After rebirth, I became a great master

Chapter 611 Requesting Rewards for Merit
On September 24th, Zhou Haoran returned to China.

The trip went very smoothly.

Trademark.com successfully partnered with SoftBank, diluting 10% of its shares and raising up to $3000 million.

They became rich overnight.

With money, we can open branches in China, Japan, and South Korea, and build a stronger team.

However, time was tight and the task was heavy.

The Series A funding round is over, and the Series B round is about to begin.

The Series B financing should be secured within six months.

If all goes well, the Series B funding round should be completed within four months.

In addition to these, Zhou Haoran did two other things. One was to contact the US-based Chinese-language television station to promote its cooperation with Red Star TV. The other was his holdings of Yahoo stock.

He had previously invested $150 million, and then leveraged it by 1% to buy Yahoo stock.

The leveraged contract signed at the time had a term of 18 months.

The total size of this investment has now reached $4400 million.

The global economic situation is now beginning to stabilize.

This is thanks to the Hong Kong government.

After defeating international capital, these small fry collapsed at the first sign of trouble.

This immediately stabilized the international financial situation.

There are also many positive signs in the US stock market.

The Nasdaq is about to usher in an even more ferocious period of explosive growth!
Zhou Haoran didn't hesitate either.

With that $4400 million, they repurchased Yahoo stock using a 1x leveraged contract, again for an 18-month term.

Calculate the time...

This second contract will be enough to last Yahoo's entire stock lifecycle.

In the second half of 98, Zhou Haoran finally started making big money.

The profits are calculated in units of "tens of millions" or even "hundreds of millions".

Take the real estate business, for example.

As October arrived, this was Zhou Haoran's primary concern.

The so-called "golden September and silver October".

This is peak season for real estate!

Zhongbo Real Estate is working with several other partners to sell two real estate projects. One is a resettlement project for laid-off workers, and the other is a restart project for an abandoned construction project.

By late October, both properties had sold 95% of their units.

The first project yielded a profit of 1.55 million yuan for Zhongbo Real Estate.

The second project was slightly smaller, and Zhongbo Real Estate made a profit of 0.67 billion yuan.

Total profit: 2.2 million yuan!

With this money, Li Changxing became even more determined to fight tooth and nail for the disputed land belonging to Tangpin Group.

In this process, the middleman refused to refund the money, the authorities wanted to collect a huge fine to fill the treasury, and Tomson Group did not want to lose money on its investment... The land is still the same land, so it is impossible for all three parties to benefit.
Hearing that the Master intended to push this forward, all three parties sent people to the Red Mansion Teahouse.

In the world of business.

There are always legends about the great man.

In the end, Zhou Haoran made the final decision: the interests of the middlemen, the local authorities, and Tomson Group must all be considered. As a powerful figure in the underworld, he would rather suffer losses himself than let his friends in the business world be harmed.

Zhongbo Real Estate will bear all the costs!

Ultimately, Zhongbo Real Estate invested 6.2 million yuan to acquire the land! They also promised to start the commercial development of this luxury residential project within three years, in accordance with the existing urban construction plan.

Of the 6.2 million yuan, 5 million yuan was paid to Tomson Group and 1.2 million yuan was paid to the local authorities.

Of the fines, 1.2 million yuan must be settled by the end of the year.

The payments to Tomson Group need to be settled in four installments over 12 months.

The contract was officially signed on October 26.

Zhou Haoran did not attend the signing ceremony.

Because on the same day, there was also a very important signing ceremony at Red Star TV, and as the person involved, he had to attend.

That is, Red Star TV and US Chinese TV have reached a strategic cooperation agreement.

Director Shan Wendong participated in the entire negotiation process.

And under the camera's lens, he gloriously shook hands and signed a contract with the head of the American television station.

It immediately became a major news story in the domestic television industry this year!
"Haoran, I knew it! Entrusting the overseas business to you was the right choice!"

Shan Wendong was dressed in a neat black suit, and hadn't had time to change yet. His smug excitement made him look like a newlywed.

Zhou Haoran said modestly, "It's all what I should do."

“No, no…” Shan Wendong sat in his office, speaking earnestly and with great admiration, “Hongxingtai is a state-owned enterprise, and many people there are very restless. The purpose of state-owned enterprises is to serve the people. But many people working in state-owned enterprises can only give their full effort, at most five-tenths. Only you are different; only you are wholeheartedly serving the people.”

"If I didn't have the concept of wholeheartedly serving the people, I wouldn't be doing this job."

Zhou Haoran spoke with righteous indignation and stern words.

That's what they say, but no one is perfect.

Who doesn't have selfish motives?
Those slogans about saintly standards are never meant to be put into practice, but rather to brainwash the masses. Shan Wendong knew this all too well, so he casually asked, "By the way, what's that Red Star Production Company you told me about before, that record company that uses our brand? How's it going?"

Zhou Haoran smiled and said, "It's resolved."

"Is everything resolved?"

Shan Wendong was very happy.

Zhou Haoran laughed and said, "It was settled half a month ago."

"How?"

