Chapter 431

"Are you coming to ask me about Sumner Redstone?" Charles, seeing his mother coming to the Capet Mansion in Beverly Hills, guessed the purpose of her visit.

"I thought you'd ask about that right when you got back," Charles chuckled.

Evelyn shrugged, "After getting back to Los Angeles, I took a trip to Las Vegas for the UFC fight business. Speak your mind. Now isn't the time to make an enemy of Sumner Redstone!"

Evelyn understood her son well; Charles wasn't someone who acted impulsively.

Charles shook his head, "That's not the point. The old guy threatened to sabotage Capet Entertainment's acquisition of NBC Universal. He doesn't have the power to do that. Jeff Zucker and I have kept in touch. General Electric's shareholders are very optimistic about Capet Pictures acquiring NBC Universal."

Jeff Zucker, the CEO of NBC Universal Entertainment, and the shareholders saw the unlimited future potential of Capet Entertainment.

"Sumner Redstone knows many Wall Street investment firm bosses; he's quite powerful," Evelyn continued to remind.

Charles laughed, "Relax, I've had Carl Icahn reminded. Viacom's stock has already dropped a lot and will continue to drop."

"Carl Icahn?" Evelyn of course knew the infamous Wall Street hostile takeover expert and stock market sniper!

"In the past, he's targeted MGM, Lionsgate, and Time Warner in Hollywood. He won't miss Viacom," Charles sometimes enjoyed the antics of such chaos bringers.

"Didn't he just finish his proxy fight with Yahoo's chairman, Jerry Yang?" Evelyn wondered how her son got involved with Carl Icahn again.

Earlier this year, Microsoft offered $44.6 billion to buy Yahoo, but CEO and founder Jerry Yang turned it down, believing the price was too low.

However, as one of Yahoo's shareholders, Carl Icahn was furious. He teamed up with other board members in an attempt to seize control so that Microsoft could purchase Yahoo without obstacles.

Unfortunately, Jerry Yang's side won, rejecting Microsoft's bid, ending with Carl Icahn joining Yahoo's board, and Jerry Yang stepping down as CEO last month.

"Yahoo missed its best chance. Microsoft offered $31 per share when Yahoo's stock was only at $21," Charles knew that Yahoo would never see such a high stock price again, as Google and Facebook's rise made Yahoo miss its opportunity.

Carl Icahn liked buying stocks from troubled companies, gaining profit by influencing the board to sell off assets for cash.

"But now, so many companies have issues. Why would Carl Icahn target Viacom?" Evelyn questioned; it didn't make sense for Icahn to invest just because he liked movie companies.

Charles looked at his mother, "Because Paramount now has me as a direct competitor!"

With Paramount having lost DreamWorks, only DreamWorks Animation was providing content. However, DreamWorks Animation was ultimately an independent public company, so Paramount couldn't earn much from distribution fees.

After all, the distribution contract between Paramount and DreamWorks Animation wasn't as strong as the collaboration between Disney and Pixar.

In Disney and Pixar's agreement, despite Pixar being the production studio, the copyright and creative control of the animated feature films belonged to Disney.

With Paramount and DreamWorks Animation's current distribution deal, they were earning an 8% distribution commission. Paramount didn't have its own movie theme parks to profit from selling toys or figurines, and licensing was also handled by DreamWorks Animation.

Without the Transformers series, and with both the Mission: Impossible and Indiana Jones series coming to a temporary halt, what else did Paramount have?

"Alright, whatever," Evelyn was merely reminding her son and didn't have strong opinions on the matter.

"By the way, have your people met with Michael Jackson?" Charles suddenly remembered the issue with Michael Jackson.

Evelyn nodded, "Yes, but he doesn't seem willing to change his current lifestyle. He probably doesn't want to mortgage his shares in Sony/ATV Music Publishing to you."

"He's over $400 million in debt right now and accruing at least $2 million in deficits every month. Does he really think AEG Entertainment genuinely wants to help him make a comeback?" Charles widened his eyes.

"AEG is looking to get a double return on every penny invested in him. Does he really think 20 concerts will satisfy AEG?"

"Holding onto that 50% stake for what? Selling it now could easily get him up to a billion dollars in cash to pay off his debt. Doesn't he realize the interest on a $400 million debt every month?"

Evelyn shrugged helplessly, "He thinks that as long as he starts working, he won't lack income; from concerts, albums, to commercials and public performances, his value is still immense."

Charles sighed, "Hasn't he been through enough in society?"

Evelyn shook her head, "Maybe he's just simple-minded."

"Simple-minded? Ha," Charles had nothing more to say.

"However, I've had people remind him, Capet Records will always look forward to working with him. We'll wait a while before discussing it again," Evelyn believed that people wouldn't give up their interests unless they were desperate.

Charles nodded, "Then we'll wait."

"The presidential election voting is coming up. Obama has returned to his home in Chicago, waiting for the election. Ms. Huffington is very confident," Evelyn glanced at Charles, "Your investment this time was very successful!"

Charles smiled, "Now you can see another reason why I dared to bare my teeth at Sumner Redstone. Threatening my acquisition of NBC Universal? The new president's first favor to me will be helping me acquire NBC Universal Entertainment. With NBC's radio and TV networks, CNBC, and NBC News, they'll all support his policies - it'll be a win-win cooperation!"

Evelyn squeezed out a comment, "Your biggest reason for acquiring the TV networks is to involve yourself in politics, isn't it?"

"The best advantage of owning TV networks is participation in politics, right?" Charles retorted.

He then walked over, put his arm around his mother's shoulders, and headed towards the dining room, "Alright, don't think too much. It's dinner time, and the day after tomorrow I'm going to Chicago to meet Obama!"

Feeling like the puppet master pulling the strings was truly exhilarating!

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.