Eric made a brief stop at Ventura Airport to complete the handover with Steve Ballmer, and the Boeing 747 took off again for Australia.

During the overall 16-hour trip from the East Coast of the United States to Australia, Eric spent most of his time reading the IMG material that Cindy handed him last night. As he got to know better, Eric became more and more interested in this comprehensive agency.

It can be said that the entire IMG Group is a complete agency brokerage industry chain from the training of talents at the lowest level to the distribution of end-end products.

IMG Group started out as a sports star agency.

In the 60s, Mark McCormack, the founder of IMG who was still a lawyer at the time, became acquainted with some well-known golfers in the industry because of his love of golf. The idea of setting up a professional brokerage to help these golfers run their business came about by chance, and IMG was created.

Over the next 30 years, IMG has grown step by step.

Although it is not able to get involved in the star agency of mainstream sports such as rugby, basketball and soccer, IMG operates a group of the world's most successful sports stars in the relatively niche golf and tennis. Even if he is not interested in golf, tennis and other sports, Eric can recognize sports stars such as Tiger Woods, Andrei Agassi and Anna Kornikova from IMG's roster of agents.

In addition, IMG has established a comprehensive sports academy in Florida that covers more than 500 acres, and while using IMG's own brand to recruit students to the community to achieve profitability, the company also discovers and cultivates potential talents through a global network of sports scouts.

Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova is a prime example of IMG.

Born in 1981, the Russian girl was spotted at the age of 10 by IMG's sports scouts and trained at the Nick Politani Tennis School under the IMG Sports Academy.

Under the careful packaging of IMG Group, Anna Kournikova, who has just turned 18 this year, is not the most powerful tennis player, but with her beautiful appearance and IMG's operation, she has become one of the tennis stars with the highest commercial value, with an annual income of more than $10 million.

Despite its late start, IMG Models is still strong when it comes to fashion agency.

Take the supermodel income list that Forbes has begun to launch in recent years, although the members of the Victoria's Secret Legion have completely occupied the top ten positions on the list, but in terms of behind-the-scenes agencies, compared with the powerful Elite, the number of agents is only about 300 IMG models, but the number of people squeezed into the annual income list of supermodels is comparable to Elite.

Moreover, unlike the statutory 10% commission of Hollywood agencies, the commission ratio of stars and models can reach up to 30%, which undoubtedly greatly increases IMG's income level.

IMG's talent agency business is so strong mainly because of the rights to host sporting events and fashion events owned by IMG-College. Unlike the IMG Sports Academy, IMG University is not about education, but rather a subsidiary that represents the concession of hundreds of sports and fashion events around the world.

In addition to countless collegiate league tournaments, the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, the World Golf Championships, the Miss Universe Contest, the Miss America Contest and other world-renowned fashion and sporting events are closely involved in IMG Group.

Through these hundreds of events of various types around the world every year, IMG Group can not only directly obtain huge hosting revenues, but also rely on these platforms to easily promote its sports fashion and even music stars, and rely on its own brand advantages to obtain more endorsement contracts for its stars from major event sponsors.

In addition, IMG Media also produces a large number of sports and fashion events to further explore the commercial potential of related events and maximize the interests of IMG Group.

Whether it is Hollywood or the Internet, Eric pursues a whole industry chain layout concept, and the group is exactly in line with Eric's pursuit of the ultimate model of a company.

So, while still on the plane, Eric contacted Cindy in New York again to discuss whether he could buy the entire IMG Group in addition to the McCormack's family shareholding.

There is a 14-hour time difference between the east coast of Australia and the east coast of the United States, and Eric took off from Long Island Airport on the morning of August 7, and sixteen hours later, a private jet landed at Canberra International Airport, which was already 4 p.m. local time on August 8.

The woman and the children had been living in Kenzester in the north of Heaney for more than two months, but while on the plane, Eric learned that the group had already arrived at Perisher Ski Resort in the south of Canberra, so he changed his itinerary and chose to land in Canberra.

August is the best time for skiing in Australia, and the executive gathering of the Firefly system was held at a private resort near Perisher.

The Perisher ski resort is just over a hundred kilometres from Canberra, but with winding trails throughout, it was already dark when Eric and his party arrived at their destination.

The official event of the party will start tomorrow, and most of the people have already arrived early. The private resort across the hill from the Perisher ski resort is also covered by the firefly system.

When Eric and his party arrived, they had already prepared a barbecue party at the resort.

After being forcibly kissed and rubbed by the girl who was the first to run to greet him, Eric picked up his timid son and greeted everyone.

Firefly Group, Yahoo, Nokia, Cisco, Qualcomm and other core executives of the Firefly system, including their families, came over hundreds of people this time.

It took more than ten minutes just to exchange pleasantries.

After settling in briefly, everyone gathers for a barbecue in the open space in the center of the resort.

Although it was winter, the resort was surrounded by hills on three sides, and more than 100 people gathered around several campfires without feeling too cold.

