Peninsula: Superpowered Daily Life

Chapter 41 Pressing Closer

As the situation unfolds, the upheaval in the South Korean entertainment industry, spearheaded by Zhou Wenzhe, is becoming increasingly severe, with more and more celebrities being implicated.

The public protests grew louder, and more and more people petitioned Congress for severe punishment.

Meanwhile, the stock prices of listed entertainment companies, primarily YG Entertainment, have continued to decline, causing shareholders and retail investors to be constantly worried. Some with poor mental resilience have even been hospitalized because of this.

Seeing no signs of improvement, retail investors sold off their shares at a loss, small shareholders were looking for new buyers, and large shareholders were also secretly reducing their holdings.

It was a complete mess.

LVMH Group's 11.4% stake in YG Entertainment has been officially transferred to Warburg Pincus, founded by Zhou Wenzhe's father.

Including shares acquired from the South Korean stock market and transfers from other minority shareholders, he now holds a total of 17.85% of YG Entertainment's shares, surpassing Yang Hyun-suk's 17.62% stake and becoming YG's largest shareholder.

These 17.85% of the shares were also transferred to Tianyi Capital, which Zhou Wenzhe had just established.

YG Entertainment, CEO's office.

"Brother, what did Prosecutor Kim say?" Yang Minshuo asked, looking at Yang Xianshuo, who was sitting on the sofa with a worried expression.

Because he was involved in a major case, Yang Hyun-seok announced that he had resigned from all positions at YG Entertainment, and his younger brother Yang Min-seok would take over as president.

Yang Xianshuo shook his head: "This time, the pressure from above is immense, and things are not going to be easy."

Is there a chance of probation?

"Let's give it a try."

"What about that brat Lee Seungri?" Yang Minshuo gritted his teeth at the mention of his name. If it weren't for that little bastard, YG Entertainment and his brother wouldn't have been dragged into this mess.

"It's said that the police chief who protected him is under investigation, and he'll probably be going to jail."

"I've been saying for a long time that I need to keep an eye on him."

"Is there any point in saying all this now?" Yang Xianshuo glared at his younger brother. Ever since that kid Li Shengli got involved with that police chief, he hasn't paid much attention to the two brothers, and he's been two-faced.

"Brother, how did this matter suddenly get leaked overseas?" Yang Minshuo was very puzzled. This time, the situation actually started in the United States, catching them completely off guard.

"I heard that the initial report was sent to the Seoul Prosecutor's Office, several newspapers, and Dispatch, but it was suppressed because of its great impact. I didn't expect that this whistleblower would be so powerful as to get American media to report on this."

"Brother, do you think... someone might be targeting us?"

"I've thought about this question too, but I can't figure out who's targeting us, or what they're trying to achieve by doing this."

Although YG Entertainment is now known as one of the three major entertainment companies in South Korea, its revenue and profits lag far behind the other companies, and it can't even compare with some newly emerging entertainment companies.

There has to be some profit to be made from acquiring a company, otherwise what's the point of spending so much money?

"What else could it be? They just want our company. Otherwise, why would Warburg Pincus take over LVMH's shares and transfer them to this newly established Tianyi Capital? This is clearly a proxy acquisition."

"Yes, that's certainly possible, but who's behind Tianyi Capital?"

"I checked, but I couldn't find it. What should we do next?"

Zhou Wenzhe had long ago used multiple shareholding structures to firmly control Tianyi Capital, and no one could find out that he was the person behind the company.

"Let's wait and see. As long as we don't reduce our shareholding in the company, they won't be able to force us out."

The Yang brothers together hold 21.5% of the shares, which is still higher than Zhou Wenzhe's 17.85%.

Just as the two brothers were discussing the company's future, there was a knock on the office door. The secretary opened the door and came in, saying respectfully, "President, there is a Mr. Zhou downstairs looking for you. He says he's from Tianyi Capital."

. . .

This was Zhou Wenzhe's second visit to the YG Entertainment building. The last time he came as a prospective trainee, but this time he came as the company's largest shareholder.

In less than a month, this change in identity was indeed quite rapid.

After waiting at the front desk for a short while, Yang Xianshuo and Yang Minshuo came out of the elevator.

The two were visibly taken aback when they saw that it was a young man and a young woman, but Yang Xianshuo quickly recognized one of them as Zhou Wenzhe, whom he had met at the economic symposium dinner some time ago.

"Hello, President Yang." Zhou Wenzhe greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, Mr. Zhou." Yang Xianshuo didn't know how to address Zhou Wenzhe for a moment. At his age, he could have easily addressed him as an elder and called him by his name. However, the young man in front of him was the representative of the company's largest shareholder, and the capital behind him was not something he could afford to offend. So he could only use "Mr. Zhou" to get by for now.

He then introduced, "This is my younger brother, Yang Min-seok, who is now the president of YG Entertainment."

"Hello, President Yang." Zhou Wenzhe extended his hand to the new president again and introduced his secretary, Li, to the person beside him.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Zhou Wenzhe and Secretary Li followed the two President Yangs to the conference room on the top floor.

They chatted and laughed all the way.

Many people in the company witnessed this scene and began to discuss it, with the most frequent questions being who this young man was and why the two company presidents were so polite to him.

After we were seated, the secretary served us four cups of freshly brewed coffee.

Zhou Wenzhe picked up his coffee cup, took a small sip, and put the cup down before saying, "Presidents, please forgive my intrusion in coming here today."

"No, you'd be more than welcome."

"The reason I'm here today is to inform you both that I represent Tianyi Capital in holding the 17.85% stake in YG Entertainment."

The Yang brothers nodded; they had already thought of this. What they couldn't figure out was Zhou Wenzhe's true purpose.

Or rather, why did Tianyi Capital acquire these shares? Did they really want to acquire YG Entertainment?

"Now I have a suggestion."

Zhou Wenzhe gestured to his secretary, Li, who was standing next to him.

Secretary Li understood, opened his briefcase, took out two bound documents, and handed them over.

The Yang brothers opened the document, looked at it for a short while, then closed it and angrily said to Zhou Wenzhe, "Mr. Zhou, this is going a bit too far. We will not agree to this."

Zhou Wenzhe smiled faintly, waved his hand, and gestured to Secretary Li again.

Secretary Li opened her briefcase again, this time taking out only one document and handing it to Zhou Wenzhe.

Zhou Wenzhe took it and tossed it to Yang Xianshuo with a smile.

Yang Xianshuo opened the document, glanced at it, and his expression changed drastically. He quickly closed the document and said in a trembling voice, "Where did you get these?"

"This is none of President Yang's business. I'll give you three days to consider it."

Then, Zhou Wenzhe stood up and walked out of the meeting room.

Secretary Li followed closely behind.

She was quite shocked by Zhou Wenzhe's performance during the negotiation. He seemed quite different from the boy she knew; it was as if he had become a completely different person.

After the two left, Yang Minshuo opened the document and was equally horrified when he saw its contents.

Such a secret has been dug up?

This is driving the two brothers to their deaths.

. . . . . .