Chapter 56

Sohu officially launched "The Voice of China" on January 29th. After the fourth episode of "The Voice of China" aired that night, Sohu also updated the fourth episode, along with some behind-the-scenes footage not shown on television.

As a result, Sohu Video's servers were almost paralyzed, and Sohu had to urgently add more servers.

Over the three days from Friday to Sunday, the views of the first four episodes of "The Voice of China" and the behind-the-scenes footage exceeded 200 million.

On the evening of February 1st, Sohu announced on the NASDAQ in the United States that "The Voice of China" had accumulated over 80 million viewers in three days, with over 90% being new users, covering 40% of China's internet video users.

93% of these users also watched other content on Sohu Video, significantly boosting the entire platform.

This year, Sohu Video will invest heavily in purchasing popular TV drama and film resources, aiming to be the leader in the video industry.

Following this announcement, Sohu's stock price surged by 21% again. Including the gains from the previous three trading days, after acquiring "The Voice of China," Sohu's stock price has risen by more than 40%, with its market value increasing by nearly 10 billion US dollars.

Sohu Video's breakthrough and the change in stock price also significantly altered domestic public opinion.

What was previously seen as Wang Zixuan's pitfall for Sohu has now turned into Sohu's pitfall for Wang Zixuan.

For just 450 million RMB, the company's market value increased by nearly 10 billion US dollars, and Sohu Video, which was previously ranked in the top ten in the industry, is now vying for the top spot.

Youku, Tudou, and other video websites almost simultaneously received protests from strategic investors, who stated that if their market share declined, they would not participate in the next round of financing, and might even sell their shares.

The video website industry is essentially a money-burning game. If they cannot continue to raise funds, they will only face bankruptcy.

However, there is currently no program on the market that can compete with "The Voice of China." Youku, Tudou, and other websites can only purchase some old variety shows to attract some viewers.

"The Voice of China" was sold for 450 million RMB, and although the ratings of other variety shows are only one-tenth or even less of "The Voice of China," you have to pay at least one-tenth or one-twentieth of the price, or at the very least, one-fortieth.

Under the influence of "The Voice of China," online copyright fees have directly entered the era of tens of millions.

When major video websites were gritting their teeth to purchase the online copyright of "Day Day Up" and other programs, they were also secretly eyeing the show that Wang Zixuan was preparing to host, lobbying various investment institutions to invest more money to compete for the show hosted by Wang Zixuan.

Previously, Wang Zixuan had mentioned on Weibo that he would host a variety show after the New Year. During the auction of "The Voice of China" copyright, the CEOs of various companies also confirmed this with Wang Zixuan, receiving a positive response.

Of course, major TV stations were also eyeing the show hosted by Wang Zixuan. They did not expect to be able to afford the show, as Wang Zixuan's value determined the show's value.

All TV stations hoped to introduce the show like Zhejiang TV did with "The Voice of China," and some even planned to provide a free broadcasting platform to boost the entire TV station's ratings and advertising revenue.

This has already been proven feasible by Zhejiang TV.

It can be said that Wang Zixuan's new show has already attracted widespread attention even before it was prepared.

On February 2nd, George Soros published a signed article in the Financial Times in London, expressing pessimism about the euro and stating that if the EU does not solve its financial problems, the euro will collapse.

At this point, the euro had been falling against the US dollar for over ten trading days.

The trading volume of the euro surged from over 700 million US dollars to over 120 billion US dollars, and the short positions on the euro continued to set historical records.

Soros' remarks immediately drew criticism from the EU.

Many European political figures accused hedge funds of exacerbating the market confidence crisis by shorting the euro.

Germany and France proposed that the EU strengthen the regulation of hedge funds and push for a vote on new regulations to strengthen the supervision of hedge funds at the upcoming 27-country finance ministers' meeting.

This move also drew criticism from global hedge fund managers, who believed it would hinder financial freedom.

The US Treasury Secretary also warned that the EU's decision was discriminatory against US hedge funds and had protectionist tendencies.

However, a few days later, the Wall Street Journal disclosed that in mid-January, some heavyweight hedge funds on Wall Street had held a secret meeting to formulate a plan to short the world's second-largest currency.

The US Department of Justice also launched an investigation into whether Soros and other hedge funds had colluded to short the euro, and required the hedge funds that attended the meeting to retain relevant trading records and emails related to the euro.

As the organizer of the meeting and the public figure who openly shorted the euro, Soros was immediately criticized from all sides.

Soros was forced to come forward and state: "Predator Fund is the largest fund shorting the euro. At the meeting, we only discussed Predator Fund's operations and followed their lead in investing. There was no collusion to short the euro."

This explanation immediately put Wang Zixuan in the spotlight.

Predator Fund seemed to have become the leader in the international capital market.

While the Chinese people were elated, Wang Zixuan also felt immense pressure. He did not want to be the target of criticism, so he posted on Weibo: "The real force shorting the euro is in the United States, including rating agencies, investment banks, and hedge funds. Their combination is the true force driving the market. The EU has the ability to solve the current debt crisis, but the euro is also overvalued, and with funds shorting the euro, Predator Fund joined in. The euro's decline began in December, and Predator Fund only completed its capital raising on January 10th. We are just one of the many funds shorting the euro."

Wang Zixuan's explanation also received support from some European political figures.

European Central Bank board member Novani publicly stated that it is unacceptable for the economic prospects of Greece to be determined by just three credit rating agencies. The fate of Greece, and more broadly, the fate of Europe, depends on the judgments of these three rating agencies, which is very dangerous. Authorities cannot change the rating agencies, but they can try to reduce dependence on them.

At the same time, European authorities also launched investigations into international banks and investment banks, as the first wave of shorting the euro came from various banks and investment banks, including a significant portion from European banks.

The acquisition of Club Med was not affected by Predator Fund's shorting of the euro. After some negotiations, Wang Zixuan's company and all shareholders of Club Med reached an agreement. Wang Zixuan's company acquired all shares and related debts of Club Med at a 100% premium, completing its privatization.

The French Financial Markets Authority also approved this acquisition.

The total cost of the share acquisition, Citibank's commission, and public relations expenses amounted to 7 billion RMB. Adding the 300 million US dollars used to purchase an island in Greece, Wang Zixuan's investment in the tourism industry has reached 9 billion RMB.

After the acquisition, Club Med was renamed Wang Zixuan International Resort Group, with its headquarters moved to Sanya. All original Club Med employees were retained, with a 10% salary increase.

All tourism resources under Wang Zixuan's control will be integrated into Wang Zixuan International Resort Group, and the company will continue to acquire high-quality tourism resources globally.

(Thank you to the readers "Guangying Import Food" for the 588 RMB tip, and "Love is a Lie" and "Shuyou140813061349882" for the 100 RMB tips.)

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