Ten billion dollars? That's a massive figure.
"Where are we supposed to get that kind of money? Does the project even need that much?" Luke asked.
"Just investing in a single film city is small potatoes. I see that commercial real estate in mainland Wutai hasn't really taken off yet. Why not raise more capital, snap up some prime land, and build a CBD? That way, we can tackle the movie theater chain setup at the same time," Mr. Eisen replied.
Luke immediately realized this was a huge leap forward.
At this point, CBDs like the Wanda Cities of the future were still rare in Wutai. Securing prime land now would be like building an impenetrable moat around their investment.
A CBD project was a much cleaner venture compared to others, and it would conveniently solve the issue of establishing a theater chain. Luke saw the potential.
If they could really pull together $10 billion, that'd be over 80 billion yuan at the current exchange rate.
That kind of cash could easily fund the film city's construction and buy up land in key cities across the country.
Building CBDs on these prime locations would give them a first-mover advantage that'd be nearly impossible for competitors to overcome.
Luke was reminded of Eisen's words about power: it's not about how many resources you own, but how many you can control.
"So, the final question is—where's all this money coming from?" Luke asked.
"With a solid project, funding's never the problem," Eisen said. "We use $2 billion of our own capital to leverage $10 billion total. It's not hard to do, especially since the funds can come in phases."
"You're planning to bring in the investment fund you control, aren't you?" Luke said, catching on.
He saw Eisen's plan clearly.
They'd start with their own $400 million to lay the groundwork, then bring in investments from Eisen's fund.
From there, they could pull in more capital from various sources: profits from Luke's future film projects, low-interest loans from Nanyue City, and so on.
As for Eisen using his fund for the project, there might be pushback from the investment committee or shareholders, but Luke trusted he'd handle it.
For instance, they could sign a buyback agreement, promising to repurchase the fund's shares at a set price by a certain date.
That way, shareholders were guaranteed a profit.
If Luke's project soared, they'd make bank. If it underperformed, investors would still get a minimum return—usually starting at 12% annually.
It was essentially a debt disguised as equity. On paper, it looked like an equity investment, but if the project didn't meet expectations, it became a debt with guaranteed principal and interest.
The upside? Once the buyback agreement was in place, Luke could reclaim the shares at the agreed price.
Sure, there was risk—if the project tanked, Luke and Eisen would face massive personal financial pressure, since buyback agreements are typically signed with individuals.
But would it really fail? Luke wasn't worried about the project's prospects at all.
In fact, he was all-in on this approach to keep his equity from being overly diluted.
Rather than handing shares to investment banks, he'd prefer to give a larger stake to Nanyue City. That was the real power player he needed to align with to establish his foothold in Wutai.
"Exactly. The funds will likely come in over two to three years, so the pressure's manageable. We might even increase our investment next year," Eisen said.
Fair point. With Luke's knack for raking in cash from films—practically printing money—who knew how much he'd have to play with by next year?
Just moments ago, he'd been grumbling about his expenses piling up, and now he was committing to a massive outlay.
For the first time in two years, Luke felt the pinch of being strapped for cash. But that only fueled his drive to make more.
Once he got back to New York, he'd start prepping two new films immediately.
Eisen and Luke were on the same page. They stepped out of the meeting room.
Mr. Li greeted them with a smile. "So, how'd the discussion go?"
Little did Mr. Li know, a blade was being sharpened against him—a brewing competition so fierce it'd rival a battlefield.
Luke glanced at the grinning Mr. Li, amused by the thought that they'd just schemed to take him down on his own turf. It was kind of thrilling.
Eisen gave a vague response: "We'll need to discuss it further back home and get input from more shareholders."
Mr. Li caught the subtext immediately.
That kind of answer was a polite rejection—a way to save face for both sides without closing the door completely.
It was like when you confess to a girl, and she says, "You're great, but I'm not ready to date right now."
If you buy that excuse, you'll feel like a clown when you see her strolling hand-in-hand with her new boyfriend a week later.
Mr. Li kept his smile. "No worries. Take your time to discuss. Even if this doesn't work out, it's just not meant to be. Business might not happen, but friendship endures, right?"
Guys like Mr. Li were pros at networking and building relationships.
Once it was clear the investment wasn't happening, he was happy to pivot to friendship mode. You never know when a connection might come in handy, right?
What he didn't realize was that he and Luke were already potential rivals.
…
…
*(This section is kept brief for well-known reasons, just summarizing what happened.)*
After the plan to invest in Hengdian fell through, Eisen and Luke headed south to start talks with Nanyue City.
The negotiations were facilitated through foreign affairs channels, which Eisen navigated effortlessly, thanks to his connections and clout in North America.
With the foreign affairs department's help, the talks quickly caught the attention of Guangdong Province.
After all, an investment this big would've made headlines even in 2024.
In 2002, when Wutai was still starved for capital, it was an even bigger deal.
In the end, Eisen sealed the deal, securing a slew of incentives: free land allocation, interest-free loans, tax breaks, and more.
In return, Eisen gave up 20% of the equity in the newly formed platform company, creating a mixed-ownership structure.
Next, Eisen would head back to New York to tackle the funding issues and persuade the investment committee.
But Luke didn't join him. Instead, he bought a plane ticket to Jinling.