"Take the gondola north to the ski slopes on the other side of the mountain, we've all been there, Eric, guess who of us is the best skier?"

Eric sat around a campfire with Katzenberg, Ian Gurnier and others, still holding Kevin on his lap, and holding a tray of roast meat in the other hand to watch over the little guy's food. ”

Although he is over sixty years old, Frank Wells is a very adventurous sports person. Wells should have died in a helicopter crash while skiing a few years ago.

"That's right, we suddenly found that we young people are not as good as an old man, and everyone has been quite frustrated for the past two days," Katzenberg said with a smile, looking at the little guy in Eric's arms, and then laughing: "Kevin, you are a little man now, and it's not good to always be by your father's side." ”

When he first came over, Eric noticed that Vickynia took the initiative to push Kevin to his side, understanding the woman's thoughts, so he has been holding his son himself until now.

Between Kevin and Hawaii, because of Joanna, many Jewish executives in Hollywood have always shown some obvious sense of identification with Hawaii, and this habit of actively huddling together between Western ethnic groups is very common, and Jews are the most obvious, and Eric can't change anything.

And, because of his superior IQ, Hawaii has unwittingly won the favor of the Firefly Investment Series such as Jeff Bezos, Steve Mitnick and even the Chriss.

It is conceivable that according to this line of thinking, as the heir of the Williams family, Kevin will hardly have any competitiveness in front of Hawaii in the future, except for a little gender advantage, but Westerners do not attach so much importance to the gender of the heir.

Now, Cindy is about to bring another little guy to the Williams family, and Virginia's insecurity can be imagined.

Looking at Hawaii, who was seriously discussing something with Jeff Bezos not far away, and Emma, who was playing with a few little girls of the same age, Eric smiled, put down his son with an uneasy expression on his lap with Katzenberg's words, touched the little guy's head and said, "Go find Mom, Dad will accompany you to ski after a few days." ”

Looking at the little figure who politely took the initiative to say goodbye to everyone before walking away without Eric's reminder, Ian Gnier smiled and said, "A very sensible child, but too shy." ”

Eric picked up a skewer of roast meat from the tray and said, "It would be nice to grow up, as I did when I was a kid." ”

After chatting casually for a while, Eric finished the barbecue on his plate, got up and walked to the barbecue, and Katzenberg took the opportunity to follow, saying, "Eric, I saw that you asked Caroline to draw up a profit distribution plan." I think we can do away with the dividends altogether, and that's just the right amount of money to support the group's next expansion plans. ”

Caroline Elliott, the CFO of the Firefly Group, that Katzenberg is talking about.

Eric took some food and put it on the barbecue, fiddled with it himself, and said, "Actually, I'm a little hesitant right now, and everyone happened to discuss it in the last few days." ”

According to the established plan, the main expansion target of the Firefly system in the next step is the operator system, which mainly includes telecom operators and cable TV operators, in order to make up for the shortcomings of the Firefly system in the Internet, mobile communications and cable TV platforms.

However, with the development of the firefly system to the present, it is impossible to pick up the leaks with a small scale.

Either of the two major operator systems in the plan will require a real investment of tens of billions of dollars. Combined, if equity acquisitions are not taken into account, the amount of capital that the Firefly system needs to use will reach hundreds of billions of dollars.

In this respect, the tens of billions of dollars that Clover has just cashed out from the new technology market are completely insufficient. After all, in the next few years, if it wants to continue to consolidate its foundation in the Internet industry, Firefly System also needs to continue to inject large sums of money into various new technology companies.

And Eric began to have another concern.

The scale of the firefly system is already very large, and the layout of the firefly system in the Internet industry has not been completely stabilized.

Therefore, in recent times, Eric has been thinking about which move the Firefly system should play first to be more secure.

Katzenberg also picked up a few skewers to put on the grill, saying, "I've heard recently that AT-T is planning to split up and sell telecommunications, and Comcast happens to be showing an interest in expanding itself once again. If we don't make a move, AT-T will most likely sell telematics to Comcast. ”

Comcast and Telecommunications are arguably the two largest cable operators in North America, and Eric only remembers some impressions of Comcast and basically knows little about Telecom. Listening to Katzenberg say this, it is generally clear that in the past, long-range communication was probably annexed by Comcast.

After a pause in the roasting motion, Eric asked, "Did AT-T make an offer?" ”

"There's no official offer yet," Katzenberg said, shaking his head, "but the industry estimates are that it's going to be between $40 billion and $50 billion, and if we participate in the bid, the price will likely exceed $50 billion." ”

Eric remembers that Comcast's market capitalization was only about $30 billion a year ago, and at its peak it was just over $60 billion. Telecommunications, which is smaller than Comcast and now valued at more than $40 billion, is clearly affected by a new tech bubble that has not yet completely dissipated.

If you can wait another year or two, the Nasdaq index will fall to the bottom, and Comcast plus telecommunications may only have a combined market value of $60 billion.

However, once the two companies merge, it will definitely be more difficult for Firefly Group to initiate an acquisition, both at the capital level and the anti-monopoly level.

