Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 546 To Become a Big Landlord

At the end of November, Aaron, who had just returned from a vacation in Hawaii, went straight to Houston. After all, the NBA's labor negotiations had failed again!

At Oak River Villa in Houston, Jack Wells sat on the sofa talking to Aaron.

David Stern has announced that if no agreement is reached by January 7th of next year, he will recommend canceling the season altogether.

"Now the club owners and the players' union are at loggerheads, aren't they?"

The Houston Rockets have just won their third championship ring and signed Charles Barkley to a two-year, $1450 million contract extension, so the Rockets' championship roster is still intact.

Jack Wells genuinely hopes the Houston Rockets can defend their championship title!

Aaron wasn't too worried. "Let's wait and see. What if the entire season is really canceled? That would be a huge loss for the league."

Jack Wells sighed. "Kevin Garnett of the Timberwolves has really made a name for himself this time!"

After all, it was this guy's domineering decision to sign an early contract extension with the Timberwolves for an exorbitant amount that led to the explosion;

The 6-year, $1.26 million contract is undoubtedly the largest contract in the NBA.

"The Timberwolves?" Aaron frowned. "They acquired Joe Smith from the Philadelphia 76ers this year, on a one-year, $175 million contract."

"That's really strange!"

Joe Smith was the number one overall pick in 1995, selected by the Golden State Warriors, and went to the Philadelphia 76ers midway through last season.

After the season ended, he signed with the Timberwolves in this surprising manner.

Jack Wells scoffed, "What could it be? There must have been insider trading. With Kevin Garnett on a high salary starting next season, where will the Timberwolves find the cap space to sign any helpers?"

"The Timberwolves' acquisition of Joe Smith must have involved some other deal, but outsiders don't know about it."

The Timberwolves originally had Stephon Marbury assisting Kevin Garnett, but in a three-team trade this year, Stephon Marbury went to the New Jersey Nets, so the Timberwolves went to great lengths to acquire Joe Smith!
"There have been quite a few high-profile trades this year; the Washington Wizards sent Chris Webber to the Sacramento Kings."

"The Los Angeles Lakers traded Scottie Pippen to the Chicago Bulls to help Hakeem Olajuwon!"

Aaron shook his head. The Washington Bullets were renamed the Washington Wizards last year due to a name issue. Chris Webber was unhappy with the Wizards, plagued by injuries and off-court scandals. The Wizards, unable to tolerate him any longer, traded him away and started building the team around Juwan Howard.

As for the Chicago Bulls and Scottie Pippen, needless to say, his contract expired and the rebuilding Chicago Bulls didn't want to give him a big contract.

After discussions, the three parties reached an agreement to use a sign-and-trade deal. The Chicago Bulls signed Scottie Pippen to a five-year, $67.2 million contract before trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Oh, right,” Jack Wells suddenly remembered something, then got up, grabbed a piece of farm information, and handed it to Aaron.
"Broken O Farm, a private farm in Montana, is currently for sale. It covers 124000 acres and includes a 10000-square-foot main building, multiple stables, and over 4500 head of livestock. It also has agricultural production capacity for grain crops other than corn and alfalfa hay." Aaron took the farm and looked through it. The farm was indeed quite large, and the scenery was beautiful!
"The price isn't cheap either, it's close to $7000 million," Aaron previously owned 8.3 acres of land at Paradise Ranch in Colorado, although much of it was mountainous, and the price was $3000 million.

Jack Wells shrugged. “Agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, and aquaculture are all involved. We can also develop the tourism and hotel industry, which will be more attractive than your Paradise Ranch.”

Aaron nodded. "Sure, I'm looking to buy some land as an investment. This farm is quite large, so let's rename it Anderson Country Farm!"

Paradise Ranch in Colorado, plus Brenham Ranch (5000 acres) near Houston.
After acquiring the farm in Montana, Aaron will own 212000 acres of land, which is more than 850 square kilometers.

Jack Wells chuckled. "Are you planning to retire and go farming?"

Aaron shook his head. "Farming? I'll never farm in my life. I'll only ever be a big landowner. Besides, assets need to be diversified!"

Jack Wells curled his lip. "Angel International's training base has also acquired several nearby sandy and swampy areas in recent years, now totaling over 6000 acres."

"It's just that those lands aren't worth much."

“Alright,” Aaron stood up, walked to the bar, and poured two glasses of wine. “Aren’t deserts and swamps beneficial for training personnel?”

Jack Wells took a sip of his drink. "I met with George W. Bush a while ago, and he asked me to convey his gratitude to you."

"He supports his brother Jeb Bush becoming governor of Florida, and will fight for more tax breaks for Universal Studios Orlando Resort in the future!"

Aaron shrugged. "Dawn has bought a lot of spare land in Orlando, mostly mudflats and swamps. I just hope the environmental departments won't hinder our future development."

Aaron had to admire Walt Disney, who quickly recognized the importance of backup land after creating the first Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
Subsequently, they chose to open a second Disney theme park in Orlando, Florida, and secretly purchased more than 30000 acres of land before starting construction.

Now, Walt Disney World in Orlando can be renovated according to its own ideas without worrying about nearby buildings that don't fit the Disney style!
"How long has Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure theme park been open?"

Jack Wells shook his head; Aaron's ideas were too ahead of their time. "I heard that Tokyo Disneyland is building DisneySea nearby."

"At that time, the threat to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka will be even greater. After all, it's the first Universal Studios resort overseas, so you still need to take it seriously!"

There's no way around it; the first phase of the Universal Studios Japan resort in Osaka involved an investment of over 1500 billion yen, which is no small sum.

Aaron narrowed his eyes. "Don't worry, Dawn is accumulating more and more classic IPs, and with Pixar's rapid development, the number of available cartoon characters is also increasing."

"Furthermore, don't forget that the games developed by Dawn's game divisions, Blizzard Entertainment and Monsters Entertainment, are also very popular. Universal Studios will have no shortage of future themes!"

"That's good……"

(End of this chapter)