"Robert, speaking of which, it's been almost half a year since we first met, right?"

Robert Shay put down his coffee cup, looked at Eric and nodded, "Almost." ”

"Remember the conversation we had when we first met?"

Robert looked up and said, "We should have said a lot at that time, which ones do you mean?"

Eric didn't care about Robert Shay's pretense of confusion and reminded, "I told you that we don't have much time left. ”

Robert Shay looked out the window at the sea, fell silent, and lowered his head to pick up his coffee cup again.

Eric, however, continued: "I said at the time that the merger of media groups and film companies has begun, and if we don't seize the opportunity of these last few years, then when this merger trend passes, we will completely lose the opportunity to grow and develop, and we will only become vassals of the major media groups in the future." ”

Robert Shea remained silent.

Eric sighed lightly, there were some things he couldn't tell Robert Shea, in his memory, twenty years later, more than 90% of the media channels in North America were controlled by the six media giants, if this happened twenty years later, Eric basically had no room for resistance, but to compromise.

But now it is different, and now the control of the American media is not a high degree of monopoly, but is in the hands of more than 50 large and small media companies. Therefore, even if all the media resources in the hands of several major film companies are gathered, it is impossible to control more than one-third of the public opinion channels.

So Eric wasn't completely powerless to fight back, but. He had been waiting, waiting for his enemies to show off their last weapons. He can fight back. The four lawsuits this time will hit his prestige again. But like the scandal at the beginning, it will not cause him fundamental damage, after all, although he is a public figure now, he is not a public figure who purely relies on fame to eat, even if it is because of this turmoil that he can't pick up the guide tube in a short time, but he can still dominate the production of movies through other means.

Hence the one he does now. It's all about saving fireflies.

Fireflies are like his personal city, as long as there is this foundation, he can develop the strength to conquer the city, and once he loses the firefly, then even if he has a skill, he can't show it anymore, at most he can only mention other people's cities to take care of affairs, and he will never be the master.

The two of them were silent for a moment before Robert Shay spoke first, "Eric, I heard that this is to calm the matter. You might have to use a lot of money?"

"Okay," Eric nodded, slightly guessing Robert Shay's intentions.

Robert Shay didn't keep Eric waiting. He said: "The $60 million you paid me last time, plus the dividends of the new line at the end of the year, although I spent part of it on investment, I can still come up with almost $60 million." ”

This time it was Eric's turn to be silent, 60 million, no more, no less.

"Eric, 15% is too little, it doesn't give me much security. I think at least 25%. ”

Eric bowed his head. Without saying a word, he looked at the three palm lines in his palm.

Which line of business is it?

It must be the longest one.

After thinking for a moment, Eric finally looked up. He said to Robert Shea, "I promise you. ”

The two discussed the details, and Robert Shay left satisfied.

When Robert Shay left, Eric sighed in disappointment, he originally wanted to merge Pixar Studios and Flower Pictures, which had the rights to adapt many of the best-selling movies from his previous life, under the Firefly, but now it seems that it is better not to do so.

Because of John Barrymore's injury, the trial of this case had to be postponed until a week later, and in the other three lawsuits, Eric did not have to appear in person, and left it entirely to his own legal team.

However, although he tried his best to avoid appearing in the public eye at this time, there was one thing that he had to appear.

On January 20, the 47th American Television and Movie Golden Globe Awards were held at the Hollywood Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

And Firefly got a total of 11 nominations for "Pretty Woman", "Dark War", "Steel Magnolia" and "Island Cry" and "Friends" as a TV series, which involves Eric himself, there are two Best Screenplay Awards for "Dark War" and "Island Cry", and there is no Best Director at the Golden Globe Awards, otherwise Eric can at least get one more nomination.

If it weren't for this turmoil, Eric, who was not yet 20 years old and received two nominations at the same ceremony, would undoubtedly be one of the most glamorous on the red carpet. Although Eric also considered missing the Golden Globe ceremony, however, doing so would be tantamount to showing weakness to the enemies behind him, and Eric finally stepped on the red carpet.

This time, Eric didn't bring any female companions, but was alone.

After a media interview, Eric paused and gave a confident smile and let the flash light go on frantically.

"Eric, Eric, can you say two words?" a reporter shouted at this time.

Eric smiled noncommittally, neither agreeing nor denying. If the other party asks any difficult questions, Eric makes up his mind to leave.

"Eric, you haven't shown up all this time, so what are you doing in Malibu Manor, are you preparing a new script?"

Eric was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect the other party to ask such a question, and now in this shape, what mood did he have to think about the script. However, since the question is not too scathing, Eric replied: "I just signed up for a music company and may release a single in a while." ”

"Eric, can you tell us about the theme of the single?"

"Mr. Williams, what's the name of the music company?"

