Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Link munched on an apple and said,

Ivanka curled the corners of her lips, looking at him affectionately and adoringly, "Is our goal really that ambitious?"

"Setting lofty goals gives us the drive to move forward and prevents complacency. From this aspect, we should take a page from Mr. Thomp's book; he is indeed a commendable role model,"

Link said.

Ivanka smiled lightly, leaned in, and gave him a kiss.

She continued to read the company's weekly report to him while holding the documents.

It included the latest progress on various film projects under the production department, what stage a few films had reached, the situation with TV show shootings, reports from the distribution department on box office performance of films already released, and an analysis of box office data and trends.

There was also an international department's report and analysis on overseas box office, as well as reports from the finance department, development planning department, and the content development department, among others.

"Wait a minute! The previous point, the development planning department is proposing to acquire shares in Netflix? The same Netflix where Scott Stuber works?"

Link asked with puzzlement.

"Yes, this is a new proposal by Vice President Michael Burns. In July, Netflix started charging video website users a subscription fee of 10 US dollars per month, which directly caused over 1.2 million steady users to abandon Netflix for other free movie and video websites.

Netflix's stock also fell from a high of 54 dollars in July to 8 dollars, and their market capitalization plummeted from a high of 16.3 billion US dollars at the beginning of the year to approximately 3.2 billion US dollars.

Vice President Burns believes that charging for video content is the future trend for video websites. Even though Netflix stepping out with this move has led to the loss of many customers in the short term, in the long run, it is the right step.

Moreover, Netflix Technology Company has a wealth of film and television resources under its belt, richer content than other video websites, which is an advantage of Netflix. For those who love movies, the cost of Netflix is unlikely to deter them, and those users who left may return to Netflix once other video websites start charging fees.

Vice President Burns thinks that the current stock price of Netflix is far lower than its asset value, making it a good time to buy. If Lionsgate Films could secure Netflix or a portion of its shares, it would be beneficial to the development of Lionsgate Films and could compensate for Lionsgate's shortcomings in distribution capabilities.

However, Burns' plan is quite bold and carries significant risk. Also, given the company's current situation, it is not supported, so this plan did not pass at the work meeting,"

Ivanka said.

After listening, Link was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected there to be someone as visionary as Burns in the company's higher ranks.

Burns was right, charging fees on video websites is a trend, and for video websites to profit, they can't always be free.

In a few years, free video websites would almost vanish, as subscription-based sites begin to rapidly capitalize, initially offering VIP access to all videos on the site, later requiring Super VIP or even higher levels for full access.

It was because of such future developments that short videos, apps like TikTok and Kuaishou, live streams, and short dramas, could become explosively popular.

If netizens could watch higher quality TV and movies online for free, there would undoubtedly be less interest in short videos and other free content.

And now, in 2011, as Netflix took the first step, upon its success, other video websites would surely follow suit.

Link had previously followed Netflix Technology Company, buying many tech stocks including Netflix, through Ms. Cathy Wood when he invested in Twitter shares in 2009.

At that time, Netflix's market value was over 10 billion, and although he wanted to buy more, he didn't have enough funds and only bought slightly over a hundred thousand shares, valued at over 10 million.

He hadn't completely abandoned the plan to invest in Netflix afterwards.

He remembered that at Netflix's peak, the market value reached over 300 billion US dollars, making it the leading company in the movie and video website industry; any point at which the market value was between 20 and 30 billion was a good opportunity to invest.

Yet, he hadn't expected Netflix to experience such a significant downturn this year, with its market value falling to just over 3 billion.

After discussing with Ivanka, he immediately called Michael Burns, expressing interest in acquiring Netflix. He asked to see the planning document and also requested that related materials about the acquisition of Netflix be sent over.

Michael Burns, not one to delay, personally drove over to explain the benefits of acquiring Netflix, details of the acquisition process, and the potential return on investment.

After listening to his presentation, Link agreed with his acquisition plan.

He did not quite agree with Burns' suggested 5% stake, finding it too little.

He suggested acquiring at least over 10% stake to give Lionsgate Films more say on Netflix's board of directors, making future cooperation between the two companies more convenient.

"Boss, given Netflix's current stock price, a 10% stake would cost over 350 million, and the company doesn't have that much money,"

Michael Burns said, scratching his head.

Michael Burns, 45 years old this year, graduated from Harvard University with a major in Political Science. After graduation, he worked in the city hall of a small town in Utah for a few years before finding the job unfulfilling and resigning to switch careers.

In 1999, he joined the newly established Lionsgate Films, working his way up from middle management to the executive level to become one of Lionsgate's vice presidents, responsible for the company's development planning and business strategy. He was considered one of Lionsgate's old guard.

His work capability was quite good. He was involved with Lionsgate's IPO and also participated in acquisitions of companies like Artisan Entertainment, Trimark, Debmar-Mercury, TV Guide Network, and the distribution arm of MGM Studios in 2009, making him quite the acquisition enthusiast.

Under Link's leadership at Lionsgate Films, he had put forth several acquisition plans, but due to the company's current financial conditions, none were approved.