Eric looked at Elizabeth's increasingly surprised look, smiled and continued to count: "Two years ago, when the Internet business of the Federation was just emerging, I also used 60 million US dollars to invest in a network service provider called AOL, and got a 30% stake, at that time, the Federation had only more than one million Internet users, and the market share of AOL was only 10%. But after explosive growth in the last two years, the size of North American Internet users has now increased tenfold, and in a recent AOL business report, its Internet service market share has risen to about 20 percent, and Wall Street values it at $1.8 billion. ”

Elizabeth mentally calculated the results of Eric's $60 million investment, and finally felt that she had found a flaw, interrupted him, and said: "It's impossible, the return on investment in two years is 900%, do you think I will believe it?"

"Haven't you noticed?" Eric pinched Elizabeth's unconvinced face: "A new high-tech industry is rising rapidly, just like the operating system software and personal computers in the 80s created a large number of billionaires such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, in the case of the Clinton administration's implementation of the information superhighway plan, the rise of the Internet industry in the next few years will once again create a large number of corporate giants and billionaires, this kind of industry explosion period, two years 900% The ROI is not surprising at all," Speaking of this, Eric suddenly remembered the classic line in "Big Names", and unconsciously showed a smile and said, "And. I feel that the potential of the information industry is far from being fully developed. Maybe in a few more years. You invest a million dollars in it, and in the blink of an eye, you add a zero and it becomes 10 million. ”

Elizabeth has been in contact with the Internet under the influence of Eric, but she didn't care too much about the meaning behind these new things before, and after Eric broke it, she also recognized Eric's words in her heart because of some changes in life and work brought about by the Internet in the past two years.

"On top of that, I bought a mobile phone company in Europe and Firefly software, which was spun off from Firefly Pictures. Both companies are doing very well, and a total value of $1.5 billion is certainly no problem. If Chris completes the acquisition of LTD, my interest in it will not be less than 40%, even if it is 800 million, so it will be calculated," Eric thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Outside of Hollywood, my wealth is close to 7 billion US dollars, which seems to be more than your family's assets." ”

Elizabeth stared at Eric's somewhat 'hateful' smile for a few seconds before she looked away a little weakly. Raised his small fist and hammered weakly on Eric's body, as if resentful, "So much money." See how you spend it!"

Eric watched Elizabeth's originally white face turn red, and with some emotion, he leaned over and pressed the girl under him, easily grabbed the restless little hands, and whispered in the girl's ear, "Why don't you come up with an idea for me." ”

Elizabeth tilted her head weakly and hummed softly, "I'm just ...... Well, what's my business. ”

Just as they were about to continue to keep warm, Eric's mobile phone on the dresser next to the bed rang very inappropriately, and the two had to separate slightly, and the good thing was interrupted, and Elizabeth reached out and pinched it in front of Eric a few times in a little frustration.

Eric hurriedly grabbed the girl's arm and pressed the connect button, and then, the girl's excited voice sounded on the other end of the phone: "Eric, Eric, we are the richest people in the world now, I want to buy a plane!"

Well, Eric couldn't help but laugh in his heart, this Nizi knows how to spend money.

Elizabeth was already a little emotional because she was suddenly disturbed, and when she heard Drew's voice, it was really an enemy who didn't see each other, and before Eric could speak, she sarcastically said to the microphone: "Did you raise a plane after you bought it?"

Although Xiao Nizi was a little surprised when she heard Elizabeth's voice, she did not hesitate to fight back: "My man has money, not only can he afford to raise a plane, but he can also afford to support me, envy, right?"

Elizabeth snatched the mobile phone from Eric's hand and sneered, "It's really enough to spend a man's money in vain." ”

"Haha, I recorded it," Drew on the other side suddenly became a little excited: "If I release this passage, housewives all over the world will have a 'good impression' of the second lady of the Murdoch family, and it will be up to you to tell the difference when the time comes." ”

Elizabeth didn't believe that Xiao Nizi would record the call just now, and said unto be outdone: "Let it go, if you don't let it out, you will be my daughter!"

