Chapter 178 Acquisition of Zhoushan Literature and Sina Shares

In the United States, the screening period of a movie is quite long.

Especially for movies with good box office performance, Hollywood production companies will completely squeeze out the movie's box office potential, and it is normal for it to be released for half a year.

It was obviously impossible for Liu Zhou to stay in the United States forever, so after the movie was released for a week and saw good box office results, he prepared to return to Beijing.

After all, he hadn't finished filming his scenes in "Red Cliff" yet, so it was impossible for him to stay outside for too long.

But when Liu Zhou was about to leave, he unexpectedly received an invitation from someone.

After seeing the name of the inviter, Liu Zhou immediately postponed his trip back home.

Compared with the value of this person, the several hundred million investment in "Red Cliff" seems insignificant.

That day, Liu Zhou arrived at the agreed location and saw the slightly plump young figure at first sight.

In fact, he was the only one in the entire cafe, and it was obvious that he had booked the entire cafe.

Seeing Liu Zhou coming in, the young man immediately stood up, smiled and stretched out his right hand and said:

"Mr. Liu, I've heard of you for a long time. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Mr. Chen, I've long heard of your name!" Liu Zhou shook his hand and said with a smile.

The man in front of Liu Zhou was none other than last year's richest man in mainland China, Chen Tianqiao, chairman of Shanda Interactive Entertainment.

This is a man who became famous because of "Legend" and whose life is also quite legendary.

Chen Tianqiao graduated from the prestigious Aurora University. His first job was in the president's office of Lujiazui Group. In 99, he founded Shanda Interactive Entertainment, determined to become the Disney of the Internet.

In 01, when the Internet bubble was at its worst, Shanda made a desperate attempt to acquire "Legend". Through this online game, it accumulated a huge amount of wealth and also made Shanda a hit.

His move also pointed out the direction of profitability for the struggling NetEase and Penguin.

Shanda Network was listed on NASDAQ last year, and Chen Tianqiao successfully squeezed out Ding Lei with a net worth of 15 billion yuan to become the new richest man in mainland China.

However, Shanda Network's development did not go smoothly afterwards, and Chen Tianqiao suffered from a neurological disease due to excessive pressure, and then went to Singapore to recuperate.

Shanda also dived down afterwards, selling Shanda Literature and Shanda Games one after another, and even delisting Shanda Network in 12.

Everyone thought Chen Tianqiao would remain silent, but unexpectedly he made a stunning turnaround, from an entrepreneur in front of the stage to an investor behind the scenes.

With his precise vision, he increased his wealth from less than 10 billion to more than 50 billion.

Not only that, perhaps because he once suffered from a neurological disease, he made a big bet on the big health industry, investing nearly 10 billion yuan.

He also donated a lot of money to brain research, but because all the donations were to overseas research institutions, he was once criticized for being unpatriotic.

But he shrugged it off, saying he was just passing the ball to whoever was closest to the goal.

After he moved behind the scenes, there were fewer reports about him.

The latest news about him is that he has become a big landowner in the United States.

Chen Tianqiao owns more than 100,000 acres, or more than one million acres, of land in Oregon, making him the second largest foreign landowner in the United States.

In 2005, Chen Tianqiao was at his most ambitious and glorious time.

Last year, at the age of 31, he became the youngest richest man in mainland China.

He was born in 1973, only five years older than Liu Zhou.

After the two of them praised each other's business, Chen Tianqiao also began to explain the purpose of his invitation to Liu Zhou this time.

"Mr. Liu, I didn't expect you to have such a good vision and to have made plans in the field of online literature so early on."

"Mr. Chen, you may have forgotten how I started my career."

"Haha, that's right. Liu Zhou became famous as a writer. No wonder he has such a keen eye for online literature. Now it's a bit difficult for us to make efforts in this area."

Zhoushan Literature was officially established in 03. After nearly three years of development, it has become the absolute leader of mainland online literature.

Under the Banyan Tree is still the undisputed number one online literature website, and its magazine of the same name is now doing well, with sales of more than 300,000 copies per issue.

Although it cannot be compared with "Mengya" and "Reader", it has developed rapidly and has gradually become an increasingly popular youth magazine among students.

Apart from the magazine, the most surprising thing is Singularity Chinese website.

This online literature website, which was established not long ago, has experienced rapid development in the past two years.

With the pioneering introduction of subscription payment and offline publishing, Singularity has attracted more and more authors with the dual support of these two.

Especially last year, Xuehong, a writer under Singularity, became the first online writer with an annual salary of over one million, which caused quite a stir.

