Tech company spends $100 million on Star Trek-inspired headquarters. IMG Source: YouTube
How far are you willing to go to show your love for your favorite franchise? Liu Dejian, the 43-year-old founder of Chinese online game developer NetDragon Websoft and a huge Star Trek fan, had the company's headquarters designed to resemble the USS Enterprise.
The price for this this little bit of extravagance? A measly $100 million.
Construction of the Star Trek-inspired building began in late October 2010 and finished in May 2014. The 260-meter long, 100-meter wide office is located in Changle, a coastal city in China's southeast Fujian province. The design is based on the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E and, according to the company, it wasn't the executives' first choice as much of the headquarters would have to be elevated. However, they gave their go ahead after being inspired by a poster for the franchise. The ship has been placed on several columns to evoke an image of it landing in the field for repairs.
In order to secure the rights, NetDragon reached out to CBS, the media company which produces Star Trek. Interestingly enough, CBS thought that this was a joke at first.
That was their first time dealing with issue like this and at first they thought that it was a joke. They realized somebody in China actually did want to work out a building modeled on the USS Enterprise only after we sent the relevant legal documents," - NetDragon explains.
If you're interested in seeing what the building looks like, check out the video below.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
