Chapter 694

In Okinawa, Japan, Charles Capet sat on the couch, browsing the news online. Seeing the footage of James Murdoch getting hit with rotten eggs, he was genuinely happy.

"Not bad, their slogans were great," Charles was on the phone with Phyllis Jones.

"Yeah, a few days ago we also sent him some stuff by mail, but not sure if he got them. His spokesperson hasn't said anything," Phyllis Jones sounded somewhat disappointed.

"Doesn't matter, he's probably got some trauma now," Charles thought it was great.

"By the way, Boss, when I was back in the US, I heard there's been progress in the NFL labor negotiations. The lockout might end soon," said Phyllis Jones, who had returned from Japan to the US, and then traveled to the UK with Molly Bloom.

"Really?" Charles hadn't paid much attention.

"The Premier League has started here too, and Arsenal beat Manchester United in the Community Shield. We're the favorites to win the league again!"

Charles laughed, "Oh, since when did you start following football? Nice! By the way, which movie is Universal releasing this month?"

"Source Code, a sci-fi thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal; its opening weekend grossed $16 million, not bad, good reviews," Phyllis Jones quickly responded. "Source Code cost about $30 million to make, with funding from Summit Entertainment!"

"Source Code," Charles remembered the movie, one of the projects left by Universal.

"Next month, Capet Studios' drama Silver Linings Playbook is releasing, it got great reviews at the internal screening," came the voice over the phone.

Silver Linings Playbook, starring Anne Hathaway and Bradley Cooper, was adapted from the novel.

It was something Charles had specifically produced for Anne Hathaway to compete for the Best Actress Oscar!

Then in October, horror films Insidious and Paranormal Activity 3 would be released. After that, the big commercial films: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, The Incredible Hulk 2, and Skyfall!

"Got it."

...

In New York, Manhattan, at the headquarters of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch and other shareholders held a shareholders' meeting.

"Rupert, you know what's happening in London. The newspaper business under News Corporation is facing huge challenges. This needs to be resolved quickly," a shareholder directly reminded.

Recently, the news of James Murdoch being pelted with eggs by protesters at the gate of his villa went viral, causing News Corporation's stock price to trend downward.

Previously, Wendi Deng slapped News Corporation's stock price back up, but with the successive appearance of disputes within the Murdoch family and rumors about Wendi Deng and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, News Corporation was busy putting out fires everywhere!

"Rupert, we all know the problems with our British newspaper assets are starting to impact our American assets," another shareholder spoke up.

"We can't let the bad reputation of News of the World affect our American entertainment business. Fox News can't handle this kind of trouble!"

"Yes, Rupert, you also need to make a decision quickly."

"Yep, we can't let this affect Fox's credibility in the U.S...."

What's the main business in America? Fox News, Fox Broadcasting Network, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, and DirecTV. The Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins Publishers are not that important!

Rupert Murdoch looked at these shareholders, clearly understanding their thoughts.

"Now the profitability of publishing and newspaper businesses within News Corporation is getting lower, while the revenue from TV, movie entertainment, and other businesses is getting higher. "I know this, and you all know it too!" Rupert Murdoch said, putting his hand on the table, "But, The Wall Street Journal, The Times, The Sun, and The Sunday Times are also important platforms for our external publicity. TV stations combined with newspapers are the foundation of our standing in the world media, even though the impact of the Internet has hit traditional publishing hard. But newspapers as important political tools still hold their position. Everyone wants to split News Corporation now, but I think it's unwise!"

The publishing and newspaper business of News Corporation was the foundation of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

However, everyone now hoped that News Corporation could split off these less profitable publishing and newspaper businesses.

"Rupert," said John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media and the second-largest shareholder. "News Corporation operates globally, but 70% of the revenue comes from the United States and 30% internationally. And in the United States, 70% of the revenue belongs to Twentieth Century Fox Entertainment, which means the Fox Television Network and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. It's very clear that now, the related businesses of film and television entertainment are our main sources of income!"

John Malone looked at Rupert Murdoch, "Rupert, now splitting News Corporation is indeed a method to solve the problem. First, it can prevent the toxic newspaper assets in Britain from affecting the business in the United States. Second, it can also lighten the burden on the rapidly developing film and television entertainment businesses."

John Malone's opinion was significant. Now he and many shareholders supported the split, making Rupert Murdoch and his supporters take this situation seriously.

Rupert Murdoch listened, his face looking a bit grim. It seemed News Corporation was indeed facing a huge crisis this time!

...

Elsewhere, while on vacation in Okinawa, Charles directly took Kyoko Fukada and four others to Hong Kong and checked into a villa in Deep Water Bay.

In the living room, Kyoko Fukada and Haruka Ayase had just come up from the pool, their sexy bikinis not hiding their figures at all.

"What is this, Oni-san?" Kyoko Fukada asked, holding a file in her hand.

"Prada shares, 1 million shares!" Charles said, hugging the lady and kissing her. "Now Prada's stock price is 45 Hong Kong dollars per share."

Kyoko Fukada exclaimed, "Ah, that's 45 million Hong Kong dollars! Oni-san..."

Haruka Ayase also picked up her share, which was the same as Kyoko Fukada's!

"Now the exchange rate is about 1 Hong Kong dollar to 10 yen," Charles reminded.

"Yeah, 450 million yen," Haruka Ayase's eyes widened. Now her drama fee per episode was only 1.1 million yen, and a commercial was about 10 million yen!

"Oni-san, is this for us?" Kyoko Fukada moved closer to Charles.

"Of course," Charles hugged both Kyoko Fukada and Haruka Ayase. "You can take more rest. You were the first to follow me, no need to work so hard! Especially you, Haruka. I heard you've been shooting a lot of films in recent years," Charles said, kissing Haruka Ayase for a while.

After the kiss, Haruka Ayase blushed and leaned on Charles's chest. "Yes, I have a longer break this year."

Compared to Kyoko Fukada, who became famous early, Haruka Ayase had indeed been working very hard in recent years.

"Oni-san," Kyoko Fukada tightly hugged Charles's arm, "I want to travel to America!"

"Sure," Charles had no objections, "By the way, Kyoko, I also prepared about 1 million shares for the others, each with 250,000 shares. Give it to them when the time comes."

Kyoko Fukada nodded, "It's really happy to be Oni-san's woman!"

"Oni-san, when will you go back to the country?" Kyoko Fukada asked. "I need to go back to Japan."

"Don't worry, there's still time. I'll be in Hong Kong for the next few days, so come over, and we'll go to America together," Charles said, pointing to Haruka Ayase, who was in his arms. "She said she didn't have anything to do and will stay here for the next few days."

"Kyoko-senpai, do you need me to accompany you back to Japan?" Haruka Ayase asked.

Kyoko Fukada shook her head, "No need, I can go back myself. However, Keiko and Nanao should also return to Japan, they have work too!"

"You decide. I'm going for a swim," Charles stood up and left.

"Splash..."

"Oni-san," Keiko Kitagawa and Nanao in the pool exclaimed together.

"Mmm," Charles directly lifted Nanao out of the pool and started kissing her; the figure of the model indeed felt different.

"Mmm," Nanao responded enthusiastically, and Keiko Kitagawa also came over and pressed against Charles's back, "Are we going on a yacht to enjoy the Hong Kong night scene tonight?"

"Yeah, we're going to sea tonight," Charles said, pulling Keiko Kitagawa to the front, hugging the two of them and leaning against the pool. "Hong Kong's night scene is very beautiful!"

*****

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