Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 503: Taking down "The Three-Body Problem"

As Meng Bai finished speaking, the entire conference room was briefly silent for a few seconds.

Obviously, no one present expected him to appear here suddenly.

The same thing went for Xu Fang. She had only known that Huguang would send someone to help her out, but she had not expected that it would be President Meng who would come in person.

She took a deep breath without leaving any trace to calm down the shock in her heart. She put on an expression that showed she had everything under control and said with a smile, "Mr. Meng, that's too formal. Lao Lin always told me before that the cooperation with ArcLight is the most important thing for Youzu. There's nothing abrupt about it."

After saying that, she turned to look at Chen Feng, whose eyes were somewhat dull, and said meaningfully: "Director Chen, I am not wrong, am I?"

After all, he has been in the business world for 20 to 30 years, so Chen Feng put on an enthusiastic expression without hesitation: "Hahaha, of course, President Meng is visiting us personally, we welcome him so much, how can it be so abrupt?"

He laughed to ease the atmosphere, and then continued, "Well, let Zhao Ji and the others sit with President Meng for a while, and we will deal with the company's private affairs as soon as possible."

This is a polite remark, but it actually has a deeper meaning. The purpose is to tell the other party that you, Mr. Meng, are indeed awesome, but we are dealing with internal company affairs now. If you insist on intervening, it would be a bit unruly.

Xu Fang naturally understood the meaning of these words, but surprisingly, she did not refute them at all. Instead, she said nonchalantly, "Indeed, Director Chen is right. Then, please wait for a moment, President Meng. We will sign the contract after I finish here."

"Wait!"

Chen Feng stopped her and asked in surprise: "Sign a contract? What contract?"

Regarding the film and television adaptation cooperation of "The Three-Body Problem", we have already signed an agreement with ArcLight, and they all know about it, so what kind of "signing" is this now?
"Why, Director Chen doesn't know?"

Xu Fang had an innocent expression on his face, and then suddenly slapped his head: "Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you. I have decided to transfer all the shares of 'Three-Body Universe' and subsequent copyright development matters to Arclight Films."

"what?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was shocked!
"Boss Xu, you're going too far." Chen Feng stared at Xu Fang and said with a sullen face, "Three-Body Universe is the core asset of Youzu. It's not appropriate for you to sell it to someone else without a vote by the board of directors."

Not only him, but the other directors present were also talking about it.

Everyone knows that for Youzu today, a large part of its value lies in the "Three-Body" IP. If it is sold, Youzu will be just an ordinary third-rate web game company, and it will be on the decline.

Chen Feng looked at Meng Bai and said, "Mr. Meng, there may be some misunderstanding here. The transfer of 'Three-Body Universe' was purely Mr. Xu's own idea. We haven't received any news from within the company. I'm afraid you can't complete the contract."

But what surprised him was that the other party's expression did not change at all after hearing the "truth".

"Oh, is it so?"

Meng Bai said with a smile: "But how come according to the information I know, the shares of 'Three Body Universe' should belong to Mr. Lin, oh no, to Mr. Xu personally?"

boom--

It was as if an invisible hurricane rose up and swept through everyone's heart. Chen Feng and others' originally gloomy expressions suddenly froze, and then their faces turned pale.

Yes, they all forgot that the "Three-Body Universe" does belong to Youzu, but it would be more accurate to say that it belongs to Youzu's boss Lin Qi himself.

Simply put, in order to better operate the huge IP of "The Three-Body Problem", Lin Qi put all the copyrights he recovered into a company called "Three-Body Universe Cultural Development". 95% of the company's shares belong to an investment company called Qi Xin Yong Yan, which is wholly owned by "Shanghu Youzu Technology".

As for "Yoozu Technology", it is a wholly-owned company under Lin Qi's personal name. Of course, it is now equally inherited by his three children, and the equity is also in the hands of Xu Fang, the guardian.

In other words, apart from matters such as game and IP development being handed over to Youzu for cooperation, the two sides have basically no major relationship in terms of equity in the entire "Three-Body Universe".

It is difficult to say whether this was due to Lin Qi’s personal possessiveness, but it has to be said that after his death, this became a key step in helping his ex-wife turn the tables.

It was Xu Fang who impressed Meng Bai and gained Arc Light's support by relying on the development rights of the "Three-Body Universe".

For a company, there is no difference between 95% equity and full ownership, as one person has the final say anyway. Therefore, Xu Fang can sell "Three-Body Universe" to whomever he wants.

The reason why she chose Arc Light was, on the one hand, because Lin Qi's admiration for Meng Bai during his lifetime made her subconsciously biased towards it; secondly, although the outside world has hyped up the IP value of "The Three-Body Problem", in fact, at the capital level, it is not really that hot.

