Chapter 1548 The Decision

"Although I don't quite understand the specifics, are you really sure we can acquire Marvel?"

Xue Yuanfang looked at Zhao Fusheng with a serious expression.

He had to be cautious. Although it was because of Zhou Bing's matter that Zhou Jianmin had taken the initiative to approach him for a meeting with Zhao Fusheng, he was still the intermediary. If not for his reputation, Zhao Fusheng would not have appeared here with Zhou Jianmin.

And now, Zhou Jianmin was betting his entire fortune to cooperate with Zhao Fusheng. If anything went wrong, Xue Yuanfang's reputation would likely be ruined.

Xue Yuanfang could not pretend nothing was wrong, so he had to ask this question clearly on behalf of Zhou Jianmin.

"Acquisition is just one step."

Zhao Fusheng smiled. Since Zhou Jianmin had shown his sincerity, he naturally had to provide a corresponding explanation.

He had always been like this: if others were candid with him, he would reciprocate.

"Of course."

Zhao Fusheng laughed. "To be honest, do you really think a Chinese conglomerate, after acquiring Marvel, could produce superhero movies and develop them well in the United States?"

Zhou Jianmin and Xue Yuanfang did not understand the film industry, but they knew that what Zhao Fusheng described was too absurd.

Not to mention the xenophobic sentiment in mainstream American society, just in terms of influence, they had to admit that Zhao Fusheng's words made sense.

"Then what do you mean...?" Xue Yuanfang asked Zhao Fusheng in confusion.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled. "Simple: we acquire Marvel shares and become shareholders."

"Shareholders?"

The two looked at each other, somewhat surprised, and stared at Zhao Fusheng.

Clearly, they did not fully understand his words.

"My plan is to acquire about forty percent of Marvel's shares and become the major shareholder," Zhao Fusheng said slowly. "Then cooperate with Disney to recoup the investment as soon as possible."

From start to finish, he had never considered a full acquisition of Marvel's shares.

As he explained to Xue Yuanfang and Zhou Jianmin, sometimes acquiring a company does not guarantee profits like others. It is like the same project developing completely differently in different hands—there is no way around it.

"Alright, since you have a plan, I'll support it a bit too," Xue Yuanfang said after thinking for a moment. "But I don't have much money, as you know."

He was indeed limited in resources. His participation was largely because he felt that joining would at least be responsible to Zhou Jianmin.

Zhao Fusheng understood this and nodded with a smile. "Good, I'll give you a chance to make money."

He was telling the truth. Disney's acquisition of Marvel was inevitable, as proven by their acquisition of Steve Jobs' Pixar.

In the original timeline, Disney acquired Marvel in 2009 for four billion US dollars.

But there was a precondition.

In 2007, Marvel, on the verge of bankruptcy from selling superhero copyrights, made a bold decision: they would produce their own movies.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, Marvel likely made that decision because they had sold off most of their superhero copyrights, and the remaining superheroes were not very popular.

Thus, they had no choice but to produce their own films.

After much deliberation, Marvel decided to make Iron Man. The film did not disappoint: produced in 2007 and released in 2008, it grossed nearly six hundred million US dollars.

This single-handedly reversed Marvel's decline, leading to Disney's massive acquisition in 2009.

What Zhao Fusheng wanted to do was become a Marvel shareholder before they emerged from their difficulties, and then take a share when Disney formally acquired the company.

"You, giving me a chance..."

Xue Yuanfang was speechless and shook his head, feeling helpless at Zhao Fusheng's words.

Zhou Jianmin also laughed. His thinking was simple: since he had made a decision, he would see it through.

With the intention to cooperate confirmed, the next steps were much simpler.

Zhao Fusheng and Zhou Jianmin discussed and decided to jointly establish an investment company specifically to acquire Marvel shares. On Zhao Fusheng's suggestion, the legal representative of this offshore company would be Xue Yuanfang.

Xue Yuanfang had no objection to this; as a shareholder of the company, it was only natural for him to serve as chairman.

He also knew that his presence was undoubtedly the link between Zhou Jianmin and Zhao Fusheng.

"Happy cooperation."

At the end of the meal, Zhao Fusheng shook hands with Zhou Jianmin in farewell.

Zhou Jianmin smiled. "Hope everything goes smoothly."

Both were smart people and naturally knew what the other wanted.

...

...

On the way back, Zhao Fusheng instructed Wu Sijie, "Now you can start collecting information on Marvel."

Wu Sijie nodded, hesitated, and asked Zhao Fusheng, "Chairman, do you really have faith in the American animation market?"

He was genuinely surprised that Zhao Fusheng had such a plan in mind.

Zhao Fusheng smiled. "You don't understand. Although our domestic comic market is small, the global comic market is actually very large."

This was true. Apart from Zhao Fusheng, no one knew that with economic development, Marvel would become a highly profitable company in the future.

"Alright."

Wu Sijie nodded and said no more.

He was merely curious; he had no right to question Zhao Fusheng's decisions.

After all, Zhao Fusheng was the true master of the Future Group.

Sitting in the car, Zhao Fusheng silently calculated in his mind.

Zhou Jianmin said he could contribute three hundred million US dollars. Zhao Fusheng could also mobilize some funds, plus the capital from Future Group headquarters and Future Investments. In total, his available funds would be nearly one billion US dollars.

This amount seemed substantial, but if used to acquire Marvel shares, it still seemed insufficient.

"Short of money!"

Zhao Fusheng muttered to himself inwardly.

He knew well that what he lacked most now was capital.

Good projects were there, investments would yield returns, but the prerequisite was having enough funds to invest.

He had never understood why the ultra-wealthy always complained about lacking money, but now it seemed to be true.

Money: the more you need it, the more you find it insufficient.

...

...

Zhao Fusheng did not go home but went directly to the hospital.

Fan Baobao was about to give birth, so he planned to stay at the hospital for now.

"All done?" Fan Baobao asked casually when she saw Zhao Fusheng return.

Zhao Fusheng nodded. "Just met and chatted a bit."

He did not tell Fan Baobao about the Marvel acquisition, as the plan had not yet been implemented and there was no point.

Moreover, Fan Baobao was about to give birth, and Zhao Fusheng did not want her to worry too much.

"You know, I heard you had Zheng Yao blacklist Zhou Bing."

Fan Baobao shot Zhao Fusheng a glance and snorted.

Zhao Fusheng smiled helplessly. "Zhou Yun told you, right?"

The people around him would not gossip about this to Fan Baobao; it was most likely Zhou Yun who told her.

"Never mind who told me."

Fan Baobao said to Zhao Fusheng, "Better to end a feud than to keep it going. Just give her a proper lesson and let it go, okay?"

For some reason, since becoming pregnant, her heart had grown softer.

Zhao Fusheng nodded. "Don't worry, I know what to do."

He paused, looked at Fan Baobao's belly, and asked, "How do you feel today? Any contractions?"

Fan Baobao shook her head. "No, I don't feel anything yet."

After a moment, she said pitifully, "How about we go home?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled, looking at his wife helplessly. "Just stay a few more days; the baby will be born soon."

Fan Baobao nodded helplessly, sighed, and had to pull Zhao Fusheng to watch TV dramas with her.