"If Eric is interested in this kind of play, I don't mind being your daughter," Drew's voice suddenly became a little greasy, and after saying this, Elizabeth's voice immediately rang on the other end of the phone: "...... Spending men's money in vain is really enough for Bichi. ”

Elizabeth just had to refute two sentences, and when she heard the recording on the other end of the phone, she was stunned, she just said that this sentence is indeed a little inconsiderate, a large number of housewives in the United States do not work, and the whole family is completely dependent on the income of her husband alone, if this sentence full of ambiguity is revealed, with her identity as the daughter of the head of the news company, it will definitely cause a wave of public opinion.

Thinking about it, Elizabeth inexplicably felt a wave of grievance, threw the mobile phone at Eric, threw the whole person on the bed, and pulled a pillow to cover her head, and whined in a low voice.

Eric leaned over and patted Elizabeth a little helplessly, picked up the phone and said to Xiao Nizi: "Don't mess around, quickly delete the recording." ”

Xiao Nizi on the other end of the phone immediately put away her teeth and claws, and said with a grin: "It's been deleted, I'm just scaring her, it's so stupid, Eric, what do you think of the Boeing 777, Boeing's latest wide-body large aircraft, I heard that the maximum size is 240 feet (73 meters), which is similar to the office LOFT in the digital field, we place an order now, and we can just get the first batch next year." ”

Eric pulled Elizabeth's pillow over her head. Let the girl rest on her lap and help her sort out her somewhat messy hair. At the same time, he deliberately accentuated his tone and said to Xiao Nizi on the other side: "Why do you buy such a big plane." If you want, buy Gulfstream, you can play as you want, I don't care. ”

"No, Gulfstream's little business plane is not interesting at all, we can also modify it if we buy a large Boeing 777, we can add a bar, a restaurant, a bedroom, a home theater or something, and we can also have a party on the plane, Eric. Imagine inviting a whole bunch of beautiful women and you're the only man on the plane......"

It's a man who can't resist the temptation of this kind of scene, Eric just imagined it for a moment, and Elizabeth, who was pillowed on his lap, said, "Eric, if you really mess up like this, I'll ...... And Julia will ignore you again. ”

Xiao Nizi's voice immediately came from the microphone: "Hey, just ignore it yourself, it's better to go back to your Australia, don't pull someone else." Julia doesn't necessarily agree. ”

"You little Bichi. ”

"Eric, she scolded me. ”

Eric had to cover the microphone for a moment and whisper to Elizabeth, "Baby." Help me prepare breakfast, I'll be right there. ”

Elizabeth snorted and stood up, adding before leaving: "Don't buy planes." ”

Eric nodded hurriedly: "Okay, promise not to buy it." ”

It is very common for wealthy people in the West to own private jets, and even if Eric does not buy it now, it is impossible not to buy a private jet in the future, so although she knew that the chances of this promise being fulfilled were not high, Elizabeth was still very satisfied with Eric's attitude, so she left the bedroom.

After Elizabeth left, Eric said to Xiao Nizi: "The big plane will definitely not be able to buy for the time being, and you don't know how much it will cost to acquire the ABC TV network. ”

As if sensing that Elizabeth had left, Xiao Nizi became very talkative, and did not refute Eric at all, and said: "Okay, Eric, today Amy and I are going to look for "Mission Impossible", are you coming?"

"I'm not going, Amy is a very experienced manager and producer, you learn more from her. ”

"Got it. ”

After chatting for a long time with Xiao Nizi, Eric hung up the phone. However, before he could put the mobile phone down, the bell rang again, this time it was Chris from New York, and after connecting it, Chris also smiled and complained about the busy line just now, and Eric could only answer the phone while starting to get dressed and washed.

Subsequently, Eric came to realize that the impact of taking the top spot on Forbes' North American 400 list was far greater than he had imagined.

Throughout the morning, until the mobile phone in his hand was completely depleted, the Motorola mobile phone never left Eric's ears, and the people who called for a variety of purposes, and there was even a charity that Eric had never heard of at all who didn't know where to get Eric's private number, and called to persuade him to donate, and even Elizabeth's personal mobile phone next to him rang because of Eric, so that Elizabeth, who understood the purpose of the other party after picking it up, was embarrassed.

