Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 900 Investing in "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial"

Yang Wendong was naturally prepared and said, "Everything can be done in the same way you used to. However, my goal is to make the Lakers the strongest team in the United States. What do you think we should do?"

Either don't do it at all, or do it to the best of your ability. Having a top-tier basketball team with many top superstars is the only way to maximize their "traffic" potential.

“The strongest?” Ted paused for a moment, then replied, “If you’re willing to invest, buying top players from other teams would be the most suitable option, but the cost would be extremely high.”

Furthermore, the league cannot tolerate the emergence of overly strong teams; otherwise, national basketball competitions would lose their suspense and become meaningless. If a truly top-tier team were formed, it would negatively impact the entire NBA industry, and ultimately, it would affect us as well.

Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "That makes sense. If a team is too invincible, then it's really no fun."

No matter what kind of competition it is, it's all about whetting the appetite of consumers. If a team has an overwhelming lead, it will definitely make the whole competition lose its fun.
Ted continued, "However, if it's just about making it to the top tier, there's no problem. The league usually won't interfere too much."

"Well, we'll talk about that later. In the meantime, you can use your free time to investigate suitable candidates. We don't need to invite many, just two or three will do for now," Yang Wendong said with a smile.

All-Star players are certainly very strong, but each top player is comparable to a Hollywood superstar. Even if all of them come together, the results will be better, but it is not economically worthwhile.
This is similar to Hong Kong movies in the past. Two or three of the top actresses, such as Stephen Chow, Jackie Chan, the Four Heavenly Kings, or top actresses, are usually enough for a movie. If you really bring them all together, even if the box office is a huge hit, it will definitely lose money.

Ted replied, "Okay, no problem."

He was also very pleased, as he, as a professional manager, naturally wanted his team to be as strong as possible;

He had also done his research beforehand and found that the boss in front of him was a top-tier tycoon, a shareholder of several major American companies, and owned two industry giants, Best Buy and KFC. To him, an NBA team was nothing at all.

“Okay, let’s discuss it again after the acquisition is completed.” Yang Wendong added, “But you might need to go to Hong Kong. I won’t be staying in the United States for long.”

Ted said, "No problem, I haven't been to Asia in a long time either."

"Okay, that's settled then." Yang Wendong didn't say much more, after all, the team wasn't in their hands yet, and there was no point in discussing too much now;
A few more days passed, and Goldman Sachs arranged for people to investigate the Lakers' financial records overnight;
Compared to many listed companies, the Lakers' operations are not particularly complex, so the review process is naturally very fast. Although it cannot cover every aspect, at least the review of large sums of money is relatively guaranteed.

During the review process, some issues were also discovered, but they were not major problems and were not serious. These potential bad debts can be included in the transaction amount.
Ultimately, representatives from Goldman Sachs and Changxing Group reached an agreement with Jerry Buss for $8635 million, making Yang Wendong the new owner of the Lakers.

After that, Yang Wendong had a long talk with Ted, discussing potential players to buy and future development plans, etc.
Yang Wendong wasn't very professional in this regard, so he mainly followed the opinions of Ted and some other players.

Yang Wendong also informed him that he might bring in a few promising new players in the future;
After listening, Ted asked, "Mr. Yang, are you planning to bring in Asians?"

"What, you don't accept Asians?" Yang Wendong hadn't originally intended to ask this, but he still subconsciously asked after hearing it.

Ted shook his head and said, "No, that's not true. There are occasionally some Asian players in NBA teams, but as you know, in this respect, it's mainly Americans."

"Don't worry, I don't have that plan for now. Even if I do later, I'll arrange for someone with the skills," Yang Wendong said. "Furthermore, even if I bring in someone, whether or not you arrange for them to participate is still up to you. I won't force you."

If the NBA becomes popular in mainland China in the future, I might specifically recruit a few Chinese players.
However, these Chinese players have to be good. If they are bad and can't score points, then they are not valuable and the Chinese community won't like them.
You can't make something out of nothing;

Of course, his current goal is still Jordan, or some promising players, etc. It's still the 80s, and the main market is still Europe and America.

Ted said, "That's good."

He also worries that too much capital interference in the team's operations would put him, the manager, in a difficult position.

"That's settled then. We'll bring in new players as soon as possible, and I won't be stingy with funding as long as it's reasonable," Yang Wendong said. "We'll build the Lakers into one of the top teams in the US as quickly as possible."

Of course, the Lakers weren't bad either at that time.

After leaving the Lakers headquarters, Yang Wendong returned to his hotel and pondered something. After a while, he called over one of his subordinates, Hu Xianfeng: "Old Hu, do something for me in the United States. Arrange for some people to conduct a nationwide survey of high school or college students who may have the potential to become basketball players."

"A basketball player?" Hu Xianfeng asked cautiously, "Mr. Yang, why not let the Lakers handle this?"

“You don’t need to worry about that. I have my own ideas,” Yang Wendong said. “Just find out the basic information about these people first, and then give it to me.”

The purpose of this investigation was, of course, Jordan;

The problem is that Jordan was very famous in his previous life, but Yang Wendong only knew of the person and did not know his basic information. A normal fan would not know the birthplace, school, etc. of a celebrity.

Even if he knew in his previous life, he would not have remembered now that he has been in this world for over 20 years.

So now the only option is to arrange for a large-scale investigation. However, he can't directly tell his subordinates that he's looking for someone named "Michael Jordan." It's best if his subordinates compile a list of names before he proceeds with a more in-depth investigation.

"Okay, Mr. Yang, I'll arrange for someone to do it right away." Hu Xianfeng didn't dare to ask any more questions. Yang Wendong said, "Hmm, this is a high priority. Spend more manpower searching for it, and give me a detailed list in six months."

