Chapter 433: Post-Wolverine era?

David Stern is very troubled about celebrating Zhongqiu.

The Knicks are too strong, so strong that the league has lost its balance, which is not conducive to the development of the league.

However, once the Wolverine is lost, the NBA will also lose its brand and huge global influence, which is not conducive to the development of the league.

If there is a way to have the best of both worlds, it is to form a super team to defeat the Knicks and destroy the Knicks’ five consecutive championships.

However, that is not what he wants to do. He does not want to interfere in the formation of the team. He only hopes to influence the balanced development of the league at a macro level.

Wolverine has wanted to retire for a long time, and he has been thinking about this issue for a long time, but has never been able to have the best of both worlds.

On the evening of the 8th, he called He Zhongqiu and asked him to have lunch with him the next day. He Zhongqiu also wanted to talk to the president of the alliance, so he agreed.

The next day at noon, the two met in a high-end restaurant.

Looking at He Zhongqiu, David Stern was very moved.

In just five years, this young man has created assets worth more than 20 billion US dollars, comparable to the entire NBA league, and has a wide influence around the world.

“Wolverine, are you sure?” he asked seriously.

“Yes, Mr. Stern, if we continue to win championships, the NBA will lose its appeal to me and will no longer be challenging,” said He Zhongqiu.

He is not being pretentious. Now that he is worth more than 20 billion US dollars, many things have completely different meanings to him than before.

If the NBA loses its challenge, then he will no longer waste his time and life. Now he hopes to use his time on more meaningful things.

For example, in track and field, if one day he reaches an invincible level in short-distance running and long jump, he will choose to leave.

“What a pity!” David Stern said with great regret.

“Mr. Stern…” He Zhongqiu said.

“Just call me David,” said David Stern.

“OK, David, actually I don’t think it’s a pity for me to leave.” He Zhongqiu said.

“Oh, why? You should know that once you leave, the attention to the NBA will drop significantly, and so will the ratings,” Stern said.

He Zhongqiu explained: “But I will leave one day, just like Michael Jordan.”

David Stern thought about it and nodded.

When Michael Jordan retired for the first time, it had a huge negative impact on the league, but the league managed to survive. I hope it will be the same this time.

After Jordan, there was Vince Carter and the four great shooting guards. But now, once Wolverine retires, who can take over in the post-Wolverine era?
Thinking of this, the image of LeBron James immediately appeared in his mind.

Thinking of that talented young man with such inspiring experiences, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The two talked for nearly an hour before ending their lunch.

David Stern does not want He Zhongqiu to lose contact with the NBA after his retirement, and promised to help He Zhongqiu acquire a team. If there is no suitable one, he is even willing to introduce a new team.

This treatment is better than Michael Jordan. After leaving the Wizards, Jordan has not had the opportunity to purchase shares in an NBA team and is still waiting for an opportunity.

He Zhongqiu discussed with the team and decided to hold a press conference at Madison Square Garden at 10 a.m. on the 10th.

The press conference attracted hundreds of media outlets and a large number of fans to Madison Square Garden.

“Crack, click, click…”

He Zhongqiu entered the No. 1 News Hall and was greeted by a sea of ​​flashing lights.

The host, Ms. Ovis, the Knicks’ public relations manager, first made a few opening remarks and then entered the question-and-answer session.

“Wolverine, I’m a reporter from the New York Times. Are you sure you want to retire after five consecutive championships?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think there is any team that can pose a threat to the Knicks in the new season? For example, the Celtics who formed the Big Three?”

“Their strength should be on the same level as the Lakers, maybe a little stronger, after all, they have three All-Stars, but I think their strength is limited.”

“You don’t think the Celtics can threaten the Knicks?”

“of course.”

“So do you think the new season is your farewell season?”

“Oh, if no team can stop me from winning five straight titles, then so be it.”

“Do you think the League will keep you? Have they already kept you?”

“I have spoken to Mr. David Stern.”

The press conference lasted for an hour and a half, after which the news immediately appeared on the Internet.

This was the first time that He Zhongqiu officially admitted that he would retire from the NBA after five consecutive championships. Once the news was reported, it was immediately forwarded by countless media.

“Celtics, Lakers, Spurs, please beat us in the new season!”

A large number of Knicks fans, as well as He Zhongqiu’s personal fans, raised money and then put up huge banners in the New York Times and Manhattan Plaza.

The New Yorkers’ behavior made fans of other NBA teams very angry, but they couldn’t respond and had to turn a deaf ear to it.

The news that He Zhongqiu might retire had a great impact.

Some media estimated that once he really retires, the NBA will lose $1 billion in revenue each year, which will lead to the reduction of tens of thousands of jobs across the United States.

Jersey sales alone will cost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and tens of thousands of jobs.

The news of his possible retirement was a particularly big blow to AND1.

AND1’s stock price fell immediately, and has dropped by nearly 1% in recent days. And this is not the time for him to retire yet. Once he really retires next year, the negative impact on AND will be even greater.

When Jordan retired for the first time, Nike’s stock price fell by 4% after the announcement. This is the influence of Jordan.

AND1 is different from Nike. Nike is developing in all aspects, while AND1 only has basketball shoes, and its brand concept is very extreme.

What’s even more fatal is that He’s Sports Company has launched its own basketball shoes. Although He Zhongqiu is not the spokesperson and they have not yet been launched in the United States, it does not mean that they have no influence.

