50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 742 Can a Company Be Without a CEO?

Not long after the big news of Roberts Group's takeover of CBS was released, they made two more big moves, the first of which was to increase capital.

Currently, CBS's shares are mainly held by four major shareholders, with Roberts Group holding 67%, just achieving absolute control.

The other three shareholders hold 30% of the shares, with the remaining 3% held by small shareholders in the market.

Sun Zhiwei's purpose in increasing capital is clear: firstly, to secure a 67% stake, preventing Robert Group from arbitrarily increasing or decreasing its shareholding.

This left Roberts Group with absolutely no room for maneuver when making subsequent internal adjustments to CBS.

Second, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that at least 10% of a listed company's shares be publicly traded.

Therefore, CBS needs to release 7% of its shares to the market within a month.

However, Roberts Group must maintain absolute control of CBS before it can fully take control, so it cannot release shares before that.

The other three shareholders only hold a combined 30% stake, so they might not be willing to voluntarily give up 7%.

Therefore, the only way for Sun Zhiwei to solve these problems is to increase capital.

The best approach now is to increase capital, dilute the shares held by the three existing shareholders, and then invest the diluted shares in the stock market.

In addition to increasing capital, another move by the Robert Group was to split its shares, dividing each share into 10.

In this way, once those 7% of shares are re-entered into the market, the amount of shares in circulation will increase tenfold.

Whether it's increasing capital or splitting shares, these are choices companies make when they have great confidence in the future. CBS's two actions will inevitably drive up its valuation.

The three minority shareholders were probably unhappy when the capital was increased, but they should like it when the stock price rises. They'll be happy with a beating followed by a sweet treat.

July passed by as Roberts Group integrated CBS.

With the substantial funding it received, CBS, while consolidating its operations in the North, also began to compete for American domestic media resources, just like ABC and NBC.

Small and medium-sized radio and television stations across the United States surrendered one after another under the combined attack of the three major commercial broadcasting companies.

However, the development of all three companies is currently limited by the rules set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which stipulates that television coverage cannot exceed the red line of 25%.

This restriction has provided a space for many small and medium-sized television stations to survive.

But Sun Zhiwei knew that a large corporation was quietly building a television network, namely Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation from Australia.

Last year, Murdoch acquired six local television stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, and Washington, D.C., from Metropolitan Media for $15 billion.

Once Murdoch's television network is successfully established, other smaller television stations will have little room to survive, which is also the current trend in the development of television networks.

Sun Zhiwei greatly admires Murdoch's development in the news media industry because he focuses on only one industry, which is why he was able to make Murdoch's News Corporation so big in the future.

He didn't have many thoughts on this, because his main business wasn't in news media; industry was what the country needed most, and as long as he could maintain his voice in the media, that was enough.

He was very clear about CBS's future development: to consolidate the position of the news network.

The development of television stations is inseparable from high-quality television programs, and he knows exactly which television programs will bring high ratings in the future.

Later, he will find time to gradually copy down the classic programs of the five major television networks and give them to the integrated CBS.

By August, Attorney Brown had already established the core team of West Point Recycling Company in Cleveland.

Currently, the storage yard, offices, personnel, and machinery are all in place. Mayor Gerald called, urging Sun Zhiwei to go to Cleveland to formally sign the demolition and repossession agreement with the city hall.

Because he hasn't found a suitable person to serve as the CEO of West Point Material Recycling Company yet, he has to make the trip himself.

On August 5th, witnessed by the media, West Point Recycling Company officially signed a commission agreement with Cleveland City Hall.

On the day construction began, Sun Zhiwei and Gerald, dressed in work clothes and wearing safety helmets, each with a power pickaxe, drilled the first hole next to a huge iron ore ruin.

Immediately, numerous large demolition machines were activated, charging into the steel ruins ahead like a series of Transformers.

The removal of the rust belt officially began on this day.

The logistics team will collect the dismantled steel each day and compress it at the yard next to the port.

He originally planned to build a smelter to remelt the recycled steel.

But then he thought, wouldn't remelting it turn it into finished steel?

The export price of finished steel products is not that cheap, and the tariffs are not low either. Once they are shipped back to China, the price is even more outrageous.

Therefore, he abandoned the idea of ​​remelting and now mainly focuses on collecting scrap steel and compressing it into blocks for easier transportation later.

As for the transportation team, he hasn't prepared it yet, but there's no rush. He'll definitely use super-large cargo ships to load these scrap irons, hundreds of thousands of tons at a time.

There's only one demolition team right now, so the recycling speed isn't fast enough. Let's just store it for now.

Now, Sun Zhiwei and Mayor Gerald stand on a small hill outside the construction site, looking at the bustling construction site in front of them.

Gerrard exclaimed excitedly, "Mr. James, do you see this? This is the rebirth of Cleveland!"

Sun Zhiwei was also excited, but more than that, he was troubled because he couldn't find a suitable person to take over this business.

Currently, the West Point Material Recycling Company only has one construction site, one demolition team, and a total of no more than 200 people.

More people will arrive later and construction will begin from other parts of the city.

Attorney Brown has already set up the company's framework and is now just waiting for Sun Zhiwei's approval so he can return to New York immediately.

His internship with Attorney Smith wasn't over yet, and he wouldn't have wanted to waste a month here if it weren't for Sun Zhiwei's request.

Sun Zhiwei didn't want to trouble him any further; the man's mind wasn't on this, and he couldn't force him.

But he couldn't stay in Cleveland forever, and he hadn't figured out what to do yet.

Back at the hotel that night, I lay in bed lost in thought, wondering what would happen if a company didn't have a CEO.

Suddenly, the name of a company from the future popped into his mind: LeEco.

This is a strange company. The boss ran away with his debts, abandoned the company, and immigrated overseas. He is still working to pay off his debts and dares not return to China.

The company he left behind has gone bankrupt, but the remaining 400 employees are maintaining LeEco's app on their own.

Photo: LeEco employees even jokingly wrote "122 billion yuan in debt" on the app.

(End of this chapter)