hollywood billionaire

Chapter 102 The First Board of Directors
On Tuesday, May 2016, 5, the weather was fine.

At 47:[-] in the morning, the sky of Los Angeles still maintained its most classic posture, with a few high-hanging clouds scattered on the blue canvas. There are many unsatisfactory places in LA, such as poor road maintenance, the title of homeless people in North America, and the endless expansion of urban development plans that spread out, all of which have been repeatedly criticized in the past few decades.

But no matter how harsh the critic is, it is impossible to say anything about the weather in Southern California.

Like Frank Lloyd Wright said, turn the world upside down and all good things come to Los Angeles.

Every time he wakes up facing such a scene, Han Yi will sigh in his heart, what a correct decision he finally chose between New York and Los Angeles.

It certainly has nothing to do with NYU's US News ranking at the time.

With wonderful and messy thoughts floating in his mind, Han Yichong smiled and nodded to Gian Griffin, opened the car door amidst the other party's farewell sound of "see you, boss", and walked to UTA Plaza standing beside the municipal road.

Everything is the same as it was when I first visited here a month ago.

Except for those who come to work on time and endure the congestion of the morning rush hour.

The performing arts brokerage industry has three characteristics, randomness, suddenness, and globality.You don't know when the organizer will send the official performance offer, you don't know which performance of the contracted client will go wrong, and you don't know where the weird cities in the mailbox are located.

A good acting agent, especially one that manages a large number of clients, has its own biological clock and working hours.Some people have a closer relationship with the organizers in the Far East, so their active hours will be moved back, and it is normal to send and receive emails in the middle of the night to deal with various matters.Some people are mainly responsible for performances in Europe, so getting up early is a must-have good habit, otherwise you will miss many invitations from London, Amsterdam or Ibiza.

As for other regions?There are not enough performances in those places to allow UTA's managers to accommodate them.

It is precisely because of the particularity of the performing arts brokerage industry that the United Artists Brokerage Company has never had a uniform working time, let alone a traditional attendance system, which is the so-called "flexible hours" in the recruitment advertisement.Each broker chooses the specific time to work, as long as the time requirement can be met.

When Han Yi arrived at UTA Plaza, the brokers in charge of the European region were already sipping coffee in the cubicle, while the brokers in charge of the Far East region were most likely still immersed in sleep, and they didn't arrive late until it was close to lunch time.

At this moment, the people who are stepping up the ladder with Han Yi are basically rookie brokers who have just joined the company, and non-sales employees who are responsible for back-end business or administrative affairs.

Most of this group of people did not get invitations to the welcome party, nor did they see this young Chinese billionaire who accounted for 41% of the shares in real life.Therefore, the Han Yi that they spread word of mouth in the tea room and lunch table is the most exaggerated version.

Some people say that Han Capital is a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, which is responsible for investment in the entertainment sector. After all, since 2010, Temasek has made multiple pan-entertainment acquisitions in North America jointly with capital management groups.Some people equate Han Capitals with the prosperous HNA Group just based on the initials of the two companies.The tourism group under the latter has just bought a resort hotel that is about to go bankrupt in Coronksen, New York, which is widely interpreted by the market as a test of entering the United States.

Of course, quite a few people, influenced by the special report by David Simpson of the Guardian, believe that Han Yi, who has a mysterious background, should represent the will of the Far Eastern countries.After all, on the eve of the 2016 storm, most people could not have predicted the violent tide that would come years later.If the world continues to develop in a spiral upward trend, then the current script should also progress to the step of "Japan's aggressive acquisition of American entertainment assets".

No matter which version of the story everyone believed, they looked at Han Yi with curiosity about the mystery and natural awe of the unknown.Most people who passed by Han Yi would involuntarily look at him twice, and subconsciously distance themselves from him.A small number of those who are active, outgoing or active in nature do the opposite, approach him and say hello, hoping that this Asian who will become UTA's internal director and power master in the future can remember his appearance.

"Good morning, Mr. Han."

"Good morning."

Han Yi looked away from the phone screen, looked at the young blond manager who stretched out his hand towards him, and showed a friendly smile.

It took less than 9346 minutes to walk from the side of the city road to the main entrance of No. 3, and Han Yi had already shaken hands with five or six UTA brokers like him.But unfortunately, he did not remember the name of a single person.

It's not that Han Yi's eyes are higher than the top, but that he is a person who is focused on doing things. At this moment, his thoughts are all on the text messages with Antoine Jiashe, chief investment officer of Han Capital.

Yesterday, Han Yi's US$3.99 million investment portfolio in the Carlyle Group officially expired.The funds were all deposited in Carlyle Realty Partners IV, which was established in 2005 and ended its life cycle in early May 2016. This is a private equity fund under the Carlyle Group located in Washington, D.C. that specializes in seeking investment opportunities in the real estate sector in the United States.Although it is a real estate investment fund, the actual investment targets include consumer goods, manufacturing, industry and other commercial products and services.