After thinking about it for a moment, Eric said, "Let's follow up secretly and don't make any moves for now." ”

Katzenberg nodded, and said, "Then do you want to continue to implement dividends?" ”

If Comcast really wants to initiate the acquisition of telecommunications, Firefly Group will have to enter the game early.

After all, the entire Firefly system, AE TV Network, FFM TV, ESPN TV, Shotime TV, Braov TV, E! Entertainment TV and even several cable TV stations on the Fox Group, such a huge cable TV industry layout, without the support of the operator platform, the future development will definitely be more and more constrained.

In comparison, the layout of the firefly system for telecom operators is not so urgent.

Of course, this is also only relative.

Eric's target is Sprint Group, which is the easiest target for Firefly Systems to acquire.

The next few years happen to be a critical period for the transition from 2G communication networks to 3G networks.

If Sprint can't be held in the hands and fully invested in the layout of the 3G network, Sprint is likely to be left behind by the more powerful AT-T and Verizon operators. Once it is left behind by other competitors in this critical network modernization process, Sprint will fall into a cycle of falling behind and it will be even more difficult to catch up with the competition.

At the end of the day, Eric wants to expand the firefly system for the camp, but he doesn't have that much time in the age of this technological explosion.

"Cancel the dividend plan," Eric made another decision without much hesitation, and then smiled at Katzenberg, "However, the task of informing the shareholders of this decision is up to you." ”

Although no detailed financial information has been released, the news that Clover Fund has successfully cashed out a large amount of money has already been reported.

Among the minority shareholders of the Firefly Group, whether it is Berkshire Hathaway, which is accustomed to taking dividends from the invested companies and investing on its own, or State Street Global Funds, which suffered heavy losses in this stock market crash and urgently needs to replenish funds, they all look forward to the implementation of dividends by the Firefly Group.

Now, the sudden cancellation of the dividend plan will inevitably cause these shareholders to make a fuss.

When it comes to rejecting others, the tough-minded Katzenberg is obviously the most suitable.

"No problem," Katzenberg nodded with a somewhat wilted grin, quickly put away his expression again, and said seriously: "Eric, there is another thing, my bonus this year is also all left in the Clover Fund, and in the next acquisition process, I hope to be able to exchange it for the company's shares." ”

Katzenberg's compensation contract is a fixed annual salary of $750,000 plus a 2% annual net profit dividend from Firefly Group.

According to this contract, he will receive a huge dividend of $800 million from the total profit of the Firefly Group of $40 billion this year, which is enough to create a salary peak for professional managers again.

Now, Katzenberg voluntarily gave up this salary and chose to exchange it for shares of the Firefly Group in the future, which is tantamount to completely tying his own interests to the Firefly Group.

After all, Firefly Group is not a publicly traded company, and once it chooses to take a stake, it will be very difficult for Katzenberg to cash out, and if the company's performance declines, the stake will depreciate significantly. Moreover, Katzenberg's own shareholding ratio is unlikely to affect Eric's absolute control over the entire Firefly Group in any way.

It can be said that this already has a kind of meaning of voting.

After a deep look at Katzenberg, Eric said, "So, you've really decided?" ”

"Of course," Katzenberg smiled and nodded, "unless there's something wrong with you." ”

"I'm more than happy to."

Eric said, his left hand clenched into a fist and raised to the side, and Katzenberg clenched his fist in tacit agreement, touching Eric lightly.

Putting some charred meat skewers in front of him on the plate, Eric said, "Actually, I have another very important thing to discuss with you when I come here this time. I'm planning to set up the Williams Trust in the near future, and while I won't be injecting too much of the money into the foundation for the time being, I'm going to have to pre-determine the members of the Fund's Board of Trustees, Jeffrey, and I'd like you to join in. ”

Katzenberg was a little surprised, and even lowered his voice: "Eric, is this necessary, you are not yet thirty years old?" ”

Although there are many kinds of living trusts in the West, Katzenberg understands that the trust fund that Eric is about to set up must be in the nature of an estate trust. In other words, if something happens to Eric, his personal assets will be transferred directly to this trust.

When it comes to the inheritance of huge wealth, many wealthy people often make wills, and there will still be unexpected situations such as various children fighting for property and even wealth being divided by outsiders. The living trust model can avoid the possibility of changes in the inheritance of assets after the settlor's death to the greatest extent.

However, under normal circumstances, only the elderly and wealthy people such as Lei Shidong and Murdoch will begin to set up family trusts.

Feeling Katzenberg's concerned tone, Eric was very calm, and said, "Jeffrey, you should understand that the wealth I have now is completely an outlier in this world. If no one covets this, it is completely impossible. So, I hope that even if something unexpected happens, the whole firefly system will not collapse because of it. So, Jeffrey, would you like to join the Council? ”

Katzenberg completely forgot about the charred meat skewers that had been grilled in front of him, nodded solemnly, and said, "Eric, I promise you. ”