hollywood billionaire

Chapter 322 The Proud One of Heaven

"Yeah, I'm interested... Xingsheng Capital is also interested."

Facing the question thrown by Han Yi, Joshua Kushner's eyes flickered twice, showing hesitation and thought. But after a moment, he finally gave an honest answer.

Joshua's prosperous capital, even in another seven years, will only be regarded as a lightweight player on Wall Street. In venture capital, the most valuable advisors are experienced professionals who have seen multiple boom and bust cycles, and Thrive Capital has an ever-expanding team of recent graduates in their twenties. A young team formed.

On the other hand, the famous family behind Joshua is not only a torch to protect him from being eaten by wolves on Wall Street, but also a stumbling block to prevent him from becoming the alpha wolf. His brother Jared married the eldest daughter of the current Republican presidential candidate in 2009 and actively participated in his father-in-law’s campaign. Many news media, including the Associated Press and CNN, believe that Jared- Kushner is the campaign manager sitting at 721 Fifth Avenue, not Kellyanne Conway on the outside.

Entering the 1970st century, political polarization and chaos in the United States have intensified. Politicians on Capitol Hill and their campaign teams have gradually concluded a set of rules since the s: No one likes moderates with vague positions. Candidates must hold clear and strong positions in order to attract votes. After Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, super PACs were fully legalized, allowing wealthy individuals, businesses, unions, and other influential groups to push the policy platforms of both political parties further to ideological extremes through unlimited donation funds.

More importantly, as a country of immigrants, the ideological differences among various communities in the United States are natural and deep-rooted. Each ethnic group has its own cultural traditions, policy demands, and voting preferences. If Without a positive integration process, in the long run, political positions will inevitably become polarized. In addition, all cable news stations in the federal territory are for-profit enterprises held by private capital. Due to their profit-making nature, these TV stations will inevitably choose the channel that allows them to attract the largest audience and allow these audiences to settle down and become the basis of viewing. The broadcasting method of the disk is to produce "news scripts" that are emotional, story-telling, ironic and dramatic, rather than impartial and neutral reports in the traditional sense.

Just look at the ratings of cable news channels. Fox News, the most right-leaning channel, has the highest ratings, followed closely by MSNBC, the most left-leaning channel. CNN, which is left of center at heart, insists on showing an objective attitude on the surface. Last seat.

In order to retain advertisers and survive, various news stations have launched a vicious competition to sprint to hell. The news is becoming more and more outrageous, the comments are becoming more and more extreme, and the guests are becoming more and more like political terrorists. Therefore, naturally, with cable news stations as the main force whose positions are greater than the facts, and personal blogs, political podcasts, and online news platforms that rely on click-through rates as helpers, the United States in the 2010s has been ideologically divided into two One society and two countries.

Looking back, in this era, it can be said that it was destined that Jared Kushner’s father-in-law stood out from the Republican establishment. The U.S.-Mexico border wall, the travel ban from Middle Eastern countries, and the slogan "Make America Great Again" that pays tribute to Reagan, each can make his supporters become more fanatical, and also make his opponents more enthusiastic. More negative.

Unfortunately for Joshua Kushner, his asset management company is involved in business areas where opponents of MAGA far outnumber supporters.

From June 2015 until this year—especially in the second half of this year—Joshua found that he seemed to be stuck in a quagmire that he had never set foot in, making it difficult to move forward. When meeting with entrepreneurs, he not only had to dispel their doubts about the scale of Xingsheng Capital, but also tried to prove to them that he had nothing to do with the family's political activities.

You know, before this, Joshua Kushner had many labels on him. Tall and handsome Wall Street vase, uneducated Upper East Side heir, playboy hanging out with underwear models... No matter how many people he has taken off these labels in front of, every time he walks into a new conference room, They would magically reappear and cling to him.

Joshua Kushner, who entered the industry in 2010 and has seen hot faces and cold butts, has summed up his own set of ways of doing things. As he himself said, "When you realize that the people you thought were your friends aren't really your friends. So what's the point of trying to impress them?"