After breakfast, Elizabeth had just driven out to work, but quickly retreated, because the door of her hilltop mansion was already full of reporters at some point, and the not spacious mountain road was flooded.

A little depressed called to her office to explain, Elizabeth casually threw the mobile phone on the round table, and complained to Eric, who was checking her email next to her: "It's all your fault, they will definitely have to scribble again tomorrow, but fortunately Julia recently went to New York, otherwise I would not have seen anyone." ”

Eric checked the email box that was already full of emails, casually deleted an interview invitation, and chuckled: "Don't worry, I'm the richest man in the federal right now, even if I know I'm here, they won't dare to scribble if they can't take photos, and a lawsuit with a celebrity will increase the reputation of the newspaper, but a lawsuit with a billionaire will lead to bankruptcy, and my current identity is obviously more inclined to the latter." ”

Murdoch started out as a tabloid, and Elizabeth is of course aware of the rules, although the tabloids often go to great lengths to dig into celebrity privacy, but they also know very well who should provoke and who should not provoke. Moreover, their men and women are unmarried, and even if they take photos of the two, the headlines given by these newspapers are often "The richest man in North America is exposed", and at most they comment on their family history.

Thinking of this, Elizabeth has some expectations, it seems that it is not bad if this matter is made public, anyway, because she has to accompany Emma to adapt to life in New York, Julia has not been in Los Angeles recently, and it is impossible for the media to photograph the three of them.

But she soon remembered that Eric had fled when she heard the word marriage or something, and she was a little disappointed, and glared at Eric with hatred.

Eric looked up just in time to see the girl's expression and said, "What's wrong?"

Elizabeth turned her head: "No, angry. ”

"Hehe," Eric said with a smile that Elizabeth was angry that she couldn't go to work, "Have you forgotten that we are rich people, and we don't have to drive to work." ”

With that, Eric visualized the spacious courtyard of the mansion, picked up Elizabeth's cell phone and dialed it.

More than half an hour later, a Bell helicopter roared down in the mansion.

……

After leaving Elizabeth's house that day, Eric's increasingly low-key personal life could not continue, and he could only honestly go back to the sharp corner villa every day, because there were many followers around him again, and perhaps there were stalkers with other purposes, Eric had to increase his personal security.

After the release of the Forbes North American 400 list, Warren Buffett, whose wealth was far behind by Eric, published an article in the Washington Post the next day to openly question the accuracy of Forbes magazine's data, and the investment tycoon insisted that Eric's net worth was definitely not as much as 19.7 billion, and only recognized Eric's assets of $13 billion.

Warren Buffett's personal influence, which has been dominant in the North American business world for 30 years, is absolutely unimaginable to ordinary people, so after the publication of this article, it immediately attracted a chorus of echoes.

In order to maintain its credibility, Forbes magazine has uncompromising arguments, and Fireflies have of course mobilized their own media resources to fight back against Warren Buffett's views.

At the same time, many investment banks, financial appraisal agencies, professional financial media, and even many federal government departments have joined the public opinion war because of various interests.

For a time, ordinary people were dazzled by the war of words in the media.

Those who know the ins and outs of this matter understand that this dispute is ultimately a dispute between ABC TV and Firefly Pictures for acquisition negotiations, and the main reason for this is also because Firefly is not listed, and it is impossible to give an accurate valuation of Firefly Pictures through simple and clear price-earnings ratios and other data, so it leaves a lot of room for operation for all parties.

ABC, if it recognizes Eric's worth, it is equivalent to acknowledging the market value of Firefly Pictures of about $20 billion, which is almost twice the market value of ABC TV network.

But if Eric's assets can be pulled to the figure of $13 billion given by Warren Buffett, then ABC TV Network, whose stock price has been rising, and Firefly Pictures will basically be on an equal footing, which will give ABC a huge advantage in negotiations. (To be continued.) )