Chapter 245: Sony’s President

Life went by in a mundane manner, but Xiao Ran didn’t have that luck—he was constantly busy with various tasks. The only good thing was that his judgment had improved; he could accurately predict whether a movie would be a hit or not, with an accuracy of over 90%.

Don’t think that having a good script and a talented cast guarantees success. A single oversight by the director can easily ruin a movie. The most typical example is Eason Chan’s “The Big Event,” which had potential to become a realistic action film, but its poor ending led to its obscurity.

Xiao Ran’s new film hadn’t been released yet—not because he didn’t want to, but because the art houses couldn’t schedule it. Hong Kong sees many artistic, experimental, and independent films each year, all of which are shown in these few theaters, making it difficult to secure slots.

But don’t worry—he wasn’t idle. Sony finally couldn’t resist its interest in karaoke, which is an important part of their entertainment empire. After learning that Xiao Ran needed to stay in Hong Kong to be with his child, Akio Morita decided to come to Hong Kong in person to negotiate with him.

Wei Dongling went to pick up this old man, who was struggling under internal pressure. Hong Kong’s media quickly responded, holding interviews at the airport. Akio Morita clearly enjoyed interacting with the media. Under Wei Dongling’s indifferent observation, his skillful tactics in dealing with the media were indeed worth learning.

“Mr. Morita, there are rumors that Phantom Group is trying to acquire Columbia from Sony. Is this your visit to Hong Kong to discuss this deal?” asked a reporter from Asia Weekly, reaching out with the microphone.

Akio Morita smiled, muttered something, and then the translator clearly conveyed his words to the reporter: “Actually, you can ask Mr. Wei about this. He’s one of the key figures in these rumors; he can give you a more detailed answer!”

Facing the extended microphone, Wei Dongling inwardly cursed him as a old fox but smiled and said, “Phantom has indeed considered acquiring Columbia. But we’re interested in acquiring many other companies as well. Clearly, many things can’t be done just by wanting them. What do you think, Mr. Morita?”

Akio Morita was slightly surprised. Seeing Wei Dongling’s youth, he thought the young man might be stumped. But Wei Dongling skillfully deflected the question and subtly pointed the blame back at him. Another reporter from Asia Weekly asked, “With so many major acquisitions in recent years, might Phantom face a shortage of funds or expand too quickly?”

Wei Dongling shook his finger slightly to indicate disagreement before smiling and saying, “If you had plenty of extra money, what would you do with it? I doubt you’d keep it in the bank. The issue of expanding too quickly doesn’t exist at all; we have enough strength to restructure ourselves.”

“Then, Mr. Morita, if you’re not here for Columbia, what’s the purpose of your visit?” asked another reporter. “Columbia has been losing money for years. Haven’t you considered restructuring it?”

“I’m mainly here for some cooperation matters…” His wound was touched, and Morita’s expression immediately darkened. If not for his excellent composure, he might have exploded on the spot.
The next day, Xiao Ran engaged in tough negotiations with this old man, with Wei Dongling barely participating. Don’t think they’re stupid—as soon as Morita arrived, Wei Dongling quietly flew to Japan to discuss acquiring Global with Panasonic, aiming to put pressure on both sides.
On the spacious balcony of Phantom Company, as soon as Akio Morita stepped onto the carpet, he praised, “This place truly broadens one’s mind. Negotiating here might be a pleasant experience!”
“Just maybe, isn’t that right?” Xiao Ran said meaningfully to the old man, who was so old even the King of Hell wouldn’t like him. When they reached the negotiation table, Akio Morita was stunned—there was only one table and two chairs in front of him, meaning no one else had a seat.
“I’m sorry. You know, Phantom has spent a lot of money on acquisitions, so we have to cut administrative expenses. Please sit!” Xiao Ran smiled and gestured, sitting down first.
It was outright lying—Phantom couldn’t be so poor as to cut administrative expenses! Akio Morita glanced at the four awkward negotiation assistants around him and then at Xiao Ran’s back, where there was only a smiling female secretary. With no choice, he had to swallow his frustration.
“Enough nonsense. We can start the negotiations!” Annoyed by Xiao Ran’s deliberate actions, Morita spoke bluntly, “First, I’d like to tell Chairman Xiao the value of Colombia…”
“Wait…” Xiao Ran took the phone from his new secretary. An Yuxuan had married that guy Ge Wenqiu and was now living comfortably in the U.S. The new secretary was Huang Ling, tall and highly competent. Xiao Ran apologized with a nod and spoke a few words into the phone.
Akio Morita grew even angrier. This was clearly intentional on Xiao Ran’s part. Thinking it might be a trick to provoke him, he quickly calmed himself down. But Xiao Ran hadn’t intended that—his earlier move was just to intimidate him. Now, it was Lin Qingxia calling, saying Xiao Ling was crying.
After comforting his wife, Xiao Ran smiled and said, “I’m sorry. It was my wife. You know, being a father isn’t easy. By the way, were you talking about the value of Colombia? Ah Ling…”
Huang Ling, with her strong-woman demeanor, took out some documents and read, “During Sony’s nearly four years in control of Colombia, it lost a total of 2.9 billion dollars, and the losses continue to this day! The American company Anya offered Sony 3.6 billion dollars, while top American accountants estimate Sony’s current market value at 3.2 billion dollars.”
Akio Morita showed no surprise. If Phantom couldn’t even get such information and still dared to negotiate, it would have gone bankrupt long ago—there’s no way it could talk about negotiations here. Xiao Ran gently stroked his beard and asked with a smile, “Mr. Morita, do you still think it’s necessary to discuss the value of Colombia with me?”