If you have any needs, please speak directly, if you have any demands, please speak to your face. Joshua found that this kind of perseverance and sincerity benefited him more than the kind of conciliatory politeness. He himself doesn't know the specific principle. Perhaps it is because his father, Charles Kushner, was involved in political struggles and was sent to prison by Chris Christie, the then District Attorney for the District of New Jersey, to spend 14 months in prison, which made all members of the Kushner family suffer. All have been charged with illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering, making it difficult for outsiders to take their fine words seriously. Or maybe it's because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has been working, studying, and living in the most private and honorable place in this country for thirty years. People in Wall Street, Harvard University, and the Upper East Side—including those who live in these places—have a stereotype of him as being arrogant, condescending, full of high-sounding morals, and without a single word of truth.

Regardless of the above two reasons, which one has the greatest effect, not beating around the bush and being honest is indeed the best way for Joshua Kushner to gain the trust of his partners, bar none.

"Understood, Josh." Han Yi nodded slightly and pondered for a moment, "So, where does your interest come from? I'm very curious about this."

"I would love to say that my deep understanding of the music industry allowed me to become the first investor in the world to discover the business potential of Han Music, but you and I both know that is not true." Josh Kushner Putting his palm on the back of Karlie Kloss's hand who was sitting next to him, "The first time I saw the name Han Music was on the website of Variety Magazine, but it was another report...Snoop Dogg was appointed as your brand Report from that hip-hop label.”

"Temple Label."

"Yes, Temple label."

In the past year, Han Yi has completed many acquisitions for Han Music, often costing tens of millions of dollars, and the money was spent like water. But what can really attract the attention of mainstream circles is the gimmicky move of asking Mr. Gou to be the CEO.

"Han Music invested US$1800 million to establish a partnership with independent singer Holsh", and "Snoop Dogg has a new starting point in his career, with an annual salary of US$ million to become the CEO of a hip-hop label". If you had to choose between these two news articles, which one would you click on?

"When I first saw this article, I didn't pay much attention to it. Later, "Cold Water" was on the Billboard... I remember it won the championship for three consecutive weeks, right?"

"Yes."

"This is really an amazing achievement. In my impression, no record company independent of the three major music groups has been able to accomplish this feat."

"Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You" both count." Han Yi thought for a while and replied.

"Columbia Records helps them distribute through channels in the United States, so it cannot be said to be completely independent from the Big Three."

"Hmm... Macklemore, 'Thrift Shop' and 'Can't Hold Us'."

"It was also the channel that ADA from Warner Music Group helped him find."

"You also said you don't know anything about the music industry, Josh." Han Yi joked, "You are obviously an expert."

"This is all the knowledge I will cram into later, because I really... really appreciate the music kingdom you built from scratch." Joshua and Carly looked at each other with a smile, and then said, ""Cold Water" After winning the championship, I began to study Han Music and found that you had completed a series of exquisite layouts. First, you invested in the United Artist Management Company to open up the monetization channels. Then you invested in several music management companies and smoothed the upstream artist channels. Then It was a series of executive poaching, coupled with the establishment of a music production team, that gave the company the ability to build internal talent... However, that is not what I admire most about you. What I admire most about you is that you can actually In such a short period of time, we have developed close cooperation with three major music groups while maintaining an independent attitude."

"Did you say Interscope?"

"Interscope, but more than just Interscope."

Joshua Kushner's investigation of Han Yi was not exhaustive. He followed the clues and even searched for a scholarship program just established by the University of Southern California's Iowen and Yang College - the Innovator Empowerment Fund. The total amount is US$1000 million, donated by the generous alumni Mr. and Mrs. Han.

Of course, Joshua Kushner does not think that the so-called Han couple are Han Yi himself. According to his speculation, "Mr. & Mrs. Han" should be the parents of the Chinese rich man in front of him. Studying at the University of Southern California. After Han Yi entered his alma mater as a Legacy Student, they issued a check worth tens of millions of dollars to pave the way for their son's future career in the music industry.

Joshua is familiar with this routine.

In 1998, before his brother Jared was admitted to Harvard, his father Charles also wrote a check for $ million and sent it to the school. Therefore, when Joshua saw the letter of thanks signed by Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young on the official website of Iovine and Young Academy, his interest in Han Yi and Han Music suddenly became Extremely rich.

This is not a foolish young man who wants to succeed in a monopoly industry by relying on "diligence" and "struggle", but a proud man with an unfathomable family background and noble people protecting him at every step.

Just like Joshua himself.