He still knew that Jordan first appeared in the NBA in the 1984 Rookie Game. If he waited until then, the competition would be fierce, and even if he had money, there would be too much uncertainty.
The best approach would be for the Lakers to contact him before he becomes famous, negotiate a contract, and agree on a deal that he joins the Lakers after the rookie season. That would be much more stable.

Hu Xianfeng replied, "Yes, Mr. Yang."

With the search for Jordan settled, Yang Wendong's official business in Los Angeles came to an end.
In the following days, he investigated the sales of Honor game consoles and electronic computers in the United States, as well as the recent development of Best Buy, Red Bull's market share in the United States, and so on.
With his full support in the early years, these companies have now entered a period of normal development and no longer require much attention from Yang Wendong. He only needs to check their performance reports every now and then.
These companies have become increasingly profitable, becoming the absolute pillar of the entire conglomerate.
Two more days passed, and Yang Wendong finally met the person he needed to meet during his trip to Los Angeles: the famous Hollywood director Steven Spielberg.

"Director, it's been a long time! You seem to have been very busy lately," Yang Wendong said with a smile upon seeing Steven.

"Haha, compared to Mr. Yang, my achievements are nothing," Steven joked back.

He has done very well in Hollywood these past few years and has already achieved the status of a top-tier director; however, he is still far behind the top business tycoon in front of him. Even the big names in Hollywood have to lower their proud heads in front of him.
On the one hand, Hong Kong films under Yang Wendong's leadership had gained the strength to barely compete with Hollywood in many global markets. On the other hand, this business tycoon had built a huge global cinema chain group, which was a fatal attraction for Hollywood companies.

In many parts of the world, cinema chains are independent, involving tens of thousands of cinemas. Even if Hollywood is powerful, it is impossible to negotiate and cooperate with so many cinemas. However, if a consortium were to integrate these cinema chains, cooperation would be much easier.

Yang Wendong waved for the two to sit down and said, "I've watched your movies over the years, and they're really good."

Steven said, "I also want to thank Mr. Yang for giving me the opportunity to film 'Jaws'. Otherwise, my achievements today might not have been so smooth."

"Haha, that collaboration was mutually beneficial. Besides, with your abilities, even without 'Jaws,' you would have made a name for yourself in Hollywood sooner or later," Yang Wendong said with a smile.

"It's hard to say. Many things aren't just about skill; luck plays a big part too," Steven said.
After listening, Yang Wendong agreed, saying, "That's true, doing business is actually the same."

Many people in this world do business without thinking about the future at the beginning; they just want to make some money. But when they encounter a trend, many of them take off. There were many such people in mainland China in my previous life.

Steven then asked, "Mr. Yang, did you invite me here today because you want to invest in my new movie?"

“Yes, I know you’re planning to make a children’s science fiction movie that involves aliens, and I’m very interested in that too,” Yang Wendong nodded and said.

This movie, of course, is the most famous movie from the previous life, "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial";

After Jaws, Yang Wendong basically stopped personally participating in film projects because most films were not worth his time and energy. But this one was different, and it was directed by Steven.

Steven countered, "The filming of this movie is top secret. How did you know?"

“There are indeed secrets in this world, but it depends on who they are targeting,” Yang Wendong replied. “For ordinary people or ordinary reporters, they are naturally secrets, but for those who truly have power, it depends on whether they are interested or not.”
But don't worry, I'm not targeting you. My informants are all over Hollywood. Although you're trying your best to hide it, preparing to shoot a big-budget film will inevitably involve many people in Hollywood, so it's impossible for them to keep it from me.

These are also true; not only Hollywood, but many industries in the United States have been the focus of Yang Wendong's attention.
On the one hand, it was for his own business needs; on the other hand, as a transmigrator, many things were deep in his memory, and if they weren't triggered by something, he wouldn't be able to remember them.

Therefore, he spent a lot of money investing in information channels. Of course, other large companies are similar, but they generally only involve their own related industries and do not involve multiple businesses like Yang Wendong.
"So that's how it is." Steven didn't seem to care.
As a top Hollywood director, he naturally knew that the major Hollywood studios were in similar situations. He even had friends who were asked to notify him immediately if anything major happened in Hollywood.

Yang Wendong then said, "I heard you went to 20th Century Fox, but they rejected your investment. How about we cooperate?"

The investment in the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was quite high, so many companies were very cautious.

Steven thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Yang, if you want to cooperate, that's fine too. It was you who gave me the movie 'Jaws' back then, which made me who I am today. I'm naturally happy to cooperate with you."
However, since you're not American capital, and the E.T. movie will be a collaboration with the US military, I can only allow you to invest up to 3%, how about that?"

"Involving the US military?" Yang Wendong nodded, then said, "Half of it? I can completely refrain from asking about your filming process, as long as I supervise the finances in the future."

“Half? That won’t do. I’m planning to partner with a Hollywood company.” Steven shook his head and said, “The other 20% is to be allocated to the production team and other non-Hollywood investors who are willing to invest.”

"Is that so? That works out then. Thirty percent it is." Yang Wendong wasn't too greedy. He said, "However, I would like my Red Bull, Honor computers, and home appliances companies to purchase product placement for the new movie. What do you think?"

A top-tier blockbuster movie has an extremely strong promotional ability. In the early days, Coca-Cola liked to give Coca-Cola to film companies for free so that its Coca-Cola could appear on screen.

Later, as time went on, this also became a business.

Hong Kong films also generate this kind of revenue, especially blockbuster films, some of which recoup part of their costs through product placement even before filming begins.

“No problem, if the price is right, we’d be happy to,” Steven said with a smile.

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)