"Eric, are you going to give up directing movies and make music?"

Eric wasn't going to answer any more questions, and was about to leave when he heard the last question. still rolled his eyes and said: "It's just a ticket, my main focus will always be on the movie." ”

With that, Eric ignored the reporters. Walk straight to the end of the red carpet.

Compared to last year, Eric's achievements this year are even more impressive. But there were obviously a lot fewer people who came to say hello, and most of them were men who knew him, as for the actresses present, except for Julia, Virginia and Nicole, who nodded to him according to Eric's instructions in advance, the other actresses were afraid of Eric's current reputation, and none of them dared to come forward to talk to Eric.

Eric didn't care either, it was everyone's instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm.

Waiting period. There are still stars appearing on the red carpet one after another.

About ten minutes later, amid the cheers of fans, Eric saw Aniston in a white bandeau dress come over, pose for a while in the media area, and then come to the lounge.

The eyes of the two met unsurprisingly, and the reporters who were paying attention to the situation also raised their cameras, expecting the breakup couple to make a newsworthy act.

"Jenny......" Eric shouted softly, unmoved, and after that day, Eric tried to contact Aniston more than once. But the chick seemed to be determined this time, and never answered any of his calls, and there was no response to the letters sent. The flowers sent were also returned.

Aniston only looked at Eric's face for less than two seconds before quickly turning away and casually walking in the opposite direction of Eric.

Eric sighed, he didn't dare to come up on such an occasion, he didn't care too much about his reputation, but for Aniston's sake.

During this time, because Aniston 'dissociated' the relationship with him on the day of the incident, among the several women who were close, only Aniston basically did not suffer any attacks. If that's when he comes up. If there is news that the two are suspected of being reunited, it will definitely bring trouble to the little girl.

"Eric. Are you alright?", noticing Eric's depressed expression, Jonathan Demy, who was standing next to him, comforted him.

Eric shook his head, "It's fine. ”

Tom Hanks on the other side also said, "Eric. I believe that a qiē will pass. ”

"Of course. Eric smiled confidently.

……

In the ceremonial hall, Eric sat at the table of "Island Cry", because this table was arranged relatively late, Eric would feel more comfortable and would not attract much attention.

Of course, the world will never revolve around someone, therefore, the turmoil that Eric is encountering has not affected the lively atmosphere of this year's Golden Globe Awards in the slightest, perhaps because he was instructed in advance, the host of this year did not ridicule Eric, and during the entire award process, Eric's name was not even mentioned, and the camera rarely swept to the table where Eric was sitting.

Eric also gradually realizes that someone is planning to treat himself coldly. Well, although firefly-related movies and TV series have received 11 nominations tonight, they will definitely not get any heavyweight awards.

Things turned out to be as Eric expected, because "Smell a Woman" missed the Golden Globe nomination because of its release time, so the more important ones such as "Pretty Woman" Best Picture in the Musical Comedy category and "Steel Magnolia" Best Picture in the Drama category all went to other houses without exception. And the two Best Screenplay nominations related to Eric also failed. Even the two nominations that were originally the most likely, and Julia had won in her previous life, were nothing, not to mention Virginia's nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series with "Island Cry", and it fell on Michelle Pfeiffer, the heroine of a "Baker Brothers" that Eric has no memory of.

In the end, Eric had no hope that all 11 nominations would be lost, but when it was the turn of the TV series to win the Best Actress in a Musical Comedy category, Aniston unexpectedly won Best Actress.

Looking at the chick on the podium who said with a faint surprise that he didn't mention his acceptance speech at all, a sneer appeared on the corner of Eric's mouth, what is this, is it to warn the women close to him that as long as he breaks with Eric Williams, he can win the award?

After the two-hour ceremony, Eric had no intention of attending the subsequent pie. Just as he was leaving, a strange waiter handed him an envelope.

Eric got into the car back to Malibu Manor before opening the envelope.

There was only one piece of paper inside. It was written a series of numbers, 19900201.

Very easy to tell. It means February 1, 1990.

Eric didn't have to think much to know that this was an ultimatum given to him by the manipulator behind this turmoil.

It's really unbearable, Eric thought to himself, in his previous life, Michael Jackson had been attacked by the media for three months, and he had only been a month, and he hadn't broken down yet, so he was about to use a 'killer move'?

Remembering Michael Jackson. Eric couldn't help but find that his current experience has many similarities with his previous life Michael Jackson.

The reason why Michael Jackson was attacked on such a large scale in 93 was not only because of his black identity, but also because he jumped from his original status as a contracted singer to the position of the boss of Sony Records in one fell swoop, not only got 50% of the shares of Sony Records, but also owned the copyrights to the songs of famous superstars such as The Beatles and Elvis.