He has a very clear understanding of himself. Although he has excellent grades, without his father's seven-figure donation, his hope of entering Harvard is still slim. Although his abilities are outstanding, he is definitely not outstanding enough to get $5 million in starting capital from Joel Atler and his General Catalytic Ventures just after graduation.

The world is so unfair. Most of the business elites who became famous at a young age have a family as stable as a mountain.

And what Joshua likes to associate with most is this kind of man-made prodigy.

Their superior family background means they will not take risks for the sake of small profits or do dirty things that go against business ethics. Their strong backgrounds mean that their development path must be much smoother than that of ordinary people.

Which venture capital manager wouldn't like this kind of start-up company with high safety factor and fast development speed?

The series of auras that Han Music has recently placed on itself have confirmed Joshua’s guesses one by one.

"This talented girl on stage, Madison Beer's new single "Bad Things," is a key project for Interscope. Horsch's "Closer," a collaboration with Sony, may become the hottest music of the year. Again Look at Mad City's lineup...I mean, bro." Joshua spread his hands and chuckled, "Ordinary music fans may not care about this, but people in business should see it clearly. If it weren't for you How could the network that was being woven behind the scenes bring in Kanye West, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Justin Bieber, all superstars who can sell out stadiums on their own?"

"So, what really attracts me is not the success of Han Music, but your mind, Yi. From the insight you show, the clarity with which you control the situation, and the comprehensiveness and accuracy of your business layout Looking at it, I believe that not only in the music industry, but in any industry you want to get involved in, you can make a career."

Joshua Kushner's expression and tone seemed extremely sincere. What he said was obviously what he really thought in his heart, but it wasn't all his true thoughts. After all, there was another important reason that Joshua did not speak out directly.

That is another outstanding ability displayed by Han Yi besides his mind.

financial resources.

The first move in his career was to acquire more than 1.9% of the equity of the world's third largest performing arts company for US$40 million.

This kind of gameplay has never been heard of even by Joshua who has been immersed in the spire circle since he was a child.

Not to mention the total capital pool of Xingsheng Capital, which is only US$13 billion. Even if his father wants to build a US$2.5 million luxury real estate project in Jersey City this year, he must first borrow a US$1.4 million mortgage from CIT Group. , and raised US$5 million from wealthy Chinese who applied for the EB-5000 investment immigrant visa, and finally transferred US$3000 million from the family’s cash account to collect all the funds needed for 65 Bay Street.

Therefore, rather than saying that Joshua Kushner is interested in the record industry, which he is unfamiliar with, it is better to say that he is interested in Han Yi, the actual controller behind the scenes. Regardless of whether or how many shares are released, as long as we can connect with this Chinese tycoon and make him interested in cooperating with us, then Xingsheng Capital may have a chance to exceed its fundraising target next year.

Joshua didn't know where the other party's family originated from, whether it was the vast and mysterious mainland, Hong Kong Island with many high-rise buildings, or the Star City at the heart of Malacca, but what he was sure of was that Han Yi, who chose to come to the United States to make a career, would definitely need some A powerful and well-established partner.

There should not be too few partners, at least one in each field, so that all eggs will not be broken in the same basket.

The partners should not be too big to avoid being manipulated by strong men due to the disparity in strength in the early stages of development.

In Joshua’s view, Xingsheng Capital’s current size is just right for working side by side with Han Yi and growing together.

He was certain that Han Yi's ambition would never be limited to the music industry.

"I don't dare to say that I have any brains, Josh." Han Yi took a sip of Coke and smiled noncommittally, "It's just that I happened to come across some good projects and someone was willing to take me to play with him... not smart. , not alert, purely relying on luck.”

"I have to say... there's at least one person who doesn't agree with your opinion of yourself, Yi."

At this time, Carly joined the conversation at the right time. Known for her emotional intelligence, she knew when to pretend to be playing with her mobile phone and wander away, and when to stand up and adjust the pace.

"Who?"

"Barbie."

Carly raised her chin toward the edge of the booth.

"She spoke highly of you."

"That's true." Joshua followed his girlfriend's words. "When we had dinner together last week, she didn't talk about anything else for two hours. She kept telling us how awesome you were. How amazing."

"Oh, really? Barbie is always so...nice to me..."

Han Yi's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained calm.

He subconsciously raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Barbara Pavin, only to find that the three girls with different postures who were having a pleasant conversation with Margot Robbie were all peeking at him. .

(End of this chapter)