Global Best Actor: Starting with Picking Up Attributes in America

Chapter 436 China has plenty of money!

They are all too aware of Chen Xun's fan base.

When "The Wandering Earth" was released, Chinese people around the world spontaneously organized to promote it, which boosted the number of screenings to 65%.

Chen Xun can easily get over ten million reposts for a single Weibo post.

If this really triggers a global boycott of Disney by Chinese people, then the theme parks, movies, and merchandise will all be affected, resulting in losses of at least tens of billions of dollars.

"Are we just going to stand by and watch him snatch away Searchlight and the European distribution channels?"

Some people said resentfully, "Those assets, while not core, still generate billions of dollars in revenue annually. If StarSeeking Entertainment acquires them, they'll truly become the seventh largest in Hollywood and a major threat to us!"

"We must take it back!"

Suddenly someone stood up and slammed their fist on the table: "We're richer than them! Chen Xun offers 55 billion, we offer 60 billion, 65 billion! Murdoch, that old fox, only cares about money. As long as we offer a higher price, he'll definitely choose us!"

"madness!"

Aiger shouted angrily, "You think Chen Xun didn't expect us to raise the price? I bet he already had a backup plan!"

"If we dare to raise the price to 60 billion, he dares to raise it to 70 billion!"

"Chinese capital has plenty of money. They don't care about making money; what they care about is breaking into Hollywood. Can we compete with them financially? Can we afford it?"

His tone grew increasingly somber: "Don't forget CFIUS. Our acquisition of Fox has been under scrutiny for six months, and it's only just about to be approved."

"If we compete with Chen Xun for assets and make a big fuss, Chen Xun could easily manipulate public opinion by claiming Disney is engaging in malicious monopolistic practices, and CFIUS might reject our entire acquisition application! Then we wouldn't just lose Searchlight, we'd lose the whole Fox!"

The meeting room fell silent again.

Iger is right.

Chen Xun was like an eel, slippery and covered in thorns.

If you confront him directly, he'll play the media game and ruin your reputation. If you try to outspend him, he has the entire Chinese market backing him up, so he's not afraid at all.

For the first time, they discovered that they were completely helpless against an opponent.

You can't hit them, you can't scold them, you can't compete with them financially, and you can't compete with them in terms of public opinion.

"Fox's minority shareholders have begun to waver."

The CFO pushed up his glasses, his face grim: "Chen Xun contacted them privately, promising to offer them a 15% higher acquisition price than us. A third of the shareholders have already expressed their willingness to support Xunxing Entertainment's acquisition plan. If we give them another three days, I'm afraid half the shareholders will switch sides."

Aiger rubbed his temples, feeling a splitting headache.

He led Disney for twenty years, defeating countless competitors and transforming Disney into the world's largest entertainment empire.

He had seen many storms, but he had never encountered an opponent like Chen Xun.

Chen Xun doesn't play by the rules and is good at seizing every opportunity. He has the support of the huge Chinese market and billions of fans around the world.

What's most infuriating is that just a few years ago, this man was just a bit player who couldn't even get an audition, an ant they could crush at will.

Now this ant has grown into an elephant and is trying to bite them back.

"When the cast of Interstellar was changed, I told him not to offend him."

The speaker's tone was full of regret: "Back then, Warner Bros. didn't listen and thought that Chinese actors couldn't carry the box office. Now look what's happened. Not only can he carry the box office, but he can also directly take over our company. Warner Bros. is now kicking itself. We can't make the same mistake again."

Iger remained silent for a long time before finally raising his head, a hint of helplessness in his eyes: "We raised our offer for non-core assets to $58 billion, $3 million more than Chen Xun's, and told Murdoch that if he sells these assets to us, we can give Fox a larger share in future collaborations."

"We absolutely cannot engage Chen Xun in a direct confrontation!"

He emphasized, "Don't confront him directly, don't mention his name in public, and definitely don't start a media war. Our primary goal is to complete the acquisition of the entire Fox company; we can't afford to lose sight of the bigger picture."

"Immediately contact Chen Xun's agent, Robert, to test his bottom line and tell him that as long as he gives up the acquisition of these assets, we can reach a long-term cooperation agreement with Xunxing Entertainment. In the future, the distribution rights of Disney's movies in China and Southeast Asia can be given to Xunxing Entertainment."

Everyone in the conference room was stunned.

This is not negotiation, it is clearly compromise.

Disney, a global entertainment empire, actually had to compromise with a small company that was less than three years old and even had to give up its distribution rights.

This was something we wouldn't have dared to even imagine before.

But now they have no other choice.

Just as Disney's emergency meeting was in progress, Chen Xun, who was far away in Beverly Hills, received a call from Rob.

"Bro! Disney has indeed made its move!"

Rob's voice was excited: "They raised their offer to 58 billion and even sent someone to contact Murdoch, saying they'd offer a larger share! But I think Murdoch still prefers us, after all, our cash is coming in faster, and your five-film contract is too important to them!"

Chen Xun leaned back on the sofa: "I expected this a long time ago. That's all Disney can do. They can't do anything except raise prices."

""

"Should we raise the price too?"

Rob asked eagerly, "We still have 100 billion in funds; bringing it to 60 billion is no problem at all!"

"Need not!"

Chen Xun shook his head: "55 billion is enough. Tell Murdoch that our offer remains the same, but we can change the five-year, five-movie agreement to five-year, six-movie agreement, and the first 'Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw' can be scheduled to start filming as soon as possible!"

"Let the domestic media spread a little word that Disney is maliciously raising prices, monopolizing the Hollywood market, and suppressing Chinese films. It doesn't have to be too obvious, just a hint will do."

"Wow, that's brilliant!"

Rob instantly understood: "I'll get to it right now, and I'll make sure Disney suffers the consequences of their attempt to steal a chicken!"

On Weibo and Twitter, some sporadic posts began to appear: "I heard that Disney maliciously inflated the price to acquire Fox's assets in order to prevent Chinese capital from entering Hollywood. Isn't that too domineering?"

""

"Monopoly is indeed the root of all evil! Disney already has a monopoly, and now they want to wipe out everyone else, leaving no way for others to survive?"

"Support Chen Xun! Support Xunxing Entertainment! Break Disney's monopoly!"

The posts kept increasing and quickly became a trending topic.

Disney's public relations department was thrown into chaos, and they tried to delete posts, but the more they deleted, the more posts appeared.

Looking at the trending topics on her phone, Aiger angrily slammed it on the table: "I knew he'd pull this! That Chen Xun is a devil!"

He took a deep breath and said to his assistant, "Tell Murdoch that we're withdrawing from the bidding for non-core assets. Let Chen Xun take those things."

The assistant was stunned: "But those assets—"

"Stop talking!"

Iger waved his hand wearily: "If we keep fighting, the whole acquisition will fall through, and we can't afford to lose."

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