Chapter 420: Barely out of poverty

Chapter 420: Barely out of poverty

Chapter 420: Barely out of poverty
He got rich so quickly and everything went so smoothly that Fan Wumian felt a little bit proud.

Until I came to Los Angeles.

Recently, the stock god Buffett publicly announced a "charitable donation" plan, announcing that he would donate 370 billion US dollars to charity. These fortunes currently account for about 85% of his personal wealth.

Many wealthy people followed suit, and it became a trend in a short time, receiving rave reviews from countries around the world.

It was obvious that the main purpose was to avoid the high inheritance tax, donate it to his family's charitable foundation, and transfer the wealth to his descendants. Fan Wumian had no idea why so many people were exaggerating it.

The media around the world seem to have collectively lost their minds and dare not discuss the relevant topics.

Occasionally, some reporters would show up to reveal the truth, but they would be attacked by the crowd and scolded.

Because the topic of naked donation is hot.

As a result, Fan Wumian saw a lot of news about super-rich people such as "Bill Gates", "Buffett", "Paul Allen", etc. on the news all day long.

He also happened to meet Las Vegas gambling tycoon Kirk Kerkorian who came to the party at the hotel.

After hearing what Zuo Ziyan said, Fan Wumian realized that this plain-looking old man was actually worth about 150 billion US dollars.

Influenced by these news, he sighed with emotion. Anyone he picked out at random was ten or even dozens of times richer than him. He had the illusion that he had "barely escaped poverty".

The main reason was that he left behind a lot of debts, and many of his assets were just assets. Far water could not quench immediate thirst, which greatly affected his quality of life.

Some wealthy people with a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars live a very luxurious life, but Fan Wumian is reluctant to buy a private jet or a luxury yacht. He rarely buys real estate or antiques, but it is mainly for investment considerations.

After seeing how Kirk Kerkorian, the former boss of MGM Studios, was always surrounded by people when he went out, Fan Wumian began to wonder if he had committed the old ancestral bad habit of "suffering without hardship".

In recent days, in order to raise money to acquire Penguin shares, Fan Wumian has been under a lot of pressure.

The mansion at No. 1.35 Repulse Bay has been mortgaged for the second time, and its estimated value has increased by about HK$ million compared to when the house was purchased.

Excluding the loan interest, taxes, renovation costs, etc. paid during the period, the actual net profit was more than 9000 million Hong Kong dollars.

Also pledged were Tudou.com, 10% of Penguin shares, and shares of Bandit King Media.

It is difficult for Internet startups like Tudou to borrow large sums of money from mainland banks, but in Hong Kong they can find qualified professional institutions to conduct valuations, and Standard Chartered Bank also recognizes its value.

Tudou.com has successfully obtained a valuation of HK$80 million by virtue of its over 4.2% online video market share in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The total assets of Bandit King Media were estimated to be 25 billion Hong Kong dollars. This number shocked Fan Wumian, and he even thought it was written wrong when he first saw it.

After learning more about it, I found out that it was because Shanziwang Media launched several works last year, and the net profit amount was too high. It was very advantageous to calculate according to the traditional valuation formula, which pushed up the market valuation of Shanziwang Media.

As to whether it is really worth so much money, we have to question it again.

After all, the copyright of the most profitable "A Quiet Place" series has been sold by Fan Wumian, and most film and television works do not have the ability to make long-term profits.

Compared with many old traditional businesses, the profits of film and television companies can disappear at any time, the uncertainty is too high, and the risks are particularly great.

With the current size of assets, it would be difficult to find interested buyers even if one wanted to sell them in a package at half the valuation, which is HK$12.5 billion.

But if it were to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, even if calculated at a price-to-earnings ratio of 10, it would be worth HK$ to billion based on last year's net profit.

This explains why so many business owners are obsessed with going public, and after going public they are busy cashing out and running away, which is even more dangerous than robbing money.

The third-party evaluation agency gave such a high valuation to Bandit King Media, which was obviously a good thing for Fan Wumian. The loophole he could exploit was that he didn't really need to find a buyer for Bandit King Media.

