I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1025: Too Risky]

The signing ceremony for the share transfer agreement took place at the headquarters of Firefly Investment located in Rockefeller Center.

Chris was a great admirer of Warren Buffett's minimalist business philosophy and thus aimed to follow in the footsteps of this predecessor in many respects. Although Firefly Investment had moved its headquarters to Rockefeller Center two years prior, it still maintained a small team of around 50 people, especially when considering that other major companies, like Morgan Stanley, occupied a whopping 27 floors from the 47th to the 74th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Eric recalled that during the last office relocation, Chris had suggested that they share a building with Morgan Stanley to facilitate collaboration, but Eric would never agree to that.

He did, however, remember how on the day of the 9/11 attacks, virtually all Morgan Stanley employees were evacuated safely, with only six out of close to 3,000 tragically losing their lives. It was said that this was largely attributed to a safety director at the firm, which could only be described as a 'miracle.'

The signing ceremony was rather simple. A batch of 16.5 million shares was being taken over by seven other shareholders of America Online, including Morgan Stanley and Vanguard, at a price of $4 billion. The completion of payment settlement, equity restructuring, and SEC filing procedures would still require about a week. The purpose of bringing all parties together was not just for the signing ceremony, but also for the subsequent press conference.

...

There had been far too many rumors about America Online lately, and this share transfer was a prime opportunity to address them all.

Firefly Investment's employee activity room was temporarily transformed into a press conference venue. After the signing process, Eric, Chris, Steve Case, and John Mack seated themselves on stage. There was no long table, just four simple chairs. One of Chris's aides filled in as the host, and below sat over a hundred reporters packed into the room.

With a prearranged simple Q&A format, they clarified and responded to some rumors related to Firefly Investment and America Online. Upon reaching the free questioning time, a reporter was called upon.

"Mr. Williams, I'm a reporter from The Wall Street Journal. Since Firefly Investment has repeatedly stated its optimism about the future of NASDAQ and America Online, why does your company insist on reducing its holdings?"

As the question left the Wall Street Journal reporter's lips, all eyes in the room turned eagerly toward Eric.

Despite the prior tensions between the two parties, it was apparent that Firefly Investment's move to sell at low prices seemed hasty, as if they felt a crisis looming. While the NASDAQ index had recently shown strong performance, with many investors starting to shed their worries, Wall Street had never lacked pessimism about the NASDAQ index.

Chris shot a reassuring glance at Eric, who picked up the microphone, "In fact, Firefly Investment's reduction of shares in America Online is not significantly related to the overall trends of the NASDAQ market. We made this choice simply because America Online's established development strategy does not align well with the complementary interests of our other industries. Hence, we chose to exit and concentrate more on other businesses. You should know that Firefly Investment is also a major shareholder in tech companies like Cisco, Sprint, Qualcomm, and Nokia. If we were pessimistic about tech stocks, you would see us selling shares from these companies, but in reality, we haven't sold a single share of Cisco, Sprint, or any others in years."

After Eric spoke, many present appeared deep in thought. The Wall Street Journal reporter still wanted to counter but found himself unable to formulate a suitable rebuttal in that moment.

Firefly Investment's achievements in the tech sector over the years were evident. Now, their decision to significantly reduce their stake in America Online, even if unrelated to NASDAQ's bubble, still sparked reflection.

The host quickly called on another journalist before the previous one could continue.

"Mr. Williams, I am a reporter from Forbes Magazine. After reducing your stake in America Online by 25%, Firefly Investment will gain a massive sum of over $10 billion. What are your future investment plans? Will you continue to focus on the tech sector?"

"We do not yet have detailed plans for this funding," Eric answered. "However, traditional industries have generally established stable market structures. Firefly is not very familiar with these areas. Therefore, it is certain that we will focus on the nascent tech sector, which holds more growth potential."

Actually, Eric and Chris had already deliberated on the allocation of this funding.

While they would not be entering significantly inflated stock markets in the short term, nearly $10 billion could not simply be left in a bank account earning interest.

Since this funding would likely be tapped again within two years, Eric planned to invest in various types of short-term convertible bonds. Compared to banks' annual interest rates of less than 3%, investing in bonds that yielded about 5% annually seemed feasible, especially since such investments could generally convert back into cash within 12 months.

However, these were not details Eric could share with the journalists, so he navigated the discussions loosely. He knew well enough that reinvestment in tech sectors would have to wait until after the inevitable tech bubble burst around 2000 -- a time ripe for bottom-fishing.

Eric had too few opportunities to appear before the media, so the reporters shot a flurry of questions at him. The conversation eventually veered to the movie he was currently filming, though Eric humorously declined to comment on it. Eventually, the press turned their attention to the others on stage.

...

Once the press conference wrapped up, he handled a few more errands until, before he knew it, evening had fallen.

To celebrate the successful transaction, John Mack reserved the top floor of the Twin Towers' Windows on the World restaurant for a celebration party, hosted under the Morgan Stanley name.

Inside the restaurant, after attending to a Boston Consulting Group executive, Chris and Eric stepped over to a window that overlooked all of Manhattan. Looking down at the twinkling lights of the city, Chris smiled and said, "First Boston wants 5 million shares as well. If we slightly increase the price now, we might just sell them out entirely."

"Let's treat this like an IPO," Eric instinctively felt a bit hesitant about this unfortunate high-rise building but didn't show it. Holding a glass of red wine in one hand and the other in his pocket, he replied, "There's no need to complicate things. Let's secure this $10 billion first."

