Chapter 1125: The unique world's tallest building
After deciding on the goal, Xia Yu, considering the time difference, first called Peter Lynch in the United States and instructed him to make every effort to acquire the three companies A&M Records, Epic Records and RCA Records within two months.
Then in the evening, Xia Yu called George Berkeley in London again and asked him to take over EMI Records, Island Records and Virgin Records in the UK within two months, and at the same time, to acquire more than one-third of the shares of PolyGram International Limited.
It just so happened that he had promised Margaret Thatcher that he would invest a total of 2.5 billion pounds in the UK this year. After deducting the amount previously invested in the telecommunications market, there was still a large sum of money that he didn't know where to spend, so it would be perfect for accomplishing some tasks in this field.
Once the task is set, Xia Yu no longer needs to worry about it.
As long as all the acquisitions he has set out are completed by the end of August, his Universal Music Group will truly live up to its name.
Although it may seem that these record companies are only concentrated in Europe and North America, the reality is not as simple as it seems.
Xia Yu also cannot forget the island market, where the Walkman first appeared. After all, the island is also the second largest market in the Walkman field after the United States.
The reason why Xia Yu did not specifically acquire record companies in the island is that there was actually no need to do so.
This has to do with the unique record market in the island country.
The former island country's strongest record company, Avex, no longer exists at all, and the island country's record market is currently in a state of chaos.
According to data, the island country's record market is divided into factions, including the European and American faction, the Hollywood faction, the electronics manufacturing faction, the broadcasting station faction, the agency faction, the publishing house faction, the toy and game company faction, and the pure record company faction.
The European and American faction and the Hollywood faction are actually the branches of European and American film and television and record companies established in the island country.
The electrical machinery manufacturing department refers to record companies established by electronics and electrical machinery companies such as the Panasonic Group, JVC Electronics Corporation, and Kenwood Corporation.
The broadcasting department refers to record companies backed by television stations.
The office department actually refers to those artist management companies that have established their own record companies.
The publishing department refers to record companies established by publishing houses such as the Kadokawa Group, Otowa Group, Kodansha, and the Island Country Correspondence Education Union.
As for the toy and game companies and record companies, it goes without saying.
Therefore, EMI Records, PolyGram International Limited, Columbia Records and Epic Records have branches in the island country, and Xia Yu's Universal Music Group itself has a branch in the island country.
As long as he can complete these acquisitions, the branches of these companies in the island country alone will enable Universal Music Group to jump to the top of the island country's record market.
Therefore, there is no need to specifically acquire record companies in the island country.
...
In the next few days, Xia Yu managed to balance work and leisure, and even took the opportunity to take Li Qian and He Chaoqiong, who was on holiday, out for a stroll.
On 6 June, Liu Shihao reported some good news to him, which made Xia Yu feel a little happy.
As it was inconvenient to come to the Jiuding Building, Xia Yu simply went directly to the Jiuding Real Estate Group.
Upon arriving at the Jiuding Real Estate Group, he saw Liu Shihao and Chen Jianping waiting for him in the lobby.
'Hello, Chairman!'
'Hello!'
After nodding to Liu Shihao and Chen Jianping, Xia Yu asked directly, 'Is Mr. Ieoh Ming Pei here today?'
'Chairman, Mr. Pei is already here, in the company's design studio. We did not notify him to come down together,' Liu Shihao replied.
Xia Yu did not take offense, but instead looked approvingly and said, 'Mr. Pei is old, and it was right not to let him come down.'
'Let's go, show me the results of the design,'
'Okay, please follow me! The design room is on the eighth floor.'
After saying this, Liu Shihao and Chen Jianping led Xia Yu and the others to the elevator.
In a short while, the group arrived at a huge design room, where many people were busy working.
What attracted Xia Yu's attention the most was a model of a building in the middle of the design room. Next to the model was the old gentleman Ieoh Ming Pei, who was holding a magnifying glass and observing it.
Seeing Xia Yu and the others walking straight over, I. M. Pei stopped and walked towards Xia Yu.
'Mr. Pei, you have worked hard!'
'Mr. Xia, this is what I should do. It is also my honour to be able to design this.'
After Xia Yu and I. M. Pei had shaken hands and exchanged pleasantries for a moment,
Xia Yu fixed his gaze on the architectural model in front of him and asked with a smile:
'Mr. Pei, I wonder if you could tell me about your design.'
'Of course, please come closer and have a look.'
When Xia Yu and the others came closer, I. M. Pei pointed to the tower-shaped building on the model and introduced it to Xia Yu.
'Mr Xia, according to the design, this skyscraper covers an area of 15,600 square metres, has a total construction area of 408,000 square metres, is 520 metres high and has a total of nine sections.'
'The entire building is divided into four levels: the basement, the commercial podium, the office tower and the spire.'
'The basement has three levels, the commercial podium has six levels, the office tower has 108 levels and the spire has five levels.'
'The office floors are each divided into units of 12 floors, and the entire office floor is divided into nine units.'
'Between the 102nd and 108th floors, a wind damper weighing 700 tonnes will be installed to reduce the sway of the building and ensure its safety.'
'As you have noticed, there are many special numbers in the design, which is also the design concept of the entire building. The base of the tower has six floors, which symbolises 'everything goes well'; the office tower takes the meaning of 108 heavenly generals and earthly demons.'
'The office building is divided into nine units, which has three meanings. First, it takes the first character of the Jiuding Group, which is the most obvious; second, as the saying goes, 'the sum of nine numbers, the yang is concentrated in nine, the end of counting', according to the ancient Chinese yin and yang theory, nine is a number that represents 'yang', and the yang line of the hexagram in the Book of Changes is called 'nine'; the third is to combine the five floors of the spire, which is the number 'nine five', which means the pinnacle of the world.'
'In terms of shape, the entire building resembles a bamboo shoot climbing up, flexible and full of strength. The nine bamboo joints symbolise endless potential and embody the endless vitality of traditional Chinese architecture.'
As Ieoh Ming Pei continued to speak, Xia Yu's smile grew wider and wider, and he looked at the model of the building with great fondness.
Last year, many of his subordinates suggested to him that the Jiuding Group still lacked a headquarters building. Neither the current Jiuding Building, which is dozens of floors tall, nor the Jiuding Financial Building in Central, is representative and cannot highlight the strength of the group.
He also considered that Hong Kong's economic and social stability needs a guiding force, and Hong Kong also needs to become famous around the world with a symbolic feature. He also needs to inspire Hong Kong and even Chinese people around the world.
After considering all these factors, he decided to build a skyscraper in Xiangjiang that would be the tallest in the world to serve as his headquarters.
So last year, he invited Ieoh Ming Pei, who had just finished designing the Louvre, to design his headquarters building. He also told him some ideas: he wanted a tower-shaped building.
So after almost a year of designing, there is now the masterpiece before you.