by WorldTribune Staff, December 12, 2016
The Chinese tycoon who is on a Hollywood spending spree sent a message to President-elect Donald Trump: 20,000 jobs will stay in the U.S. as long as nothing “goes wrong.”
Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man and chairman of real estate and entertainment giant Dalian Wanda Group, said: “I met the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, he said he will be meeting Mr. Trump soon and asked if I have any message I want to send,” he said.
“I told him that I’ve invested $10 billion along with 20,000 employees in the United States. 20,000 people might lose their jobs if anything goes wrong.”
Wang, worth an estimated $32.5 billion, has been rapidly snapping up U.S. entertainment businesses.
Since acquiring AMC Entertainment, the second-largest cinema chain in the U.S., Wang purchased the U.S. production house Legendary Entertainment (the company behind the Dark Knight trilogy and Jurassic World) and is said to be in preliminary talks to purchase Dick Clark Productions, producer of the Golden Globe Awards, American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards.
Wang also said he intends to soon buy one of Hollywood’s “Big Six” studios, which includes 20th Century Fox (owned by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox) and Warner Bros (owned by CNN parent Time Warner).
The growing clout of Wang, who has ties to the Chinese government, has raised eyebrows in Congress, with some lawmakers calling for tougher government scrutiny of such deals.
Wang said “I think we need to wait until after Mr. Trump takes office to see what his attitude is toward Chinese entertainment companies,” he said, adding that Trump “needs to understand” that Hollywood movies are relying on the Chinese market for growth.
The president-elect has threatened to label Beijing a currency manipulator and slap tariffs of as much as 45 percent on Chinese products coming into the U.S.