According to America Online's current stock price, selling 25% of its shares would mean Firefly Investment was foregoing about $2 billion in profit. Yet throughout this transaction, Firefly Investment would undoubtedly be the one to benefit the most.

After all, as Eric recalled from memory, America Online's profits accumulated over its decade-long trajectory from inception to decline amounted to far less than $10 billion.

Now, those investment institutions that believed they had scored a deal by acquiring shares from Firefly Investment would undoubtedly stand to gain substantial profits if they could resist the temptations to sell once the lock-up period expired six months later. Yet, Eric was sure that many would be unable to suppress their greed. Many would remain, waiting until after the inevitable NASDAQ crash before finally waking up to the harsh reality -- too late to regret.

People often wondered where the losses from stock market crashes went; the truth was that they ended up in the pockets of those quick enough to withdraw their hands.

"From the current situation, it looks like we'll be able to sell the remaining 15% of shares within the next month. I'll select a list of recently issued high-quality bonds. You know, if the bonds over at Firefly Group aren't sold out, we might as well buy some for ourselves. When do you plan to head back to Los Angeles?"

Eric replied, "Tomorrow afternoon. I need to get back to filming Gravity on Monday."

Chris nodded, and then asked, "By the way, did you really invest $1.6 billion to promote 3D and IMAX movies?"

"Yeah," Eric smiled easily as he spoke. "According to the initial tentative plan, we're aiming for 4,000 3D screens worldwide, with an average renovation cost of $300,000 each. Jeffrey is negotiating the details with the major cinema chains. We're planning to directly operate 200 IMAX theaters in North America and overseas. Due to site selection reasons, the costs here are a bit uncertain, but averaging about $2 million per theater should be accurate. That all adds up to $1.6 billion."

Chris listened intently and shook his head at the end. "That's too risky."

"You might think differently after you see the finished product of Gravity one day," Eric confidently replied. "Besides, I can afford to take this risk now."

As they were chatting, John Mack approached with a middle-aged man, at which point Eric and Chris ceased their conversation politely to greet the new arrival.

After a round of pleasantries, Eric took his leave from the party at 9 o'clock.

...

After dropping Caroline and Mayer off at their apartment on Sixth Avenue and giving them some parting advice, Eric made his way to East Hampton, eager to see the children since he would be leaving the following afternoon.

By the time he arrived in East Hampton, it was already past 11 PM. The car slowly drove into the seaside estate, where Joanna awaited him in the courtyard with a maid.

Upon seeing Eric exit the vehicle, Joanna walked over with a joyful expression and softly called out, "Eric."

Eric embraced Joanna and kissed her softly on the lips, "Did the little ones go to sleep?"

Joanna smiled and nodded, instructing the maid to take Eric's bodyguards to a nearby villa for the night before they all headed into the main house together.

Thoughtfully helping Eric hang his coat on a rack, Joanna turned to see that he had already changed his shoes. Naturally, they started toward the children's bedroom together, and she quietly said, "Elia and Kevin fell asleep around nine, and Emma just dozed off not long ago. The little one is getting so naughty."

"Well, I'll give her a good talking-to tomorrow," Eric said with a laugh as he and Joanna quietly pushed open a bedroom door, refraining from turning on the light. With the hallway's dim light, they could see a tiny figure lying in the small bed.

As they crept closer, Joanna carefully adjusted the blanket on Hawaii, gently touched her daughter's delicate face, and then retracted her hand as she saw Eric's rough hand reaching out as well. She shot him a look and blocked him.

Eric had to lean down and place a gentle kiss on his daughter's forehead, gazing quietly for a moment before stepping out of the room.

As the kids had grown, each of the three little ones now had their own rooms.

Eric followed Joanna as they checked on Kevin and Emma, then they finally went upstairs together.

"Didn't Vicki say she would focus on watching Kevin? Why did she go back to acting?" Eric asked somewhat irritated as he removed his shirt in the second-floor bedroom.

Joanna was drawing a bath for Eric in the bathroom as she replied, "It's just a small role; it should only take a week to film. You know how Vicki is; she can't stand just sitting at home with the kids all the time."

While saying this, Eric tossed his trousers onto the bed and walked into the bathroom. "Still, there's really no need for her to take a role. She could have done something else, even in Vancouver."

"Hey, I'm not one to control her. You can talk to her about it next time she's back."

"I guess a lesson might be necessary," Eric chuckled as he stepped into the bathtub. Noticing Joanna getting up to leave, he reached out and pulled her back without bothering to take off her clothes.

"You're going to get my clothes wet," Joanna protested as she squirmed for a moment but ultimately resigned herself to leaning against Eric's embrace, feeling his soft kisses on her neck while their breaths quickened.

After some passionate moments, they left the bathroom past midnight.

...

In the big bed, Joanna's flaxen hair lay scattered as she sleepily rested atop Eric, feeling their bodies pressed close without any inclination to sleep.

After a while, Joanna softly said, "Eric, I want to discuss something with you."

Eric's large hand had been roaming over her body tenderly, and he gently responded, "Hmm?"

Joanna's expression grew somewhat anxious as she raised her face to look at him, "I want to take Elia back to Poland for a visit."

Eric paused for a moment. He was very unfamiliar with Poland as a country and naturally was not keen on sending his child to a place he had no connection to. However, seeing the hopeful look in Joanna's eyes, Eric pondered for a moment before nodding, "Alright, I'll make the arrangements for you."

*****

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