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for Advance Chapter
The headquarters of Perfect Entertainment is built in the Guomao, the top business center in Beijing today. The entire 28th floor was bought by Wu Mingxuan, of course in installments, but the price is indeed very expensive. After all, the current rent here is 280 yuan per square meter per month.
Li Xue thought it was expensive, but Wu Mingxuan disagreed. At its peak in 2017, the rent here was a whopping 1,000 yuan per square meter. Even when he traveled back in time, the rent was still 850 yuan per square meter due to the pandemic. Whether for investment or starting a business, this place is definitely a very good choice.
If Wu Mingxuan weren't currently financially limited, he'd really like to buy a few more floors. With the current average price of 50,000 yuan per square meter, in ten years, it would at least reach 200,000 yuan, a huge profit indeed.
"How's it going? Perfect and well-decorated, right?"
Wu Mingxuan nodded after taking a tour of the newly renovated company. It was indeed well-decorated, far more upscale and classy than even Huayi. This was probably the most lavish brokerage firm in China, clearly a force to be reckoned with.
"I'm not entirely satisfied with the cinema. Have an IMAX screen built for me later. There aren't any in China right now, but there are overseas. It's a bit pricey, but I'm not afraid of the expense. This is my main future development direction."
As a time traveler, how could Wu Mingxuan not be aware of the horrors of IMAX 3D? But he wasn't going to be the first to try it. His financial resources and talent weren't enough to spark a revolution in moviegoing, so he'd follow in the footsteps of the "God of Cards" and try to find a bargain.
After Ka Shen's "Avatar" is released, he will immediately capitalize on the popularity of "Avatar" to launch his and China Entertainment's first IMAX 3D film. The box office will surely shock the world.
Li Xue hurriedly wrote down Wu Mingxuan's requirements. Today is the official acceptance. Li Xue has already hired the most basic staff, and the company is already running, but many details still fall under the control of Wu Mingxuan, the boss.
Seeing that Wu Mingxuan was generally satisfied and had no major objections, Li Xue asked Wu Mingxuan a very important question: "Then how do we arrange for the artists in the studio?
The venue is very large now, and we simply cannot use such a large place. At the same time, we have a stake in the studio, so they hope to rent the venue that we can't use temporarily at a friendly price and build the studio next to us perfectly."
Wu Mingxuan sneered with disdain. "Friendly price" is the key. After all, the same location and port are all signed for one year, and the annual rent increase is basically more than 15%. Even now, it is 280 yuan per square meter per month.
Simply put, a basic 800-square-meter studio would cost 220,000 yuan per month in rent alone. Add in labor, property, utilities, and taxes, and the cost is at least 600,000 yuan per month, or over 7 million yuan per year.
And that's just for the first year. With a 15% annual rent increase, at its peak in 2017, rent, property, utilities, and other expenses alone would have been 1.3 million yuan per month. Adding labor costs at the time, it would have been impossible to sustain without at least 2 million yuan.
And that's just for an 800-square-meter studio serving a popular actress and two or three newbies. A studio like Jiaxing wouldn't have been able to open without at least 3,000 square meters.
Other companies might choose more ordinary locations, but celebrity studios, even to maintain their reputation, wouldn't choose remote locations. They usually choose the best CBD commercial centers. If Wu Mingxuan remembers correctly, Li Xue and her sister Li Bingbing later opened a space here, said to be 3,000 square meters.
"How much space do we have available now?"
"There are 8,960 square meters in total. We've used 4,000 square meters, leaving 5,000 square meters free for now. But Brother Xuan, you're going to build an IMAX theater, which will probably take up quite a bit of space. Plus, there's the entertainment room, the exercise room, the gym, and so on, so I estimate only about 3,000 square meters will be free."
"Then leave 2,000 square meters and build an indoor heated swimming pool. That'll have to be at least 800 square meters. The contract is only for two years, and the price for two years is 300 yuan per square meter. If they're willing, give it to them. If not, just keep it for now. I'm planning to build a green studio later."
"Our floor is only 7 meters high. I'm afraid it won't be big enough for a green studio, right?"
"Why don't we buy both the upstairs and downstairs and connect them? If they are still willing to work here, we can find a place for them upstairs. There should be a lot of vacant space by then."
Li Xue understood after hearing this. Even the current perfection is only temporary. They will move upstairs later. This floor and the downstairs will become green studios and indoor studios, as well as some scattered office areas and screening rooms and activity areas. The upper-level offices and some cooperative studios will be opened upstairs.
Previously, Li Xue wasn't entirely sure why Wu Mingxuan planned this, but now she completely understands. A 21-meter indoor green studio is considered the highest in the world. The tallest in China is only 13 meters, and only in Hollywood is it over 18 meters. Anything higher would be meaningless.
But the most pressing question now is where the money will come from. Just buying this floor cost 450 million, and the price will undoubtedly be even higher, at least a billion for purchases, including renovations. Li Xue is curious about where Wu Mingxuan's money will come from.
Wu Mingxuan certainly has a way to make money. He's already started shorting crude oil. He doesn't remember the price fluctuations during its rise, but he clearly remembers the peak during the decline: it didn't break through $150. So he shorted at $145, with a stop-loss at $151.
Wu Mingxuan currently has $100 million in funds, and he's shorted 12 million barrels. If oil defies his predictions and exceeds $151, he'll cut his losses, resulting in a total loss of $75 million (including handling and storage fees).
But if everything goes as he's expected, and the price falls below $30, he'll make a whopping $1.4 billion in profits on oil alone.
And Wu Mingxuan wasn't just playing with oil. On the eve of the Beijing Olympics in August, he'd liquidate half his positions and begin a frantic short-selling of global stocks, waiting for the global bailouts to begin in early 2009.
All in all, Wu Mingxuan would have made at least $7 billion. With such a massive sum, how could he not be able to afford even a few floors? Housing prices would plummet by then, making him a perfect bargain.