Chapter 520: Capet Group

With Capet's successful acquisition of NBC Universal, it became the world's second-largest media group by valuation, second only to Time Warner, surpassing the giants Disney and News Corporation.

Charles Capet also became the youngest chairman of a media group at the time. If Capet listed, he would be the highest-valued and youngest chairman of a listed group.

In the park at Capet's headquarters, former General Electric chairman Jack Welch and Charles were sitting on a bench chatting.

"Jeff Zucker from NBC, Ronald Meyer from Universal Pictures, Marc Shmuger, and David Linde all resigned," Jack Welch smiled. "So, how are you planning to handle it?"

"Phil Griffin, NBC Group's president, will replace Jeff Zucker as CEO, and CFO Marc Hornesschu will be promoted to NBC president," Charles wasn't too flustered.

"As for Universal, it's easier to solve. After Capet Films merges into Universal Pictures, Donna Langley becomes the new chairman of Universal, with Adam Ferguson and Michael Lynne as co-presidents, handling marketing and content production, respectively.

Next year will be the integration period for Universal; the number of film projects will dramatically decrease, focusing primarily on Capet Films' projects!"

"You don't like Jeff Zucker's way of only looking at profits and not other aspects?" Jack Welch was somewhat puzzled.

Charles shook his head, "I don't like it. Films should be market-oriented, not determined by stars and budgets. Investing limited resources into major projects is necessary. Jeff Zucker and Ronald Meyer's old-fashioned thinking can't keep up!"

Jack Welch didn't understand entertainment much but smiled slightly, "A scale of 4,000 layoffs, aren't you afraid of causing chaos?"

"Better a short pain than a long one. The distribution systems of Universal and Capet overlap too much. In the future, there will only be one large distribution system, which is Universal Pictures," Charles's Capet Films also had comprehensive domestic and international distribution channels, but certainly not as good as Universal's.

Under Universal Pictures, there will be Universal Pictures, Capet Films, Marvel Studios, and Icon Productions.

As for Focus Features and Matrix Pictures, they have their own independent North American distribution channels; after all, one is a brand specializing in art films, and the other is a genre film label.

"True, now Capet's scale doesn't need to consider Universal's own production volume," Jack Welch said as he stood up.

"My days of being dragged by you to act as a lobbyist are finally over. Next time you're in New York, come visit me on Long Island!"

Jack Welch had been living in a villa on Long Island, New York, since his retirement.

Charles smiled, "Definitely!" Then he helped Jack Welch out of the park.

Soon, Capet announced the group's restructuring plan and layoff scale externally. Aside from forming a new board, they established three major committees: Audit, Compensation, and Nominating, and improved five key support departments: Legal, Human Resources, Public Relations, Government Relations, and Finance.

Capet Group's business was divided into six major divisions for operation:

First, Universal Entertainment Group, which includes Universal Pictures, Capet Television Group, Capet Music Group, and Capet Studios Group.

Universal Pictures includes Universal Pictures, Capet Films, Marvel Studios, Matrix Pictures, Focus Features, Icon Productions, and Capet Illumination.

The Capet Television Group includes Capet Television, Universal Television, and NBC Television production companies.

The Capet Music Group includes labels like King Records and Big Machine Records.

Capet Studios Group includes Universal Studios Hollywood, Capet Studios in Burbank, Capet Studios in Atlanta, Capet Studios in Montreal, and other production bases.

Second, NBC Broadcasting and Television Network Group, which includes NBC, CNBC, Syfy, NBC News, USA Network, and Bravo.

Third, Universal Parks and Resorts and Consumer Products Group, including Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Orlando, Universal Licensing Company, and Capet Licensing Company (including Marvel) as well as NBC Licensing Company, offering consumer experiences and product licensing globally.

Fourth, Streaming and Home Entertainment, primarily including Netflix and Universal Home Entertainment, focusing on online video-on-demand and DVD distribution.

Fifth, Capet Interactive Investment Business, restructured from Capet Films' investment division, including investments and media businesses like The Huffington Post, The New York Observer, Dolby Laboratories, and IMAX Company.

Capet's headquarters in Burbank had enough space but was also planning a new round of expansion.

The original NBC Universal distribution headquarters at Rockefeller Center in New York would be moved to Burbank, Los Angeles.

Although the NBC branch and Universal Entertainment branch in New York would remain, they would only be branches, with the headquarters still in Burbank.

The Universal City Plaza at 100 Universal City Plaza, which was previously the production center of Universal Studios, would now serve as the headquarters for Universal Parks and Resorts and Consumer Products.

Capet's headquarters originally consisted of three main towers in a triangular arrangement. In the future, the tallest in the middle would be called Capet Tower, with Marvel Tower and Universal Tower on either side.

Charles would also start constructing a new NBC Broadcast Tower on the nearby vacant land.

"Boss, Mr. Barry Diller is here," after Jack Welch left, Phyllis Jones came to report to Charles.

Charles nodded, "I got it."

"He came with Bob Wright, the shareholder representative from General Electric, and representatives from Vanguard Capital, BlackRock Fund, and BNP Paribas."

As Phyllis was walking, she explained.

Charles kept walking, understanding that they wanted Capet to go public.

Charles was not against going public, but it had to be after integrating NBC Universal's resources. Now was definitely not the right time for going public.

This large-scale reform of Universal would have caused chaos if not for Capet's strong presence.

Just like Viacom's forced split a few years ago caused constant turmoil between Viacom and CBS. With good results, everything feels right; otherwise, chaos will brew.

Charles liked this kind of challenge!

*****

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