Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

Kirk Kercorrian's foundation lies in the large hotel and resort industry, with assets also extending to casinos and airlines.

MGM Studios was more like an expensive antique he had bought at the time.

In my memory, he had bought and sold MGM three times. After 08, he saw that MGM Studios had become a complete burden on his business empire, so he sold it without hesitation and went back to his main business.

Now, MGM is mired in a financial crisis because it invested $8000 million last year in Wu Baige to film "Windtalkers," and the budget has been overrun throughout the filming process.

Therefore, at the beginning of this year, MGM issued a public announcement that it would invest in 5-8 low-budget films throughout 04 in hopes of reversing the downward trend.

Kirk wants to meet with him now for only one reason: the box office success of "Saw" has boosted MGM's stock!

As mentioned before, the reason why film and television companies continue to invest despite losing money so many times ultimately lies in the stock market and other financial markets.

Zhuang Huai'an looked at the clouds outside the window, constantly calculating how he should proceed with this trip to Hollywood.

"Angkor," he turned and smiled at the middle-aged man beside him, "I'm sorry to trouble you to come with me this time."

"What are you talking about? Serving domestic filmmakers is what every China Film employee should do," Wu Ge replied in a very official tone.

Wu Ge's full name is Wu Jinfeng. He is the second-in-command of the China Film Group's US office and the "savior" that Zhuang Huai'an brought to Han Sanping. It's always good to have an extra layer of insurance when you're traveling.

Accompanying them were the Zhuang brothers, Zhuang Daqiang and Zhuang Dali, as well as their assistant, Zhang Lu.

After a 14-hour flight, we landed in Los Angeles.

Yang Chen drove a minivan to pick them up and take them to the hotel.

"Brother Yang, let's schedule a time to meet with Kirk."

Zhuang Huai'an leaned back on the sofa and rubbed his temples. "We've come here to pay our respects, so it's good to be proactive."

"Okay." Yang Chen hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped himself.

"What's wrong?" Zhuang Huai'an asked when he saw him hesitate.

"It's about... Old Feng..."

Yang Chen looked conflicted, but still spoke up, "Old Feng and I have known each other for over ten years. If the company is going to fire him, I was thinking, shouldn't we also settle the film's fees with him?"

Zhuang Huai'an was taken aback. "Who said I was going to fire him?"

"Huh? You're not going to expel them?"

"With Kirk's influence, such shady deals could be easily uncovered, and as for Old Feng, a local, I never expected him to do anything."

Zhuang Huai'an shook his head. Old Feng had no choice but to do this. In the United States, no ordinary person could withstand the pressure from the gambling king.

Zhang Xiu killed Cao Ang, and Cao Boss let him go; what's so special about this little thing of mine?

That's what he said, but Zhuang Huai'an was still a little uncomfortable. He figured he could just use Lao Feng as a tool from now on.

...

The two parties agreed to meet at the MGM Grand Hotel's coffee shop.

Kirk was a boxer in his early years, but he doesn't look fierce at all; instead, he has the look of a handsome older man from Europe and America.

"An, nice to meet you."

"Mr. Kirk, I've heard so much about you."

The two shook hands with smiles and sat facing each other.

"I've been following your operations in Hollywood, and to be honest, it's a brilliant backdoor listing strategy."

Kirkby was more amiable than he had imagined. He smiled, gave a thumbs up, and continued, "Even on Wall Street, this move of yours would earn you a senior manager position."

"You flatter me; it was just a pleasant surprise."

Zhuang Huai'an waved his hand, refusing the cigar offered by the other party. He had developed a habit of not accepting cigarettes from others when he was out and about.

Especially in the United States, where even aircraft carriers can become a network for selling marijuana, he really couldn't trust this godforsaken place.

After exchanging a few compliments, Kirk got straight to the point.

"To be honest, An, you are a very outstanding young man."

Kirk toasted his cigar, waved to disperse the smoke, and then put it in his mouth with an elegant gesture, revealing a hint of a powerful boss's aura.

"If you've been following the Wall Street Journal lately, you'll know that one of your movies has boosted MGM's continuously declining stock price by 5 points. Let me tell you, those 5 points are worth as much as the profits from two of your movies."

A hint of a smile flashed in Kirk's eyes. "Then, perhaps you should have guessed why I'm here?"

"Mr. Kirk, you may not believe it, but when I first received the news that you wanted to meet with me, I had a general idea of ​​what our conversation would be about."

Facing this bigwig, Zhuang Huai'an was not intimidated at all and said, "Excuse my bluntness, MGM needs me, but I may not need MGM anymore."

The two exchanged witty remarks, leaving Yang Chen, who was listening from the side, somewhat confused. This meeting was completely different from what he had imagined.

Kirk nodded. Zhuang Huai'an's words might be a bit arrogant, but they were true. He had already proven himself with "Saw." Given the nature of those Hollywood companies, they would definitely swarm towards him like sharks that had seen blood.

Kirk doesn't love movies and has even considered selling MGM for a long time, but he loves US dollars. It goes without saying which is more valuable: MGM, which is about to be forcibly delisted, or MGM, whose stock price is rising.

"Perhaps you could listen to my terms?"

"Mr. Kirk, please go ahead."

"How about a share swap?"

Looking at the young man in front of him, Kirk smiled confidently, "I'll exchange 2% of MGM's shares for 50% of your company's shares, and put your company under MGM. With this 2% share, you can also join the board of directors and use the company's publicity channels in a perfectly legitimate way."

I have only one requirement: you must hold shares in both companies for five years. After five years, you can dispose of the shares as you see fit.

"How about it, think about it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Huai'an was shocked. With such good conditions, had Old Kirk gone mad?

Although MGM's glory days are over, its vast film library still leads to a relatively high market valuation for the company.

According to statistics, MGM Studios has 2.35 million shares outstanding, which, at $14.25 per share, gives it a total valuation of around $33.5 billion.

However, in January of this year, the company's board of directors was dissatisfied with the budget overrun of "Windtalkers," and many shareholders sold off their shares on a large scale, causing the company's stock price to plummet to around $11 per share.

2% of MGM's shares, $5000 million!

In other words, Kirk valued his shell company at one hundred million?

And how much did this company cost to buy?

Zhuang Huai'an suddenly realized something.

"An, actually, you and I both know the truth."

Kirk exhaled a puff of smoke and said bluntly, "You need MGM's distribution channels, and I need your ability to stabilize my stock price. In that case, cooperation is the only way to achieve a win-win situation, isn't it?"

Zhuang Huai'an lit a cigarette to calm himself down.

He looked directly into old Kirk's ambiguous smile and said in a deep voice, "Mr. Kirk, do you really believe I can succeed?"

"People who run casinos are never afraid to take a gamble."

Kirk said confidently, "From acquiring Surplus military aircraft after World War II to building my current fortune of billions, every step of the way was a gamble."

By choosing to invest in Zhuang Huai'an, Kirk is also taking a gamble.

He had studied the young man's resume. In just over a year since his debut, he had made a great name for himself. Such a person must be extraordinary.

Besides, even if MGM Studios is in a bad state, can it get any worse than it is now?

"Since Mr. Kirk values ​​me so much, it would be impolite of me to refuse."

Zhuang Huai'an stood up, smiled, and extended his right hand, "It's a pleasure to cooperate with you."

"It's a pleasure working with you."

The two looked at each other with smiles, their eyes full of calculation.