Chapter 132: Shareholders of the New Company

When Su Bai saw that there was a highly capable-looking beauty standing beside him, Zhou Yanran was visibly stunned for a moment.

However, she quickly regained her composure and said to Su Bai with a smile, "Su Bai, is this your newly hired manager? She looks very professional!"

Hearing Zhou Yanran refer to her as Su Bai's manager, Wang Lin did not take offense. Instead, she took the initiative to greet Zhou Yanran: "Hello, I am Wang Lin from Tengfei Entertainment."

Tengfei Entertainment? Zhou Yanran’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing the name. What was the Tengfei Group doing getting involved here? Suddenly, she recalled the cooperation authorization Su Bai had signed with "Battle of Kings," a game under the Tengfei Group, and everything clicked into place. She couldn't help but feel a pang of annoyance. She should have seen this coming.

"Hello, I am Zhou Yanran from Xingyue Media. I apologize; I thought just now that..."

Wang Lin smiled and replied, "No worries."

The atmosphere turned awkward for a moment. Su Bai quickly stepped in to clarify: "Since you two have met, I won’t beat around the bush. I called you both here today to discuss the details of the new company you want to establish."

Su Bai called Song Liang: "Brother Song, please bring over the drafted agreements."

The moment Song Liang entered the room and saw Zhou Yanran and Wang Lin, he paused noticeably, but both sides then acted as if nothing had happened. Song Liang handed a copy of the pre-drafted agreement to both Zhou Yanran and Wang Lin.

Su Bai outlined his vision: "You have both seen the agreement. My idea is that the new company will have four shareholders: myself, Tiancheng Entertainment, Tengfei Group, and Xingyue Media."

"I believe my current commercial value is well beyond 300 million a year, isn't it?"

"My proposal is that Xingyue Media, Tengfei Entertainment, and Tiancheng Entertainment jointly contribute 300 million as my signing fee. This 300 million is to be paid to me personally."

"The contract is valid for one year, and we will renegotiate based on my market value for the second year."

"Because I am transferring from Tiancheng Entertainment to the new company, the new company needs to pay Tiancheng Entertainment a 100 million breach-of-contract fee."

"Additionally, the initial startup capital for the new company is tentatively set at 100 million. These 200 million will be shared equally among the four shareholders."

Those present basically understood Su Bai's meaning. Su Bai would personally take 300 million, which would be covered by the three shareholders other than himself. Then, the four shareholders would provide 200 million to the new company, and the company would pay back 100 million to Tiancheng Entertainment.

In short, Tiancheng Entertainment would contribute 50 million, while Tengfei Entertainment and Xingyue Media would each contribute 150 million. Su Bai would walk away with 250 million, and the company would keep 100 million in its accounts.

Each of the four parties would hold a 25% stake. Ultimately, Su Bai would still be the major shareholder because he also held half the shares of Tiancheng Entertainment.

As Zhou Yanran looked at the contract, she sneered internally. This was daylight robbery! 150 million for only a 25% stake? That meant this company, which hadn't even been established yet, was already valued at 600 million just because it was signing Su Bai.

It was an outrageous demand!

"Su Bai, this..."

Before Zhou Yanran could finish, Wang Lin cut her off.

"I agree!"

"Oh, Ms. Zhou, I’m sorry, what were you about to say? Do you feel the financial pressure is too high? Don't worry, if you have a funding gap, our Tengfei Entertainment can be of service!"

Zhou Yanran wanted to curse. Don't you know how to bargain in business? You just agreed to it like that? She suspected Wang Lin was either burning money for no reason or just trying to show off how wealthy she was.

In reality, Tengfei Entertainment was indeed wealthy, but that wasn't why Wang Lin was so decisive. Wang Lin was certain because she had clearly seen Su Bai's terrifying ability to generate revenue. Just by licensing the song "The Lonely Warrior" to "Battle of Kings," they had seen an increase in performance of over 200 million in just one month, and that growth was still climbing. Wang Lin couldn't even imagine what kind of massive profit growth Su Bai could bring to "Battle of Kings." And that was just for a game—not even a full endorsement, just a song license.

In Wang Lin's view, paying 150 million for a 25% stake in a company that signed Su Bai was not a high price at all. The Tengfei Group didn't know how many investments of this scale they made every year. Furthermore, investing in Su Bai wouldn't be a loss, and even if it were, Tengfei could afford it. Wang Lin knew that if she let Zhou Yanran bargain, Tengfei might end up paying less, but she didn't want to do that. She didn't want to leave a bad impression on Su Bai for the sake of saving a few tens of millions, as the Tengfei Group would need Su Bai's support for many future activities. The difference in results between Su Bai acting with genuine effort versus just going through the motions was worth far more than those few tens of millions. It would be counterproductive to save money now at the expense of a favor.

Xingyue Media, however, was different. In recent years, their performance had been declining year after year. The available funds in the company's account were truly limited. While it wasn't exactly "stretching the budget" to pull out 150 million, it was definitely under pressure. But now that Wang Lin had spoken, it blocked any further objection from Zhou Yanran.

Zhou Yanran forced a smile. "Haha, no, there's no financial pressure! Xingyue Media has no problem with it!"

"But Su Bai, are you only signing for one year? Usually, companies sign artists for 5–8 years. First, second, or third-tier stars might sign for less, maybe 3 years. Isn't one year a bit..."

Hearing Zhou Yanran's words, Su Bai and Song Liang looked up simultaneously, exchanged a glance, and turned their collective attention to her.

"Oh? Ms. Zhou, what do you think? How many years should I sign for?"

Su Bai stared at her with a smile. He had hoped this issue wouldn't come up, but he hadn't expected Zhou Yanran to bring it up after all. Did she really intend to use a contract to bind him?

Wang Lin also seemed to notice the shift in atmosphere between Su Bai and Song Liang and watched Zhou Yanran with interest. It seemed there was some history here.

Seeing everyone's focus shift to her, Zhou Yanran quickly laughed and explained, "No, why are you all staring at me like that? I was just mentioning industry standards. Director Song, you should know about this!"

"Don't newcomers usually sign for 5–8 years? Those with some fame sign for 2–3 years! Almost no one signs for just one year!"

After hearing her, Song Liang said with a stiff, mirthless smile: "I really don't know much about the rules you're talking about, Ms. Zhou! If I had known these rules, I wouldn't have been kicked out."

Zhou Yanran's face dropped instantly. She looked at Song Liang with an ugly expression. "Director Song, that's in the past. It's pointless to bring it up now. If this is your attitude, then we can't work together as shareholders of the new company!"

Song Liang wanted to say more, but Su Bai waved his hand.

"Alright, alright, that's enough! The contract duration will be one year. If there are no objections, let's sit down and discuss the name of the new company!"