Chapter 703: Collaboration with News Corporation

Chapter 703: Collaboration with News Corporation

Chapter 703: Collaboration with News Corporation
After entering the 70s, many historical figures who began to emerge in the 90s also gradually appeared, so Yang Wendong also began to arrange people to investigate;
Nike founder Phil Knight is one of them, as is Walton, the early founder of Walmart. Murdoch can certainly be included in the list.

In terms of wealth, Murdoch's media empire may not be comparable to Wal-Mart, Nike or even some real estate companies in Hong Kong, but its influence is far greater than all of them combined.
However, it is precisely because of this huge influence that Yang Wendong cannot participate. Even if he has the ability, he cannot do so. Even if he wants to really have a certain influence on News Corporation, I am afraid that the Americans may not agree. This is no longer a separate commercial investment.

But no matter what, regardless of whether it really has an impact, even if we only say that the publicity resources in the hands of News Corporation in the future will only serve its various enterprises, it will also be of great significance to each of its own enterprises;
There are almost no civilian products in this world that do not need marketing. In the past, Apple and Tesla were famous enough, and their founders were the traffic, so they did not need advertising; or their production capacity was insufficient and their products were in short supply, so naturally there was no need for advertising investment; in other cases, any product needs marketing, and before the Internet, traditional media was in the hands of the future Murdoch.

Murdoch looked at the Chinese man who was younger than him and said with a smile, "Mr. Yang, you and I are both members of the Commonwealth. I have heard of your name a long time ago, but because my business is not in Hong Kong, I have never had the opportunity to meet you."

Most industries do not pay attention to companies and wealthy people in other places, but as a media tycoon, Murdoch developed his business in Commonwealth countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom in his early years, and he also has some understanding of large companies within the Commonwealth, including Hong Kong.

Yang Wendong laughed and said, "Haha, Hong Kong actually has a lot of media and newspapers. If Mr. Murdoch is interested, he can also get involved."

There are too many media outlets in Hong Kong, so it doesn't matter if there is one more.

"I have the same idea, especially now that the mainland is on good terms with Western countries, I also want to have a branch in Hong Kong." Murdoch suddenly said, "I heard that Mr. Yang controls the Hong Kong TV station. I wonder if he is willing to sell it. The price is negotiable."

"You want to buy my TV station?" Yang Wendong was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, the TV station is not for sale."

Sure enough, the ultimate goal of this kind of media group is still TV stations. After all, there are so many varieties of newspapers that even if they don't acquire them, they can build one with a little money. But TV stations are scarce, and with the advancement of the times, more and more people are watching TV, which has taken over the media function of newspapers.

"That's a pity." Murdoch didn't think much about it. He knew how valuable Yang Wendong was and he wouldn't care about a little profit, so he asked, "Then why did Mr. Yang ask me out? I wonder what it is about?"

Yang Wendong said, "There are two things. First, many of my company's products are about to start large-scale promotion in the United States, so I need to choose a media group as a long-term partner, and I hope you can give me a suitable preferential price."

After entering the 70s, especially after the acquisition of Wharf Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, which would be a matter of a few years, there were not many businesses that he could expand in Hong Kong.
As for the reform and opening up of the mainland, it will take several years, and the mainland market will not be open to the outside world in the early stage. It is already very good to be able to serve as a suitable production base. Therefore, from a market perspective, the future overseas market is the top priority of one's career, and the United States is the world's largest overseas market, without a doubt. At this time, Europe combined cannot compare with the United States, and there are so many different countries, cultures, laws, and other cumbersome issues.

Although several of Changxing Group's products entered the U.S. very early, they were simply sold to U.S. distributors and the company basically did not care about them. But now, its Red Bull, Honor Electronics, Best Buy, etc. all need to focus on developing the U.S. market and will gradually gain control of their own channels, so naturally they need to carry out publicity.

Murdoch's News Corporation has actually just entered the United States, but the next decade or so will be a period of rapid development for it, and it will gradually build its own media empire. At this early stage, he naturally hopes to reach a certain degree of strategic cooperation with News Corporation to consolidate the relationship between the two parties, and from an economic point of view, it will also be a win-win situation.

Murdoch smiled and asked, "Mr. Yang, aren't you cooperating with NBC?"