This has led to more people engaging in online creation, and with more works, more and more readers have been attracted.

At this time, Singularity Chinese Network had already entered a virtuous cycle and began to develop rapidly.

As for Hongxiutianxiang, with the support of the head office, it has become the leading female website.

It can be said that at this time, Zhoushan Literature occupies more than 90% of the market share of online literature.

However, Zhoushan Literature is now developing so well that it has obviously attracted the attention of the new richest man.

Although Chen Tianqiao made a lot of money through online games, he never forgot his dream, which was to build Shanda into an online Disney.

He is now investing huge amounts of money to develop Shanda Box.

Although this box was developed, there was no market for it because it was too expensive.

Later, the state also issued a document prohibiting the content on the Internet from being moved to television, which also caused Shanda Box, which Chen Tianqiao had invested 1 billion yuan and had high hopes for, to fail completely.

In addition, in the game market, Shanda has not launched any influential games except "Legend", and it also faces fierce competition from NetEase and Penguin.

In the end, Chen Tianqiao fell ill due to anxiety and stress, and Shanda began to decline.

However, this was the time when he was full of confidence in Shanda Box, and online literature, as an upstream content provider, was also an important part of his layout of the online Disney.

When Liu Zhou founded Zhoushan Literature, he anticipated that there would be competition with Shanda in the future.

"From what Mr. Chen said, Shanda is also planning to enter the online literature industry?" Liu Zhou asked in surprise.

At this time, Chen Tianqiao also put away his smile and said seriously:
"Yes, online literature is also part of Shanda's strategic plan."

"In that case, we will become competitors." Liu Zhou said with a smile.

"Boss Liu, we don't have to be competitors."

"So Mr. Chen is planning to cooperate with Zhou Shan Literature?"

Chen Tianqiao shook his head and said:

"Online literature is very important to us, and we cannot give control of it to others."

"So Mr. Chen is planning to acquire Zhoushan Literature?"

"That's right! I wonder if Mr. Liu can give it up? Price is not a problem."

Liu Zhou drank his coffee slowly and said:
"I'm a little curious, what is Mr. Chen's valuation of Zhou Shan Literature?"

"People in our company have done research on Zhou Shan Literature and gave a valuation of about 160 million."

Liu Zhou couldn't help but nodded, this valuation was quite objective.

When Liu Zhou founded Zhoushan Literature, it cost a total of about 80 million yuan. Now, two years have passed and the market value has doubled.

However, online literature is a small sector after all, so this growth rate is acceptable. The next few years will be a period of rapid growth in the market value of Zhoushan Literature.

"Then how much is Mr. Chen going to invest in the acquisition of Zhoushan Literature?"

Chen Tianqiao thought Liu Zhou was interested in selling Zhoushan Literature, so he immediately said:

"Three hundred million!"

"The premium has almost doubled. It seems that Shanda attaches great importance to online literature."

"What I just said is true. Online literature is part of Shanda's strategy. We are very determined."

Looking at Chen Tianqiao's serious expression, Liu Zhou also understood the meaning of his words.

He is very determined to acquire Zhoushan Literature and also very determined about online literature.

If it fails to acquire Zhoushan Literature, Shanda will have to personally compete with Zhoushan Literature.

With its current grand and prosperous momentum, ordinary people would really be overwhelmed by its money or overwhelmed by its aura.

But Liu Zhou is not an ordinary person, and his business is not limited to Zhoushan literature.

In response to Chen Tianqiao's expectant look, Liu Zhou slowly shook his head and said:

"Mr. Chen, I'm very sorry, I won't sell Zhou Shan Literature."

Just compete, no company can develop smoothly.

The reason why Singularity has become the leader in the industry is that it has fought hard all the way.

Zhoushan Literature now also needs a competitor, otherwise Liu Zhou is worried that its development will be too smooth, and it will become complacent and lose its edge.

Chen Tianqiao didn't care too much about Liu Zhou's refusal, because business cannot be done in one go.

"Mr. Liu, if you think 300 million is too little, we can raise the price. How about 320 million, a premium of double the price?"

"Mr. Chen, this is not a question of price. Zhou Shan's literature is also of great use to me."

"Boss Liu, since I'm talking to you in person, there's no need for us to haggle over the price.

I can give you our bottom price, 400 million RMB, all in cash. This is the highest price we can offer, and it will be paid in full within one month after the contract is signed."

Shanda is now indeed very wealthy and powerful, which makes Liu Zhou somewhat tempted.