Shan Wendong wasn't paying attention to this matter, but he was aware of many things. Many media outlets were reporting on it; Tangren Records was a newly emerging giant in the Chinese music industry, integrating numerous record industry assets from mainland China and Hong Kong.

Film and television programs including "City Playlist", "Princess Pearl", "Yan Shuangying" and "Spring Bright Pigsy" are all related to Tangren Media.

The collaboration between Red Star TV, TVB, and ATV was spearheaded by Tangren Media.

Shan Wendong could guess the inside story without even asking.

Zhou Haoran didn't bother to hide anything and frankly said, "It's actually quite simple. Tangren Records acquired Red Star Production for HK$700 million. Then they transferred all of its assets to another record label, Wheatfield Records, and abandoned the 'Red Star Production' label."

"Wheatfield Records?" Shan Wendong actually knew about it. "That record company that specializes in folk music?"

Zhou Haoran laughed and said, "Yes, it has been acquired by Tangren Records. Red Star Production and Wheatfield Records are actually acquaintances, and they have been poaching talent from each other quite a bit in the past two years. With their integration, the domestic folk and rock music scene will be unified."

Shan Wendong said admiringly, "This Tangren Records is really amazing!"

Zhou Haoran said calmly, "Red Star Audio-Visual has acquired Harbour Audio-Visual. From now on, Tangren Records will exclusively cooperate with Red Star Audio-Visual for all its cassette and CD releases."

By leveraging the resources of Red Star TV, Tangren Records quickly integrated the two most popular private record companies in China.

Having enjoyed the benefits, one should naturally give back in return.

Cooperation is mutual.

"Okay, good!" Whether it was out of genuine sincerity or a deliberate attempt to curry favor with the young master, Shan Wendong said happily, "Haoran, facts have proven time and again that entrusting this part of the business to you was absolutely the right decision!"

Zhou Haoran didn't mince words and slowly said, "Tangren Records is further integrating the record industry resources of the mainland and Hong Kong government, especially the Hong Kong government. After completing the acquisition of Fitto Records and Capital Artists, the next plan is to acquire Earth Records, which will be the final piece of the puzzle."

"I don't understand what you're saying."

Shan Wendong smiled broadly.

Zhou Haoran said, "Once Tangren Records has completed the integration of these resources, there will be further cooperation with the Broadcasting Art Troupe."

The Broadcasting Art Troupe refers to the arts and drama troupe under Red Star Media.

The official name of the company is Red Star Broadcasting Art Troupe.

The troupe was formed in the 80s by reorganizing the station's singing troupe, folk art troupe, folk music band, and dance troupe. Later, it was split off and became the current arts troupe, which has eight smaller art groups under its command.

After Tangren Records integrated various forces...

There's a big plan for the next step.

That means creating idol groups, both boy groups and girl groups.

Using Hong Kong pop culture to counter Korean pop culture.

To form an idol group, you need talented young men and women who can sing and dance. Where do you find these people?
The arts troupe includes a song and dance troupe.

There are also many art schools that we collaborate with.

You can choose your materials from here.

This requires additional resources from the organization.

"it is good!"

Shan Wendong immediately understood Zhou Haoran's intention to request a reward for his meritorious service. This collaboration between Red Star TV and American Chinese TV was indeed a great achievement!
The achievement of this strategic cooperation can be said to have directly erased all the mistakes of his past radical reforms.

Nothing can shake his position anymore.

If he stops being the station director...

There's only one possibility: he got promoted and became the director of the Harbour Broadcasting and Television Bureau, or even a higher-level leader.

"Six months ago, the arts troupe couldn't even pay salaries. Everyone was complaining, and some even suggested respecting market rules and cutting unprofitable departments. Wasn't that ridiculous?"

Shan Wendong quickly found his reason.

"The troupe has over a thousand people. If they're all laid off, what will they eat and drink? Many of them are veterans who have worked for decades, and some are even cultural heroes who fought in the Korean War. Are they all going to be laid off? Reforms can't be this radical!"

"Thank goodness you made it through."

"After you went to the arts troupe, you quickly resolved all the chaos there. You also combined the resources of the TV station and found Tangren Film and Television, a private performing arts company, to work together on 'City Playlist,' which provided the arts troupe with a stable and outstanding job opportunity."

"What a great achievement this is!"

"Haoran, I've already figured it out. The arts troupe really can't do without you if it wants to develop better. As the president's assistant at Red Star Media, you should have more real power so that you can lead the Red Star Broadcasting Art Troupe to greater heights!"

"I've decided to relieve you of your temporary post as deputy head of the troupe. From now on, you will be in charge of this part of the Red Star Broadcasting Art Troupe's operations. I will hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss this appointment, so just wait for the news!"

Shan Wendong now wields absolute power within Red Star Media.

The discussions were just a formality.

Zhou Haoran, having already made contributions, was promoted again. He smiled and said, "Thank you for your trust, leader. This is good... I will be in charge of overseas business, and I will also be in charge of the Broadcasting Art Troupe. This way, I can combine these two businesses."

"Oh?"

Shan Wendong's eyes lit up, and he suddenly understood what he meant.

Zhou Haoran said, "My next step is to promote our arts troupe to expand overseas!"

(End of this chapter)