Take the appraisal results to Standard Chartered Bank, and they can still approve a loan at a 30% to 70% discount based on the valuation results.

In this way, combined with other funds, Fan Wumian does not need to use additional credit lines without deposit.

The interest rate for unsecured loans in Gangcheng is one or two points higher than that for secured loans, so Fan Wumian can save a lot of interest from it.

However, if a revaluation is conducted next year and it is found that the value of Bandit King Media has decreased, Standard Chartered Bank may ask Fan Wumian to repay the loan in advance or provide other additional collateral for risk control reasons.

By that time, the share price of Penguin should have gone up, and during this period, we can continue to find ways to make some cash, and the risk of loan withdrawal is particularly low.
The day after Zuo Ziyan's parents arrived in Los Angeles, they went to "The Spare Room" restaurant at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard.

This restaurant is decent, and the unique thing is that it is hidden in a bowling alley, and you can sit by the pool and enjoy a cocktail in the evening.

At this moment.

Father Zuo had just finished ordering, turned sideways and looked outside and said with a smile:
"The last time I played bowling was when I was studying in the UK. I remember a classmate who had no sense of presence at the time fell out with the bowling ball. Now he is the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer."

Fan Wumian flattered calmly:

"As expected of a wealthy family, a social circle of this size is not something that ordinary people can squeeze into. He holds an important position at such a young age, so someone in his family must have helped pave the way for him."

"Of course. At that time, my father was worried that I would not have a good life away from home, so he gave me 1 pounds of pocket money every month. Many classmates liked to hang out with me. We still keep in touch until now, and occasionally go to London for gatherings and dinners."

After Zuo Ziyan's father finished speaking, he suddenly realized that Fan Wumian definitely didn't have the opportunity to come into contact with these things in the early years, so he changed the subject and said with a smile:
"Ami, you're doing pretty well now. You can even bring my daughter to Hollywood to make a movie. The day before yesterday, I had dinner with my business friends before I left. They were so envious. They even wanted me to help them find some connections for their children so they can try to become a star."

Knowing that Fan Wumian always felt that meaningless social conventions were annoying, Zuo Ziyan found the right moment to interrupt and said:
"Both Disney and Paramount attach great importance to cooperation with Amiens. Few of those people are reliable. Dad, don't make promises just because you've had a few drinks. If you mess up a big production, our family can't afford to pay for it."

In the past two years, small fry like Fan Wumian could be treated as nothing. The gap between the two families was like a chasm.

Now that the situation has changed, Mother Zuo felt it was very magical and asked:

"I was having a party with friends recently and heard someone mention that you are raising funds and several banks want to compete for your loan order. Are you ready for such a large sum of money?"

The so-called gathering is actually just playing mahjong.

Fan Wumian smiled and said:
"Well, we have collected all the information. We are just waiting to complete the formalities. However, the cash for other projects has been withdrawn, which has affected other businesses."

Mr. Zuo was just about to use his experience as a person to remind people of the importance of cash flow.

Before he could speak, Fan Wumian continued:
"I really had no choice but to look for a company that was organizing a concert tour and signed a temporary contract to work with them to hold 15 concerts in the next two years. Several companies bid against each other, and the one with the highest bid agreed to give me HK$7000 million, which was barely enough for a temporary emergency."

"Oh, more than 4 million per show, and you make that much in just two or three hours on stage?"

Seeing Fan Wumian making money like the wind, Zuo Ziyan's parents expressed their envy.

After all, there are too many real estate developers in Hong Kong, and Zuo's Real Estate is neither big nor small. In order to make money from business, they often encounter troubles that are beyond their control.

On the other hand, Fan Wumian not only makes money quickly, but also lives a carefree life.

A bunch of companies were vying to cooperate with him, and they offered him 7000 million Hong Kong dollars, which is not considered a "waste of money".

The Penguin Group, with a total market value of more than 240 billion Hong Kong dollars, is six times more than Zuo’s Real Estate, yet it was swallowed up by Fan Wumian just like that.

After the news of the signing of the acquisition was spread, many Hong Kong media even praised Fan Wumian as being more powerful than the Li family's "Little Superman"
(End of this chapter)