My capital is quite large.

Chapter 252 Internet Strategy

April 2014 was destined to be an eventful month for the world.

First, a United Airlines passenger plane mysteriously lost contact at an altitude of 10,000 meters, shrouded in mystery and attracting global attention.

Then, across the sea from the peninsula, came the tragic news of the sinking of the October passenger ship, shocking the world.

Amidst these successive major international events, the hustle and bustle and sorrow of the world are amplified infinitely on the internet, becoming poignant memories of our time.

Compared to the unpredictable situation outside, the domestic internet and e-sports circles, although also experiencing undercurrents, are generally relatively stable.

During this rare period of stability, Haofeng Group did not cause any major disturbances.

The only recent move by the gaming department was to take advantage of the situation to promote the newly established EDG club.

This newly formed team, founded by Clearlove and his teammate Curly, after leaving their former team WE, was burdened with the stigma of "defection" from the moment it was born.

However, within the traffic logic of mobile esports and LPL, this controversial and fated showdown is precisely the kind of traffic nourishment that platforms love most.

At the same time, another team that Haofeng was secretly promoting, Royal Club, officially announced the introduction of two strong Korean players, Insec and Zero, thus kicking off the "era of Korean players" in the LPL.

The confrontation and integration between multinational forces make the upcoming S4 season full of unknown highlights.

Amidst this turbulent external situation, Li Feng surprisingly restrained his usual carefree attitude.

For most of April, he maintained a near-perfect attendance record, traveling daily between the group headquarters and the investment and M&A department to personally oversee operations.

The reason is simple: the acquisition of ATL's battery plant, a subsidiary of Japan's TDK, has reached its most critical final stage.

This massive transaction, estimated at 35 billion RMB, is related to the core hardware ecosystem of Xiaomi phones and Huaxin Semiconductor, and he cannot afford to be careless in the slightest.

During the months-long tug-of-war, Haofeng's team, through the manipulation of the core Chinese team, the pressure of the performance-based agreement, and the operation of the Cayman shell company, has already secured most of the core technologies and patents.

In fact, CFO Gao Huai had raised this question at an internal executive meeting:

"Mr. Li, now that we have the core technology, if we just take the team and rebuild a factory in Xuzhou, we can save at least 10 billion yuan."

Li Feng simply shook his head. "You can't look at it that way. What we want is not only its technology, but also its irreplaceable global market share and brand effect in the consumer lithium battery field."

Moreover, ATL's annual report data from last year is right on Li Feng's desk—annual net profit of 7.6 billion RMB!

A super golden rooster that generates over seven billion in profit annually can be bought for over three billion US dollars, and the investment can be fully recouped in five years at most. From a business perspective, this is definitely a worthwhile deal.

During this month-long intensive observation period, witnessing firsthand how teams manipulate various tactics such as splitting, sowing discord, and betting in business negotiations, Li Feng gained a deeper understanding of the bloodless filth of the capital world.

This also caused his ambition to begin to spread into a deeper and darker abyss.

If a mere 30 billion can split up and divest a global battery giant, then in the future, after he has sold off his remaining shares in Nvidia and has a massive cash flow, could he stage an even bigger "snake swallowing an elephant" in East Asia?

Due to ideological tensions and the escalation of future geopolitical tensions, Western capital faces the enormous risk of its assets being frozen and forcibly seized.

But Japan and South Korea are different. They are so close to Tokyo University that they have an inseparable economic and geopolitical bond.

Li Feng didn't believe that when the situation became tense, his two neighbors would actually dare to confiscate the assets of this Chinese capital tycoon.

With these plans for the future empire in mind, April quietly drew to a close amidst the busyness.

On April 23, Li Feng finally took a day off and quietly flew back to Hong Kong on a private jet.

Today is the first birthday of his second daughter, Li Yuxin.

Inside the duplex mansion with garden on the ground floor of Aoxuan, a long-lost warmth and tranquility have been restored, temporarily isolating those cold numbers and dirty capital games from the night of Victoria Harbour.

......

A few days later, Haofeng Group and Tencent Video jointly made an official announcement.

Haofeng has transferred the exclusive online streaming rights of its only two remaining Korean dramas, "My Love from the Star" and "The Heirs," to Tencent Video for a record-breaking price of over 200 million RMB.

Two TV series, 200 million yuan – that’s the terrifying power of internet marketing.

It is said that Sohu Video offered 150 million yuan in the first round of bidding, thinking it was a sure thing, but unexpectedly it was eliminated in the first round.

For Tencent, which urgently needs to drive traffic to WeChat Pay and its mobile ecosystem, this premium is not an obstacle in the eyes of the decision-makers.

Times have indeed changed; the rate at which online broadcasting rights are being sold at incomprehensible prices has reached an astonishing level.

Before 2013, the packaged online rights to a domestic film or television drama usually cost only a few hundred thousand to a million yuan. Now, the price of a single episode has started to jump to millions of yuan.

Not long ago, the exclusive broadcasting rights for "The Empress of China," starring Fan Bingbing, were sold to Tencent. The price per episode was driven up to a staggering five million yuan, and the total price for the entire series was close to two hundred million yuan!

This almost insane, unbridled growth has shocked countless investors and directors in the industry, who can't help but sincerely admire Li Feng's far-sighted vision in his early years.

Back when online streaming rights were a copyright wasteland where a single video could cost a few million and be given away for free, the owner of Haofeng persevered despite the financial pressure of the company's early stages and spent over 300 million yuan to acquire all the high-quality copyrights available on the market.

In retrospect, this was no simple business investment; it was buying up the lifeline of the streaming industry for years to come at a bargain price!

However, the soaring copyright fees have also brought about an unavoidable side effect.

Actors' salaries have skyrocketed, practically soaring to the heavens.

With seemingly endless cash reserves, major internet companies have begun a vicious price war over actor salaries in their quest for traffic and exclusive broadcasting rights.

A second-tier actor with even a little bit of fame can easily ask for tens of millions in salary these days.

Under this distorted lure of fame and fortune, the ecosystem of traditional film and television production giants has become completely unbalanced.

Established giants like Huayi Brothers are experiencing a significant loss of their top artists.

Celebrities with even a little fame and a solid fan base in the industry are all seeking to leave and establish their own independent studios, attempting to seize all the profits for themselves.

The entire industry was plunged into a period of turmoil with frequent contract terminations and job hopping.

Amidst this industry-wide wave of contract terminations and solo ventures, Haofeng Film & Television remains remarkably calm.

Among the more than ten top celebrities and popular actresses under its management, none of them dared to, nor did any of them even entertain such thoughts.

On the one hand, it is naturally because the formidable barrier of liquidated damages hanging over Haofeng's legal department has a very strong deterrent effect.

But the more fundamental reason lies in the treatment Haofeng offered.

With a top-tier contract that splits profits 50/50, plus the company's allocation of resources for all its self-developed dramas and top-tier promotional campaigns, the treatment is no different from running your own studio.

Not only do artists get the lion's share of the profits, but they are also spared the trouble of finding investors, navigating cinema chains, and being exploited by various capital groups.

Backed by Haofeng Group, an invincible powerhouse in the fields of social media, e-sports, streaming media, and semiconductors, who, unless they are a complete idiot, would give up a comfortable and stable life to become a struggling individual business owner?