IBM's personal pension plan is the fund's largest institutional contributor, and Han Yi is, without a doubt, its largest individual contributor.

According to their feedback, the rewards that appear in a certain capital management group do not necessarily have to stay in the group's private equity funds. As long as it is related to career development, it is no problem to use it yourself.Therefore, Han Yi's choice is to take out 5000 million US dollars and then inject capital into Han Capital. The specific compliance operation will be completed by Antoine Gachet, Jordan Bromley and Lou Taylor.

Han Music, Han Distribution and Renyu Management, as well as live performance companies that have not yet been established, will all develop by leaps and bounds in the foreseeable period of time. It is very important to ensure that there is sufficient liquidity in the company's account.

After all, whether it is the advance payment of signed artists and creators, or the production cost of Mad City, it is unlikely to be paid from other channels.

The other $3.49 million went to Wilmington, Delaware, which is still the favorite of most American companies and capital managers.Antoine Gachet is currently in Wilmington, supervising the establishment of Carlyle Exclusive Partner III, or Carlyle Exclusive Partner III.

Although the funds jointly established with Parkway Capital belong to the category of partnership, but in terms of the actual structure of the company, there are obvious differences between the two.

When acquiring UTA, Han Yi had insufficient funds, so he had to reach a joint investment agreement with Parkway Capital in order to advance the acquisition progress.But for the Carlyle Group, Han Yi's $3.49 million in cash is more than enough.

The acquisition of a 55% stake in Mad Decent required US$3600 million, and the final transaction price of Hartbeat's 25% stake was 2500 million.In addition, Austin Rosen of Electric Feels will take 5200 million, Halsey Inc. is 1800 million, and the acquisition of TaP, the artist management company of Dua Lipa manager Ben Mawson, needs another 1500 million US dollars.

These acquisitions and investments, taken together, cost a total of $1.46 million.

That's less than half of the initial funding for CEP III.

The remaining 2.03 million US dollars is enough in the short term.In addition to Sony Pictures' slate deal, Han Yi's focus in recent months will be on consolidating and developing existing assets, rather than continuing to wave checks for mergers.

At present, he has already contacted all the investment targets that are expected to be included in the bag.Those assets that have not yet been launched are not what the current HMG and Han Capital can eat.

The inability to eat is not only due to limited funds, but also closely related to business performance, industry status and the general environment of the times.

The simplest example, Bob Dylan, will never lie to Han Yi's acquisition offer now.

Only when the Live Aid 2016 version discussed with Jimmy Iowen and a series of subsequent operations can be implemented, can this slim hope be improved by a few points.

Therefore, this time with Carlyle's LP, Han Yi contributed 100% of the capital, and Carlyle Group was only the manager, with three senior partners acting as nominal fund managers and holding 1% of the management shares.The actual trader is Antoine Gachet, CEO of CEP III, a partnership.

In return, the Carlyle Group will receive 2% of the total assets under management as a management fee and 20% of the net investment profit as "incidental income", carried interests, or a commission in human terms.

This is the protection fee that Han Yi handed over to David Rubinstein. The business is getting bigger and bigger in the United States. There is a resident at 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue as a shelter, so that he will not get into unnecessary trouble.

Of course, paying protection fees is not the only purpose of this LP.

It will be of great use in future business planning.

"After the establishment of CEP III, I will come to Los Angeles immediately to deal with those acquisitions... The email group you pulled me into seems to be missing a TaP."

"Oh, sorry, I added you later. Too many groups."

"It doesn't matter at all. Also, if possible, I hope to meet with Mr. Bromley, Ms. Taylor, and Mr. Gelfand as soon as possible to discuss the details of the agreement and the specific operation process. After all, we need to use LP first. To invest in Han Capital, Han Capital injects capital into HMG's subsidiaries, and then these companies complete the acquisitions separately... Americans have a lot of trouble."

"Isn't it? You have to work hard, Antoine."

"It's an honor, Mr. Han."

"By the way, after arriving in Los Angeles, do you have a place to live?" Before he reached the elevator door, a pretty administrative girl graciously lit the up button for him.Han Yi once again evoked a polite and polite smile, and walked sideways into the car.

"I've already found it." Antoine Gachet smiled brightly on the other end, "It's not far from the company, it's in Century City. No. 1 West Century Avenue, have you heard of it?"

"Wow, man of culture, Mr. Jiashe." Han Yi raised his eyebrows and joked, "It's the best apartment in Century City when you make a move."

"French people have two things they can't settle for, accommodation and food." After the business was finished, Antoine Gachet also entered the chat mode, "Also, my girlfriend will come with me, and the children will occasionally come to see me , and I have to bring some cats with me... so I have to find a three-bedroom house... When Mrs. Gachet arrives in Los Angeles, you and the two ladies will definitely have to visit her home."

"Chowder from Provence?"

"Provence chowder, sir. And the best Daube nioise you've ever had in your life."

"I don't even know what that is."

"This is a beef stew...thick..."

"Hello? Jiashe?"