“No, that’s the wrong figure!” Akio Morita spoke with firmness. In Xiao Ran’s malicious imagination, if this old man were taken to the balcony and made to look down, he might be scared to death. “The $2.9 billion in losses belongs to Sony, not Columbia. Moreover, we haven’t even considered Anya Company’s bid at all!”
Sure enough, he has a plan, Xiao Ran thought secretly. This old man is smart enough not to deny these figures but instead focuses on minor details to argue that Columbia’s value is definitely more than that. With a smirk, he said, “Since Mr. Morita says it’s Sony’s loss, I suddenly remember that in that case, we don’t need to pay for Sony, right? I plan to reduce the bid by $200 million. What do you think?”
The reason Columbia can still offer a bid of over $3 billion after years of losses is simply because it’s an established company. Established companies always have certain advantages over newer players, especially in the film industry. Just think of MGM, which was on the verge of bankruptcy in the 1980s but still managed to hold on.
Morita was shocked and immediately retorted, “President Xiao, please don’t forget that it was you who took the initiative to propose an acquisition to us. It’s you who needs Columbia, not me. I think you know this better than I do!”
Morita’s way of addressing Xiao Ran also had a reason. Xiao Ran was currently the chairman of Hutchison and Power Company, so those who knew him called him Brother Ran or President Xiao regardless of age. In formal occasions like this, he was naturally addressed as President Xiao!
“Is that so?” Xiao Ran’s smile suddenly vanished, replaced by a cold expression. “I heard that Mr. Morita isn’t doing well at Sony and is currently facing threats of being removed from his position. I think if you don’t make some decisions soon, it’s likely…”
At the mention of this, Morita became angry. Those on Sony’s board of directors didn’t even consider how much money he had earned for Sony, yet now they wanted to get rid of him. But before Xiao Ran could finish speaking, Morita’s expression changed again as he leisurely crossed his legs. “Moreover, I heard that in the past year or two, Sony’s directors have been very dissatisfied with Columbia, this money-losing project, and want to get rid of it as soon as possible!”
Akio Morita’s face suddenly changed. In fact, the directors’ attempts to remove him from his position weren’t unexpected. The strategies he had implemented for Sony over the years had contained certain mistakes, resulting in significant losses in the electronics industry.
And Columbia, this money-losing project, had become the perfect evidence for the directors to attack him. After all, due to his wrong decisions, Sony had become a notable case in American business—not because of any miracles, but because it had suffered the largest loss by a Japanese company in the U.S. in Columbia.
Nearly $3 billion! In today’s business world where companies expand by reinvesting profits, no one can afford such huge losses. If it weren’t for Sony’s strong foundation, it might even have gone bankrupt as a result. Not to mention Sony—even Phantom Flag, which values cash reserves the most, doesn’t have that much cash.

“President Xiao, you’re wrong again. You know how crucial Colombia is to Sony’s entertainment empire—its value to Sony is immeasurable.” Akio Morita was truly calm and composed, truly a veteran in business: “And the fact that I’m sitting here negotiating with you now is already a huge concession on my part!”
Huang Ling couldn’t stop sneering. As a part-time translator, she certainly understood what Morita had said. She thought the old man was incredibly bold to talk about an “entertainment empire” in front of President Xiao, when he hadn’t even claimed such a title despite controlling so many media outlets, television stations, and the film industry.
Xiao Ran, of course, didn’t care about such literal interpretations. If Morita wanted to boost his own image, he could go ahead and do so. He knew well that Morita was absolutely unwilling to sell Colombia. Without pressure from the board of directors, he wouldn’t have even come to discuss the deal.
Over the past year or two, under Morita’s leadership, Sony had developed many unprofitable businesses. Selling Colombia would allow them to raise cash to address financial difficulties and get rid of this troublesome asset—surely a win-win situation.
But Xiao Ran didn’t know what kind of pressure the Sony board had exerted on Morita. If it was enough, the acquisition wouldn’t be a problem—only the price was in dispute. However, he thought Morita probably hadn’t given in. Otherwise, if he were willing to sell, the board wouldn’t have rushed to force him out. Historically, Morita stepped down at the end of this year, replaced by Shinji Ito.
So, Xiao Ran had little hope for this deal. Anyway, negotiations with Panasonic were already pretty advanced. If nothing went wrong, acquiring Universal for around $6 billion at its original price was almost certain. After all, seeing Sony, his classmate, investing so heavily in Colombia, Panasonic must also be worried.
The only dispute with Panasonic was over karaoke. Initially, Panasonic had demanded that Mirage acquire all of karaoke’s shares plus cash, but now they had softened their stance significantly. Honestly, Xiao Ran wasn’t planning to give up karaoke’s shares to Panasonic. Otherwise, if Sony and Panasonic joined forces, they could gain control.
“President Xiao, since we can’t reach an agreement on Colombia, how about we discuss DVD-related technologies instead?” Morita really didn’t want to talk about Colombia. His main goal here was to get that damned karaoke business. He secretly cursed why this Chinese man had rushed to file for patents and register it worldwide first.
With this shift in topic, Xiao Ran realized Morita’s true goal. Though slightly disappointed, he still smiled: “Alright, but I’ve changed my mind. I want to acquire it with cash—no need for karaoke’s shares!”
Morita was so angry he almost slammed the table. Wei Dongling’s negotiator had already almost reached an agreement to exchange shares, with only the price still in dispute—hence the lack of a contract. And now Xiao Ran had backed out? Was this treating him like a fool?

We can fully understand why Morita is so angry—being an older person still facing the risk of attacks and unemployment, and now Xiao’s sudden change of mind has left a crucial gap in his global strategy, which is entirely understandable.
At that moment, Morita’s expression darkened: “Chairman Xiao, we had agreed earlier to exchange it for 30% of the shares. Why are you going back on your word now? Are Chinese people always like this?”