"NBC is a TV station, and it is indeed very efficient, but I have many products with different values, so it is impossible for me to cooperate with TV stations for all of them." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "Many products still need to be promoted through newspapers, books and periodicals, especially some performance introductions."

For example, it is impossible for Honor Electronics to promote all the games it will release in the future on TV. Unless a home game console comes out one day and potential customers cover the entire United States, it will be cost-effective to advertise on TV.

For games like arcade games, it is sufficient to use paper media for promotion, which is cost-effective and can also provide detailed introductions;

Although text advertising is not as effective as television, it also has its advantages, namely, it carries more content and users can watch it repeatedly, which is something TV stations cannot do. Even in the Internet age, short video ads cannot completely replace text ads.

Murdoch thought for a while and said, "If you need a lot of advertising space, then News Corporation will naturally welcome cooperation."

No company will refuse a client, especially a company with a high net worth and high-quality assets. Murdoch knows more about Hong Kong's Changxing Group than most Europeans and Americans. This is also a company worth long-term cooperation. "That's good. I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation. I will arrange someone to communicate with News Corporation and discuss in which areas we can cooperate." Yang Wendong continued.

In fact, he himself did not know what advertisements the companies below needed to make. For example, Yang Wendong was not concerned with how to promote Red Bull and how to find partners. He was generally only responsible for some very large-scale matters and paid attention to the final results.

Otherwise, as a boss, he would be very busy. Appropriate delegation of power would allow professional managers to perform freely and save their energy. As long as they control the strategic development direction of the company, there would basically be no major problems.

Murdoch smiled and said, "I also hope that our cooperation will go smoothly, not only in the United States, but also in the Commonwealth and other countries. In the future, News Corporation is planning to invest in many countries around the world."

"Haha, Mr. Murdoch is really ambitious." Yang Wendong also smiled and asked, "I wonder if your company will accept investment?"

Murdoch's News Company (the future News Corporation) has not yet gone public, so if you want to invest, you can only negotiate, just like Walmart, Intel and Nike in the early days;
However, although the news company at that time was not a very powerful conglomerate, it was not small in scale. It controlled many media companies in Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, and was just beginning to develop in the United States. It was very ambitious. Although it might not have enough funds, it should not be too short of them.

"Do you want to invest in my company?" Murdoch asked back.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, for some companies that I am optimistic about, I will consider investing a little while cooperating with them. This will make the relationship better for both of us."

"Since investment will make our relationship better, why don't you let me invest in some Hong Kong TV stations, Mr. Yang?" Murdoch suddenly said.

Yang Wendong asked, "You want to invest in TVB? Even if you can, it will only be a small portion of the shares. You don't have any other rights. This includes my investment in your news company, which is actually similar."

This investment is somewhat similar to Intel’s investment, in that, in addition to the economic effect, it also seeks to cooperate at other levels to achieve mutual benefit;
But if you really want to control this company, that is obviously impossible. Even if it is feasible from a capital perspective, the US national level will not allow it when News Corporation or Intel develops in the future, so there is no need to think too much about it.

Murdoch paused and said, "That's true. It really doesn't make sense. So you want to invest in my company purely for economic gain?"

Yang Wendong said, "Yes, as I said, after a little investment, our cooperation will be even better. In Hong Kong, if you want to enter the media industry, I think it would be more cost-effective to directly acquire a local newspaper, such as some English newspapers. These markets do not compete with my industry."

"Okay, I'll think about it." Murdoch thought for a moment and said, "News Company is not short of capital for the time being, but if you want to invest, I can give you 2% of the shares. This is a friend of mine who wants to withdraw his investment, and you can take over.

I am not going to dilute the other shares for the time being, and I will seriously consider it when the company's development needs it in the future."

"Okay, 2% is no problem." Yang Wendong agreed readily.

Although this amount seems a bit small, Yang Wendong's resources are not of much help to a company that has neither lack of money nor development capabilities; it is natural that it will not obtain a high proportion of shares like Intel or Nike did in the past.

The more important purpose of today's meeting with Murdoch is to reach a long-term cooperation with this rising media giant, so as to meet the needs of future promotional resources for multiple products.
As for shares, there will be opportunities to expand them in the future if you want.

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(End of this chapter)