However, when he thought about his own plans and the future market value of online literature, Liu Zhou immediately suppressed his impulse.

Liu Zhou did not reply directly to Chen Tianqiao, but said:
"Mr. Chen, you should know that my main business is in the film and television industry, right?"

"Of course, Mr. Liu bought the Hong Kong-based Golden Harvest Entertainment Group, a long-established film company, from the Hong Kong stock market late last year, and the news spread all over the mainland."

"Since Mr. Chen knows, then tell me something that Mr. Chen doesn't know.

The most important and core thing in the film and television industry is content. With the rise of mass entertainment, people's demand for TV dramas and movies will become greater and greater.

However, excellent screenwriters are a minority after all, so the film and television industry will increasingly lack excellent scripts in the future.

Online literary works will also receive more and more attention from the film and television industry, because the content of online literature is sufficient to meet the film and television industry's demand for scripts.

Therefore, Zhoushan Literature is the most important upstream content supplier for my future film and television industry, and is also a part of my film and television strategy.

So Mr. Chen, this is really not a matter of money. I really don’t want to sell Zhou Shan Literature.”

After hearing Liu Zhou's words, Chen Tianqiao couldn't help but smile bitterly and said:

"It seems that I am still superficial and did not see clearly Mr. Liu's strategic layout.

Mr. Liu’s vision is indeed admirable. He saw the potential of online literature two years ago and started planning early on.”

"Mr. Chen, you are too kind. I started out as a writer, so I might be more sensitive to this aspect."

"Mr. Liu, since there is no hope of acquiring Zhoushan Literature, we can only become competitors. Shanda will not give up the online literature sector."

"I understand. In fact, it's good to have a strong competitor like Shanda. It will prevent Zhou Shan Literature from losing his ambition. Competition can also help both sides improve."

"Okay, then let's compete in the field of online literature." Chen Tianqiao said proudly.

At this time, Chen Tianqiao was at the peak of his life, and he was certainly not afraid of competition.

The reason why he came in person to discuss the acquisition with Liu Zhou was because Liu Zhou was not just a director and film and television company owner.

He is also the second largest shareholder of NetEase after Ding Lei, and the largest individual shareholder of Sina.com. Moreover, because Sina.com's equity is relatively dispersed, it can even be said that he is Sina's largest shareholder.

In addition, he is also a major shareholder of Penguin.

Penguin officially listed on the Hong Kong stock market in June last year. It is now an Internet giant with a market value of over 10 billion yuan, and it is said that it has a very good relationship with Pony Ma.

It can be said that Liu Zhou also has a huge influence in the Internet field.

But even so, Liu Zhou at this time was just worthy of his attention.

Since Liu Zhou rejected his request to acquire Zhoushan Literature, he might as well compete with him.

Although Zhoushan Literature has a strong first-mover advantage in the field of online literature, the pie is still too small now.

Spending money is enough to make up for the gap in this area, and Shanda is not short of money now.

After talking about Zhou Shan's literature, Chen Tianqiao didn't seem to want to end.

He took a sip of coffee and continued:

"Mr. Liu, we may compete, but we can still cooperate in other areas."

"Oh, what does Mr. Chen mean by cooperation?"

Liu Zhou knew that Chen Tianqiao came to the United States specifically to find him, and it was definitely not just about acquiring Zhoushan Literature.

Now it seems that it is indeed the case.

"I admire Mr. Liu's investment vision very much. I think if the people who make the Forbes and Hurun Rich Lists are not blind, Mr. Liu will definitely be on the list this year, and his ranking will be very high."

"I don't care much about these false reputations." Liu Zhou replied with a smile.

In fact, people on these two lists have already contacted Liu Zhou, wanting to ask about his asset status and whether something needs to be covered up.

However, covering it up may cost a certain amount of money.

Liu Zhou did not indulge them and directly refused.

My wealth is clean and can withstand inspection. I have never evaded taxes, so why should I hide it?

As for being low-key, his main source of wealth is shares of listed companies, so he can no longer be low-key.

Besides, although Liu Zhou was reborn, it was the first time for him to possess so much wealth. How could he not have any desire to show off about these lists?

"Mr. Liu is several years younger than me, but I didn't expect he has a more stable mentality than me."

"Mr. Chen, if you have anything to say, just say it directly. There's no need to beat around the bush."

At this moment, Chen Tianqiao's expression became more serious than before. He looked at Liu Zhou with sharp eyes and said:

"I want to buy the Sina shares held by Mr. Liu!"

(End of this chapter)