AND1 itself does not pay much attention to non-basketball fans, and believes that people who do not understand basketball are not worthy of wearing AND1 shoes. Without the endorsement of He Zhongqiu, it would not have developed to its current scale. Once it loses He Zhongqiu as a spokesperson, the blow may be fatal.

As for Yang Xue, after returning to Yanjing, she immediately devoted herself to work.

The listing procedures of He’s Film Company, a subsidiary of He’s Media Group, have been completed and it will be listed on the A-share market in March.

Listing in Hong Kong is more convenient and faster, but as a leading private enterprise in the domestic film and television industry and the first domestic film and television stock to apply for listing, relevant parties encouraged her to list in the mainland, so she chose to list in the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

When Wang Fang went to Yang Xue to report her work, she said, “Boss Yang, Xu Jinglei and his people are making a lot of noise right now, and they’re shouting every day for us to ban them.”

Yang Xue said nonchalantly: “It is our freedom not to cooperate with them. Sister Wang, you don’t have to worry about them.”

“The company is now at the IPO stage, Mr. Yang, I’m afraid they will have a negative impact,” said Wang Fang.

“It’s okay, just some Americans. If they have the ability to prevent our company from going public, I would admire them.” Yang Xue said with a smile.

“Xue, I haven’t been home for a while. Your dad keeps nagging me…”

“When do I keep talking about it every day?”

“Okay, Mom and Dad, I’ll be back in the evening.”

On Friday, the 12th, Yang’s mother called at noon and asked her to take the children home for dinner.

When they returned to the compound in the evening, the old couple had prepared a large table of dishes.

“Can you finish all the food on this table?”

Yang Xue was shocked when she came in. There were more than ten dishes and only three adults. The whole family would not be able to finish them all.

“There are more people, they will be here soon.” Yang’s mother said with a smile.

“Who are they?” Yang Xue asked.

“Half of them are students from our academy, and some are from other academies. They know that your martial arts school has been listed in the United States and has made a fortune, so they want to come and build some connections.” Yang’s father said somewhat unhappily.

Yang’s mother said, “Some of them are your childhood friends, some are older than you, and quite a few are from the families of the superiors of your father and I. I can’t refuse, Xue, you handle it.”

Yang Xue smiled and said, “It’s okay. I deal with these things every day now, and I’m very familiar with the routine.”

Father Yang asked with some surprise: “Xue, is your martial arts school really worth two or three hundred billion?”

Yang Xue said: “Yesterday’s stock price was $14.53, and the market value reached more than $460 billion. The current exchange rate is 7.39, equivalent to 3400 billion yuan.”

“hiss!”

The old couple actually gasped.

Yang’s mother said in shock: “No wonder the newspapers and TV have been saying that Zhongqiu has become the richest man in China these days. It turns out to be true.”

“Xue, Zhongqiu gave you 5% of the shares, what about you?” she asked again.

Yang Xue said: “Yes, San Jin gave me 1.2 million shares, which are now worth 17 billion US dollars, or 125 billion RMB.”

“But these are all stocks. I can’t cash them out now. Even if I cash them out in the future, I can only get half of them back after paying US taxes.”

“That’s tens of billions. You and your two kids won’t have to worry about your life anymore.” Yang’s mother said with confidence.

“A crappy martial arts school with only a hundred branches is worth hundreds of billions. American money is not even money.” Yang’s father murmured.

Yang Xue said: “This time when the film company is going public, we are planning to list it in China. We don’t want to list it in the United States because capital controls are very strict there and it is inconvenient for funds to leave the country.”

Yang’s father nodded and said, “It would be best to keep the money in China. So why did you choose to list your martial arts school in the United States instead of in China?”

Yang Xue said: “Dad, the main reason for listing in China is that we can’t raise that much money, which is not conducive to the development of the martial arts school.”

“We have analyzed before that if we were to list domestically, even in Hong Kong, we could only raise one-third of the funds, or US$20 billion. Now we have raised US$60 billion, which is enough for future development.”

“The development goal of the He’s Martial Arts School is to open 10,000 branches around the world, but this is not possible without sufficient funds.”

“Ten thousand families?”

Yang’s father has worked in military intelligence all his life, but he was also shocked by this number.

No matter what kind of business it is, whether it makes money or not, opening 10,000 branches is extremely scary. The scale is so large that even the country has to pay great attention to it.

Yang’s mother patted Yang’s father and said, “Old man, you don’t know anything, so don’t get involved.”

“I just want to ask, what did you get involved in?” Yang’s father said.

At this time, guests came one after another. Yang Xue knew half of them. Half of them were the same age as her, and half were older than her and of the same generation as her parents.

After some dealings, it was found that, like her, these people who came here all came from the compound, but none of them entered the military for development.

Most of them are in business and want to use the relationship with the He Group to develop their business.

The rest of them have nothing to do, so they also want to use her connections to develop some relationship.

She would not offend these people easily. They all came from the same background and could be considered good friends of aristocratic families. They all had backgrounds of varying degrees and their own networks of relationships. The development of the He Group also needed these connections.

As a businessman, it was natural for her to divide these people into three groups according to their background and strength. There were those with great background or strong strength, those with average background and ability, and the rest were childhood friends. On the surface, they were all the same, but in fact, each had their own treatment.

(End of this chapter)