Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 912 Satellite Program
Since the First Industrial Revolution, Britain has been the global hegemon. Whether in economic or political terms, the pound sterling has been the world's most reliable currency for centuries, and the British Empire's control over the world was even stronger than that of the United States in the second half of the 20th century.
Back then, you could beat up anyone you didn't like and get huge compensation and economic benefits, unlike the United States in the 20th century which suffered heavy losses after launching several wars.
It wasn't until the rise of Germany, a developed country that challenged the old hegemon and launched two world wars, that Britain was dethroned from its global hegemony. Otherwise, it probably wouldn't have been so easy for the United States to take over as the new king.
By the 70s and 80s, Britain, having lost its colonies, was clearly not doing well, but its power remained. Especially in the pre-internet era, many people relied entirely on media controlled by capital to judge the international situation, and many people subconsciously still believed that Britain was very strong.

The same is true in Hong Kong. Although Yang Wendong controlled more than half of the media in Hong Kong, his media outlets generally did not get involved in international political affairs. Instead, British-owned newspapers frequently praised the British Empire.

The failure of the Sino-British negotiations in Yanjing immediately led many to believe that the two great empires might clash more fiercely, or even erupt into war.

Hong Kong's economy had slowed down after nearly a decade of growth, but with the arrival of the external crisis, it suddenly fell into a crazy decline that even a miracle couldn't stop.
Meanwhile, public opinion has also become chaotic.

Qin Zhiye from Changxing Media Group also rushed over to ask for instructions: "Mr. Yang, what should our group do about the recent events?"

"Do nothing, and everything else will be normal," Yang Wendong replied. "Regarding the Sino-British negotiations, we should just report the facts that have been achieved. Don't add subjective judgments; focus on the objective facts that have already occurred."

No matter which side we take, it will affect him, so it's better not to take a side at all.
In any case, whatever choice he makes will not affect the outcome;

“Okay.” Qin Zhiye added, “There’s one more thing. After that, Thatcher will come to Hong Kong. I estimate she will definitely invite political and business tycoons from around the world. Should you make preparations?”

"Don't worry, I already have a plan, and I'm too lazy to get involved in this mess." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I'm leaving for the United States tomorrow to stay for a while and take care of some business there."

If you need anything in the future, you can contact me directly. I'll carry my phone with me at all times, so we can stay in touch 24/7.

As the 80s approached, wireless communication technology also made significant progress, and many major cities in the United States were already covered by the most basic wireless signals.
This finally allowed him to receive calls from others at any time. Otherwise, before, there would have been a dedicated person waiting for calls in the office. In case of an emergency, contacting Yang Wendong would involve many twists and turns, and a high-quality assistant would be needed to sort out the relationships at any time.
A new era of communication has finally begun, and Yang Wendong feels that we are getting closer and closer to the future internet society.

Qin Zhiye said, "Okay."

Yang Wendong then asked, "TVB is under your jurisdiction. I have an idea: I want to launch a satellite and then broadcast TVB's television signal throughout the Asian region. What do you think?"

"What, a satellite?" Qin Zhiye exclaimed in surprise. "We've started selling various TVB programs and are generating some revenue. Is it really necessary to invest so much? The cost of this satellite would probably be over a billion, which is beyond TVB's current revenue."

TVB now indeed monopolizes Hong Kong and Macau, and its various programs have sparked a "Hong Kong wave" throughout Asia and Hong Kong films.
But after all, it's an entertainment project, and the annual profit is over 100 million. But launching a satellite is too much of an investment; 1 billion is probably a conservative estimate.

Yang Wendong said, "The satellite's function is not limited to your company; I have other uses for it as well, so you don't need to worry about that."

What you need to figure out is how to promote and guide consumers in Asian countries to accept our satellite channels after we have satellites.”

"As long as you have a satellite dish or antenna, you can receive satellite signals. Theoretically, as long as our program is well-made, there shouldn't be any problem." Qin Zhiye thought for a moment, then said, "But the problem lies in the fact that many countries in Asia speak different languages. Translation is relatively easy to solve, but how do we distinguish the signals?"

“This is a professional issue, and I don’t understand it either. Just ask a professional,” Yang Wendong said. “If all else fails, we’ll start with Chinese and English, which are enough to cover half of the population in Southeast Asia. We can study other issues later.”

More than these concerns, I'm worried that different countries might control external channels. If that happens, even the best preparations won't be very effective.

Qin Zhiye thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps we can learn from the capitalists in Europe and America and obtain policy returns by supporting some members of parliament or even the president."
Many Southeast Asian countries, although populated by Asian people, have adopted Western political systems. If we have the money and act legally and reasonably, we should be able to achieve this.

“Okay, let’s choose a target in advance. We can also promise that if our TV station enters their market, we will help him develop his political career. It’s a win-win situation,” Yang Wendong nodded and said.

Qin Zhiye said, "Okay, but in that case, it will probably be difficult to make a profit in various places."

“It doesn’t matter. What I care about isn’t how much money this TV station can make. I just want it to cover a large enough population in Asia.” Yang Wendong said nonchalantly, “As long as we can achieve this goal, even losing money is not a problem.”

Many businesses may not appear to be profitable, but they can actually generate profits indirectly through other channels.

The media is like this, similar to QQ and WeChat on the Internet in the past. They themselves require a lot of servers and manpower, and in themselves, they do not make money or even lose money. However, they can easily drive traffic to Tencent's games, shopping, group buying, mini-programs, etc., the latter of which are the most profitable.
If one can gain a corresponding share in the media markets of multiple Asian countries, it can not only benefit multiple businesses, but also increase one's influence, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop;
To achieve this goal, launching a satellite, even if it costs hundreds of millions of dollars, is worthwhile. Furthermore, the satellite may have other value or could be leased out.