First of all, we must admit that the market for science fiction in China is actually not that big.

Although The Wandering Earth is so popular, there are still few science fiction works in the entire entertainment market except Meng Bai and Guo Fan. Shanghai Fortress is not counted, which is essentially a "romance movie" in a shell, and it failed. Secondly, although The Three-Body Problem is very famous, there are basically no successful adaptation projects in all these years except for a movie version that no one has ever seen.

As early as 2018, Youzu claimed that it would create a "Three-Body Game". However, until now, even people inside Youzu have not seen where it is.

Capital is very cunning, and their enthusiasm is generally more inclined to projects with successful precedents. However, projects like "The Three-Body Problem" seem a bit tasteless.

If Xu Fang wants to sell it, there will definitely be many people who want it. But it is hard to say how high the price can be.

In comparison, Mr. Meng from Arclight was obviously more enthusiastic about The Three-Body Problem and could negotiate a higher price. In this case, she naturally chose this cooperation that was most beneficial to both parties.

She did not ask for a very high price. After all, her main purpose was to settle the debts arising from the pledge of her ex-husband's shares.

The two sides had discussed it roughly a few days ago and were willing to accept each other's cooperation conditions, which led to today's scene.

Obviously, this attack hit the weak spot of Chen Feng and others. Although Youzu also has some copyright cooperation, if it really leaves the "Three-Body Universe" itself, the value of the company will be greatly reduced.

Xu Fang herself doesn't care. As long as the brand can survive, she will have done her best for her ex-husband.

But for other directors who want to seek greater benefits, this matter is a bit messy!
"I think what Mr. Xu said is right. Mr. Lin always said during his lifetime that ArcLight is the partner that can best demonstrate the value of the Three-Body IP. Now that our two companies are working together to develop it, it's naturally more appropriate, right?"

The person who spoke was a neutral director, and judging from his tone, he had obviously sided with Xu Fang.

However, he has to fail. In the board of directors, he represents not only his own interests, but also the interests of the capital behind him.

Previously, Chen Feng wanted to use the "illegitimate child" incident to temporarily freeze Xu Fang's shares in order to delay time, and then use the debt issue to force the other party to use the shares in his hands as an exchange.

But now that the behemoth Arclight has been destroyed, all means used are meaningless in the face of the opponent's capital and power. Naturally, he knows what to choose.

It's not just him. Several other directors who had previously had ambiguous relationships with Chen Feng have now also switched sides and joined Xu Fang's camp.

Watching the changes in the situation on the field, Xu Fang suppressed the joy in her heart and looked at Chen Feng: "How about it, Director Chen, do you have any other opinions?"

"Being able to work with Arclight is the best thing for the company, what else can I say."

Chen Feng didn't do anything like "a trapped beast still fighting", he just smiled bitterly. Everyone is no longer a newcomer in the capital circle, and the ending of this whole thing was doomed from the moment Mr. Meng from Arc Light appeared.

He stood up, straightened his clothes, and then looked at Meng Bai with a complicated look: "I hope the cooperation between ArcLight and our Youzu will go smoothly. We are all looking forward to the day when we can see the work of The Three-Body Problem."

Meng Bai heard this and smiled: "Don't worry, it won't take long."

……

After resolving the internal conflicts within Youzu, the next thing will be easy.

The conditions for cooperation between the two parties have already been reached, and what remains is nothing more than some detailed discussions and equity transfer procedures.

ArcLight invested in the full acquisition of "Qixinyongyan Investment", which is equivalent to obtaining the ownership of "Three-Body Universe".

In other words, after the contract is signed, the domestic science fiction masterpiece "The Three-Body Problem" will be completely owned by the ArcLight Copyright Library and become a new core IP.

As for Youzu itself, Meng Bai was not very interested. Although it was a game company, it did not have any works that were particularly noteworthy. After so many years of development, it was still basically playing the "legendary skin-changing" game.

Youzu Building is a good asset, and its location is also in the core area, but it is in Shanghu. If it were in Beijing North, it would be just right for Arc Light after the group reform.

The equity transfer process is rather complicated and cannot be completed in a short period of time. Neither party has leaked the news yet.

However, Meng Bai no longer needs to be responsible for the subsequent matters, so he can finally have some free time.

He was not in a hurry to go back, and planned to rest in Shanghai for a few days. Just as he was thinking about how to relax, he unexpectedly received a WeChat message from Yang Chaoyue.

Yang Chaoyue: [Boss, I'm in Shanghai now. Have you gone home yet? ]

(End of this chapter)