start preparing to develop it.

In fact, there are quite a few similar software programs, and Yang Wendong remembers some of them. He will consider the follow-up after the office suite has achieved certain results.

Ah Ying agreed, "Okay."

Yang Wendong then said to Stan Lee, "Mr. Lee, the development of this project also requires experts in animation. I have some in Hong Kong, but their drawing style may be different from that in the United States, so we may need the cooperation of your personnel."

“Haha, no problem, just a few artists,” Stan Lee readily agreed.

Marvel's scale is naturally far smaller than that of large companies, but as one of the top comic book companies in the United States, it still has a large number of artists and employees.

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded;
Soon, the group finished walking through Marvel headquarters, and Yang Wendong saw many superhero portraits, as well as figurines and other merchandise.

Upon arriving at a conference room, the two quickly moved on to another topic: "Mr. Li, I hope to utilize Marvel's channels in the United States to develop 'Dragon Ball' and 'Transformers'."

While Changxing Comics Group has been cultivating the US market for a long time, it still lags far behind local companies with decades of experience in terms of distribution channels.
In the pre-internet era, distributors were the core factor determining whether an IP could become a hit. Even Mickey Mouse needed to rely on various channels and advertise frequently. Disney even established its own television station for convenience.

Stan Lee then said, "Mr. Yang, wouldn't that mean I'm using my own channels to help my competitors?"

Yang Wendong said, "Marvel's biggest competitor is DC, not my company. My company's market share in the United States is not high at present, and I will not use your channels for free."

"Through our collaboration, I will also help Marvel expand into the Asian market. You should know this is my forte."

Even Dragon Ball isn't as well-known in the US as Marvel heroes, let alone Transformers; Stan Lee frowned and said, "The Asian market probably isn't very big, is it? And there's too much piracy."

Yang Wendong said: "The Asian market is indeed not as good as the United States, but the economy is developing rapidly now, and the population is seven or eight times that of the United States. If it is developed well, it will definitely be a huge market."

Regarding piracy, I also suffer from this problem, but in many large cities, I can still be assured of quality through legitimate channels.

Stan Lee thought for a moment and then asked in return, "Mr. Yang, aren't you worried that Marvel will take away your market if it goes to Asia?"

"Haha, the Asian comic book market doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the Japanese." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "So helping Marvel doesn't have much impact on me."

Even though he was a time traveler, the number of comics he could copy was limited. He couldn't remember the plots of many classic Japanese comics, and many of them were from his early days or had a simple, everyday background.
Therefore, he could only snatch a few of the most classic Japanese anime or invest in Ultraman's company;
At the overall level, Japanese manga still dominates the Asian market. After all, there are too many manga companies in Japan, and one company alone cannot support the entire industry.

“From this perspective, this would be a very good collaboration.” Stan Lee was also somewhat tempted.

As long as Yang Wendong can guarantee certain legitimate channels, then I can just sell the printed comics directly to him in the future, or even directly authorize him to develop them himself, and then I won't have to worry about it after receiving the licensing fees.

This is a zero-cost transaction, which is also a benefit of copyright;
Using its own channels to help sell Hong Kong comics could theoretically have some impact on Marvel itself, but it shouldn't be too significant. Compared to a huge new market of billions of people, this small loss is nothing.

Yang Wendong said, "Yes, cooperation is mutually beneficial. If it doesn't work out, then I'll have no choice but to go to DC Company."

“In principle, I have no problem with it, but I also need to discuss it with the marketing department.” Stan Lee also sensed a threatening tone in Yang Wendong’s words.
But that's normal. In business, you can't stop others from cooperating with your competitors if you don't cooperate with them, right?
Given Yang Wendong's financial resources and distribution channels in Asia, DC will likely agree, which is not a good thing for Marvel.

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "That's good. I hope to see Marvel movies in Asia soon."

Putting aside the fact that he has no intention of targeting Marvel, even if he doesn't, given the future media hegemony of the United States, Marvel comics or movies will inevitably impact the Asian market sooner or later. So it's better to introduce them to the market himself, which would at least allow him to profit from them and also help his comics open up the American market.

Incidentally, it can also compete with Japanese comics. Even if I don't make money myself, it's good if I can make my competitors lose some money.

Another point is that Stan Lee did not know the future popularity of Dragon Ball and Transformers in the United States and even globally, since these two comics are currently only liked by a small number of people.
Of course, to become truly famous, they still need to make animations. However, after Yang Wendong reviewed the finished product, he felt the animation was not good and rejected it several times. Currently, Changxing Comics is still negotiating the animation issues with the Hong Kong martial arts instructors.

As for Transformers, making an animated series would be quite difficult; it would likely require a lot of manpower and computer assistance.

“OK, I wish us a pleasant collaboration.” Stan Lee extended his hand with great pleasure.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you." After shaking hands, Yang Wendong suddenly asked, "Mr. Li, I heard that Marvel's financial situation isn't very good?"

Stan Lee nodded and said, "Yes, comics require a lot of manpower and talent, so the cost of human resources is very high."

A few years ago, I borrowed a lot of money to fund several new comics, but I didn't expect the oil crisis to cause the economy to deteriorate, merchandise sales to plummet, and the loan interest rates to be too high, leading to cash flow problems for the company.

Marvel is not a publicly traded company, but its controlling shareholder, Cassandra, is. Given Yang Wendong's financial resources, it wouldn't be difficult for him to conduct an investigation.

Yang Wendong asked again, "Will Marvel accept investment?"

"You want to invest in Marvel? Why?" Stan Lee countered.

Yang Wendong said, "Because I am also optimistic about the future of the animation industry, and I own some myself, I naturally hope to participate in the American comic book industry, and Marvel is the target I have my eye on."

He didn't mention an acquisition, as that would be too difficult and would only make the other party wary; and even if the acquisition were successful, Stan Lee and his team would still need to participate in the comic book creation.
So just invest now, and we can worry about the rest later;
Like Ho Sin-hang of Hang Seng Bank, Stan Lee is also getting old and will need to retire in a few years or ten years. He can then find a way to acquire the company in good faith.

As for how to collaborate with Disney or make his own Marvel movies, that's a long way off, and he doesn't need to think about it now.

Stan Lee thought for a moment and asked, "How many shares do you need?"

“The more the better, of course.” Yang Wendong paused and said, “Mr. Li, I know that you have been under a lot of pressure from the capital market in the past few years. How about I help you out of the capital market? I can provide you with the funds you need to raise in the capital market.”

Even though Stan Lee was the largest shareholder, once a company goes public, it has to be responsible to its shareholders. If it doesn't operate well in the long term, the pressure will be immense.

"You're helping me raise the funds? You're not thinking of acquiring Marvel, are you?" Stan Lee immediately explained.

Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "No, you own 42% of the shares, and the rest are in the stock market or held by other shareholders."
My suggestion is that we cooperate, delist directly, and then each hold 50% of the shares. Your shareholding will also increase, and I will provide an additional low-interest loan. Management control of the company will be transferred to you. What do you say?

If the company doesn't delist, Yang Wendong's maximum acquisition would be around 20%, no matter what he does. But if it does delist and Stan Lee is willing, he could acquire a much larger stake.

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(End of this chapter)