Any elevator in the world has a miraculous effect on isolating signals.Han Yi had to hang up the phone, and used Whatsapp to send Antoine a message to contact him later. After all this was done, the elevator came to the top floor of No. 9346.

As soon as the car door opened, a familiar loud voice poured in like a flood.

"Tricky, Tricky, listen. Tell Astralwerks they might be able to put out another album for Horch, but Han Music must get involved in the A&R work."

"...process, what process? Helping them sell 50 more albums is my process! Don't ruin my artists with those crappy routines...Ok, no problem, let's do it. I'll talk to you later Say, the boss is here."

"Good morning, Yi." Moving the phone away from her ear, Karen waved at Han Yi.

"Good morning, Karen." Walking in front of Karen, Han Yi glanced at the half-open conference room door behind Karen, "Are they all here?"

"Peter Benedek and David Kramer haven't arrived yet. Everyone else is inside...and I am waiting for my boss here." Karen Guo spread his hands and lowered his voice, pretending to be mysterious Blinking, "Tell me, boss, who are we going to tear up today?"

"No one needs to be torn apart. Today we are here to observe."

Han Yi shook his head amusedly, and replied.For the first board meeting, Han Yi will not take the initiative to speak, and there is no agenda to start.What he is more interested in is the operating status of the United Artists Agency in the last quarter, and how the three parties will behave on the board of directors after Baihui Capital and Han Capital join.

In other words, there will be no big moves, and small operations will definitely be full.

But there is no need to tell Karen Guo about this kind of small operation.This time, Han Yi only needed her to be an honest listener.

"Just enjoy your first board tour. Supervise them, have a small meeting with Warnock from the music department after the meeting, and talk about our artist's tour plans... Then, treat you to a Tsujita."

"Thank you, Yi." Karen nodded and said seriously.

"Oh, it's just a Tsujita meal, there's no need to be so polite."

"No, not this." Karen smiled. "I mean, thank you for nominating me as a director of UTA. It means a lot to me."

The directors of the United Artists Management Company have voting rights, but in most cases, there is not much room for them to play.However, the name of the internal director of the four major Hollywood entertainment agencies is enough for Karen Guo to be grateful to Han Yi.

Karen has worked in the industry for nearly 20 years and has been an A&R executive for more than ten years, but today is the first time she has been nominated and formally elected as a director.

Moreover, he is the director of a world-class entertainment company.

From senior wage earners to attending consultants.

It took 12 years for Island Def Jam to make such a qualitative leap.After all, no matter how much she is relied on by LAReid, she can't really enter the core circle of this record group, because even her Bole is just a hired mercenary.

But in Han Music, within a month, her name and Han Yi appeared in the draft of the industry news.

This time, it's not "Karen Guo accepted Han Music's invitation to become the head of the A&R department".

Instead, "UTA Chairman Jim Berkus Announces: Three Inside Directors Join Board of Directors".

When she forwarded the "Hollywood Reporter" news to the Facebook homepage, the record-breaking speed of likes and waves of congratulations made her regain the feeling she has had since "Only Girl (In the World)". A sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that is hard to come by.

Perhaps this is the importance of choice.

Thinking of this, Karen Guo looked at Han Yi softer and more respectfully.

It is not difficult to impress a person with a few words, but if you want to make them more obedient in getting along and working with you for a long time, and even further become a right-hand man who can command you, you must fully demonstrate your unique value and resources and let them be in you. Bathe in the aura of the world and enjoy the ultimate feeling that cannot be obtained by others.

Nominating Karen Guo to be a director, rather than anyone else from Han Music, such as Victoria White Mason, in addition to having a similar cultural background and easy communication and operation, Han Yi also took this into consideration.

He needs to use this method to let the core person in charge of the core department of the record company gradually develop a centripetal force towards him.

Because, before Han Music's CEO candidate is formally determined, he needs to confirm that the loyalty of each key role is to himself, not to anyone else.

Otherwise, even in a company with a clean and single shareholding structure, the complicated situation of UTA may appear.

Han Yi is very happy to disturb other people's troubled waters, but it is absolutely impossible for others to take advantage of his own territory.

"Your resume is worthy of this honor."

Han Yi gave Karen an encouraging smile, and did not dwell on this topic.After all, the best way to get others to be grateful is not to use it as something to show off all the time.

Before Karen could answer, Han Yi quickly glanced at the two figures that appeared at the end of the corridor, and said in a low voice.

"Open the door of the conference room and walk ahead of me."

Karen Guo complied.So, the eight people who were talking softly and waiting patiently in the room saw Karen rushing in through the door, and Han Yi following behind with a warm smile on his face.

However, when Karen Guo took a seat in front of the name plate with his name written on it, Han Yi did not sit down beside her.On the contrary, he subconsciously glanced at the direction of the corridor on the right, then opened his eyes slightly in surprise, turned around, and disappeared from the sight of everyone in the meeting room again.

"Peter, David! Long time no see!"

The next second, Jeremy Zimmer and Jim Berkus heard Han Yi's warm greetings.

(End of this chapter)