In addition, my own logistics group in Asia can also be used, but it is relatively small in scale and scattered, so it can only be said to be used incidentally.

Qin Zhiye nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. So, should we ask NASA in the US or Europe to launch the satellite?"

"I need to seriously consider this matter and investigate it further," Yang Wendong said.
It involves hundreds of millions of dollars, so he still needs to personally oversee it. This isn't like building a house in Hong Kong, where he has plenty of experience and there usually won't be any problems.
Theoretically speaking, NASA is the strongest, after all, the moon landings of the previous decade stunned many countries around the world. Although Yang Wendong also suspected that it might be fake, neither Russia nor the mainland came forward to say anything, so he didn't worry about it.

Europe is also catching up quickly and has already been able to launch satellites into near Earth orbit.
In Asia, Japan and mainland China also successfully launched [their typhoons] in the 70s. The increased efficiency of global typhoon warnings and the safety of ocean-going vessels in recent years are also closely related to these factors.

“Okay, then I’ll make other preparations,” Qin Zhiye agreed. The Hong Kong media were almost entirely focused on the Sino-British negotiations; everything else had to take a backseat.
After encountering a tough opponent in Yenching, Thatcher rushed to Hong Kong, intending to gather Hong Kong's political, business, and wealthy figures to put pressure on the mainland.
However, when she arrived, she found that many wealthy people and even a few political figures had already left Hong Kong, especially Hong Kong's richest man, Yang Wendong, who had a huge influence in Hong Kong. If she could get his support, it would be of great help to Britain.

Unfortunately, he was already on a plane to the United States. Thatcher called him personally, but Yang Wendong brushed her off.

He was still willing to give Thatcher face in many things, and Britain would play a significant role in his future strategic plans. However, on this particular matter, he decided to let it go and had no intention of getting involved at all.

The next day, Yang Wendong arrived in New York and spent the night at the Waldorf Hotel before meeting with Barney from Goldman Sachs.
Barney said excitedly, "Eric, the New York Securities and Exchange Commission has approved KFC's IPO application. There are still some procedures to go through, plus some roadshows. It is estimated that it can be listed by the beginning of next year. At that time, we will witness another new IPO."

"KFC's IPO probably won't surpass Best Buy's," Yang Wendong said, shaking his head.
Best Buy is part of the IT industry, and it also benefits from the influence of the personal computer and electronics industries, so it has great potential for the future.

KFC is now no smaller than Best Buy and its profitability is not bad, but it belongs to a traditional industry and its upper limit is obvious at a glance.
The stock market is all about future potential. If the future potential is limitless, even if you are currently losing a lot of money, you can still achieve a high market value. For example, the Hollywood bubble a decade or so later. Any website, even if it loses tens of millions a year, can still go public and make a fortune as long as it has a market and even if it has no profit model.

In traditional industries, the market value can only be calculated directly based on existing asset value, annual profits, and other conditions.

“It’s at least a billion dollars in market value,” Barney laughed. “It may not be as big as Apple or Best Buy, but it’s still in the top ten in American history over the last few decades.”

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, that's true."

McDonald's next door is worth about a billion dollars, and KFC is no less than McDonald's in many ways.

Barney then asked, "Eric, you have quite a few businesses under your umbrella. I wonder if you could consider going public, including your several companies in Hong Kong. Although they are headquartered in Hong Kong, they are all focused on the global market and have some brand recognition in the United States."

"If you're willing, we'd be happy to help you list several of your large conglomerates on the stock exchange. In my estimation, if all these groups were listed, their total market capitalization would definitely exceed ten billion US dollars, and you would become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Asian and even global history."

Many of Yang Wendong's businesses have been operating discreetly, without going public or raising large amounts of external financing. By the time external financial giants discovered them, they were already industry leaders, and in many of these industries, they were even created by themselves.

Such giant companies, once they go public, are all huge IPOs, and it is something that happens only once in a long time under normal circumstances;

The only comparable companies are probably century-old European family businesses that have gone public, but the probability of the latter is very low, and it is unlikely that American capital will be able to participate.

Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "I'm not considering it for now. I don't need the money right now."

“Going public isn’t just about raising funds; it has many other benefits as well,” Barney said.

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I am aware of that, but I have made it clear that I will not be planning to go public for the time being; if there is a need in the future, I will give you priority consideration."

There are some companies he doesn't plan to go public, but he still has to give Goldman Sachs face, and there's no need to tell them;
Keeping a glimmer of hope alive, keeping them hanging on, is also of great benefit to oneself.

Even if other strategic issues arise in the future, a company that can be listed or not can be used to make a deal with these Wall Street financial groups.

Anything is possible, and it's really hard to be certain about what the future will hold.

"Alright, then let's hope that day comes soon." Barney knew from Yang Wendong's attitude that it was unlikely.

Yang Wendong continued, "Barney, there are two other things I wanted to discuss with you. The first is that I plan to launch a geostationary satellite in space in Asia for my television station to transmit signals."

"Launch a satellite? You mean NASA?" Barney wasn't particularly surprised;
NASA itself also has this kind of business, and many large American corporations will cooperate with NASA to launch satellites for commercial purposes.

However, this might be the first time that someone in Asia has sought to launch a satellite from NASA.

Yang Wendong said: "It's possible, but it's not certain yet whether it's NASA. I just want to understand the specific situation and price first. I will also consult some other countries that can launch satellites, and then we will make a unified decision."

I don't know anyone at NASA, so I'm hoping you can make the connection and give me a rough estimate first.

"Okay, sure. I don't know anyone directly at NASA, but I'll ask around among my friends." After Barney agreed, he added, "So, what's the second thing?"

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