章節 630: Chapter 630
"Are you satisfied now?" Early in the morning, Anne Hathaway woke up cuddled with Charles, just in time to see Emily Blunt waking up on the other side. She playfully pinched Charles.
Charles smiled, "It's pretty good!"
"We really are too good to you," Emily Blunt teased.
"I'm your man. Isn't it natural to be good to me?" Charles said as he sat up.
"In a few days, I need to go to China for the groundbreaking ceremony of Shanghai Universal Studios Resort!"
"Right now, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Osaka Universal Studios are all being renovated, and now there's the new Shanghai Universal Studios. Charles, your ambition is really big!" Anne Hathaway smiled. Since she was planning to have a child with Charles, she became more and more interested in Capet Universal's business.
"Of course, becoming number one in the world is not that simple," Charles said as he got out of bed.
"Capet Universal is expected to launch its IPO plan next year. I'll start offering shares internally at that time. Currently, you should prepare some cash yourselves. My company is sure to be profitable!" Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt both nodded, "Got it. But for now, we're doing well with Dona Williams' AC Capital!"
Vanguard, BlackRock Fund, State Street Group, Fidelity Fund, BNP Paribas, Bank of America, and so on were all shareholders of Capet Universal.
Investors were waiting for Charles' Capet Universal to go public. With Capet Universal's current strong presence in Hollywood, becoming the top media stock was a sure thing.
NBC TV, Universal Pictures, Netflix streaming, and Universal Studios Resort, along with consumer products, Capet Records, and other businesses, were all booming.
Capet surely needed to go public. The Universal Studios Resort project was costly, and Charles was expanding NBC Group significantly. Next, Netflix was going to start producing its own series, all of which required substantial funds!
...
On California's Central Coast, at Evelyn's ranch in San Luis Obispo, Charles picked up Britney Spears, who had just returned from New York.
"Isn't it too soon for my belly to show?" Britney laughed. It would at least be apparent by the New Year.
"It doesn't matter. The scenery here is great, and it's very quiet. Staying here isn't bad," Charles said, touching Britney Spears' belly.
"How about it? Do you feel anything?" Britney asked.
Charles nodded, "A little. It will become more obvious later on."
"By the way, I want to visit the big ranch in Colorado. Will you come with me?" Britney Spears requested.
"Capet Ranch in Colorado? It's really cold there. Are you sure you want to go?" Charles looked at Britney somewhat puzzled.
Britney Spears wrapped her arms around Charles' neck and kissed him. "I want to see the big snow. Let's go there for Christmas next month. Do you remember the first time we went there? Outside was heavy with snow, inside there was thick carpet and a warm fireplace. We didn't wear any clothes by the window..."
"Stop, alright, alright," Charles interrupted Britney's memories. She was talking about their moments on the bedroom floor, on the couch, by the fireplace.
"You are pregnant now, don't think about such things," Charles reminded her. "Right, and you shouldn't worry about your album either. Continue after the baby is born next year."
Britney Spears smiled, "Actually, it's almost ready. But, I'll listen to you. After next year, I'll release it. I also want to hold concerts. I hear Michael Jackson's world tour is starting soon. That's great!"
"Michael Jackson..." Charles thought he had given Jackson a second chance at life. The film The Hunt, released this year, was basically about him, and it swept various awards at independent film festivals.
"Now that the record industry is in a slump, it's a good thing that our company's artists are doing well!"
Britney Spears didn't really care about such things initially, but after being with Charles, she began to care about the company.
"EMI seems to be in serious trouble," Charles leaned back on the sofa, touching his chin.
In 2007, EMI was acquired by the British private equity fund Terra Firma.
Now, Terra Firma seemed to be considering selling EMI!
"I've heard that Warner, Sony, and Universal are all interested," Britney chuckled.
Originally one of the Big Four record labels, if EMI was divided up, there would only be three major labels left. Given Capet Records' strong current performance, it could be the fourth major label.
However, there was still a significant gap compared to the Big Three. Capet Records' catalog was too poor, having only acquired a few independent labels.
"I heard that Universal Music wants to merge with Capet Records. Charles, do you agree with that?"
"Considered it," Charles had planned to use Capet Records as a bargaining chip when he acquired the 20% of NBC Universal from Vivendi.
Unfortunately, with the record industry in decline, Vivendi was not optimistic about Universal Music's expansion plans, so it went nowhere!
But with Capet Records doing well now, it was undoubtedly valuable. However, Charles didn't want to go too deep into the record business.
Capet Records was now entirely tied to Spotify, betting on the future of streaming music.
Still, Charles wasn't opposed to Universal Music merging with Capet Records. It just depended on what Universal Music could offer.
Now, Capet Records had the entire Capet Universal group behind it, so there was nothing to worry about. When Charles needed to streamline the business later on, Capet Records, Pacific Theatres, and the Huffington Post could all be spun off.
"Let's keep an eye on EMI for now. Capet Universal is already one of the leading media conglomerates in the world," Charles smiled. Merging with another record label group was unlikely; however, having Capet Records merge with other labels seemed reasonable!
"Fine. I don't understand these things anyway," Britney said as she snuggled closer to Charles. "It's been three months. We should be good now, right?"
"Just take it easy, it should be fine."
Charles sighed, "Are you really interested?"
Britney Spears nodded, "Not sure why, but the feeling is intense. Maybe it's a pregnancy thing."
"Alright, but still be careful," Charles didn't want to disappoint Britney. The doctor had said it was okay anyway.
"Hmm..."
*****
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