In the 90s, the record industry was still thriving, and the rights to these songs alone were worth more than a billion dollars, not to mention a 50% stake in Sony Records.

And all of this and. It's unbearable for the giants of the record industry and for the predominantly white Western world.

So, after an overwhelming turmoil. Michael Jackson fell silent.

More than a decade later, in 2009, Michael Jackson turned 50 years old and planned to hold a 50-concert world tour to commemorate the occasion. Originally, many people thought that the 50-year-old pop musician would definitely not be as glamorous as before, but things are not as many people imagined, with a total of more than 750,000 concert tickets, after the start of bookings. It was swept away by fans around the world in just a few hours, and it turned out. The Emperor Superstar is still the Emperor Superstar.

So, a few days before the start of the much-anticipated 50 concerts. A generation of emperor superstars died inexplicably.

Thinking of this, Eric shuddered, glad that he had not been reborn into a black man. Therefore, although he is now being ostracized by several giants, he has not been discriminated against from the bottom of his heart by the public.

After the Golden Globe Award, Eric and Robert Shea quickly signed a contract to transfer 10% of Firefly's shares again, and at the same time directly transferred the $60 million paid by Robert Shea into the account of an investment company in New York.

Although both Jeffrey and Chris objected to this, hoping that Eric would leave a sum of cash in case of emergency, Eric was adamant and asked Chris to use the $60 million plus the $10 million that had already been received, for a total of $70 million, to take as many shares of Cisco as possible.

Before this turmoil, Eric had not paid much attention to money, and he felt that as long as he developed steadily, he would definitely reach the top step by step in the future.

But after the turmoil, Eric discovered that in this world of capital, money is the most important thing, it is like a talisman, if Eric was a billionaire with billions of dollars before, no matter how young he is, now these people would not dare to attack him like this.

Time passed day by day, enduring the bombardment of newspapers and media every day, Eric can also hear good news from time to time, because most investment institutions are not very optimistic about Cisco's prospects, and Cisco's current market value is only $225 million, therefore, under Chris's price offensive, some investment institutions that have decided to buy Cisco shares have transferred their subscription shares.

At the end of January, 70 million US dollars were all spent, and a total of 23% of Cisco's shares were taken, although according to Cisco's market value of 225 million US dollars, 70 million to get 23% of the shares is simply a loss, but if it is calculated according to the market value of 500 billion US dollars at the peak of Cisco, the value of this equity will be astronomical.

Of course, Eric also knows that as Cisco grows, this stake will definitely be gradually diluted, but as long as it can maintain about 10% of the stake in the end, it will still be a huge wealth in the future.

While Chris spent all $70 million, February 1 finally came, and the four lawsuits were still entangled at the same time. The Los Angeles branch of the Federal Trade Investigation Commission, an antitrust investigation agency in the United States, held a press conference announcing that it would investigate the alleged monopolistic behavior of Firefly and United Elite Brokerage (UTA).

As soon as the news came out, public opinion was in an uproar again. All sorts of analyses soon appeared in the newspapers.

In the Malibu estate, Edward Lewis hurried into the living room. Sit down across from Eric, where there were already several people in the living room, including Jeffrey, Robert Shea, and UTA CEO Kapoor Sid.

"Edward, let's talk about the situation first?" said Eric, pouring Edward Lewis himself a cup of coffee.

Edward took a sip of his coffee before taking out a thick stack of buns and putting them on the coffee table, taking out one of them and saying, "Eric." Roughly like this, the Federal Trade Investigation Commission has begun to investigate and collect evidence on Firefly and UTA, and if convicted, you may face a hefty fine in addition to selling all of your shares in UTA. ”

"How much will this fine be?" Eric asked his biggest concern, Columbia and Fox teamed up to owe the Firefly a huge share of the money, and Eric realized that the final killer must have something to do with money.

Edward Lewis found another document and said: "According to the provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law, under normal circumstances, the penalty is based on 20% of the revenue generated by the offending enterprise as a result of monopolistic behavior. But this number is not fixed. And it's quite flexible, and you don't even have to pay a penny fine if you do it well. Just transfer the UTA shares in your hand, but if you ......"

"Edward, I'm sorry to interrupt you, you know, we all don't know much about the relevant laws, so you can just say how much I might have to pay for it. ”

"Well, well," said Edward Lewis, "according to the Firefly and UTA's violations." You may have to pay a fine of up to $160 million. ”

Eric jumped: "How can it be so much, UTA's profit today is only a few million?"

Edward explained, "Eric. It's not your algorithm, you should put UTA and Fireflies together. Because before, UTA and Fireflies were your personal property. And I got some information from Ms. Carolyn Elliott, and you're totaling more than $400 million this year. Add to that the revenue that the five movies that are still in theaters may bring, because the violations of UTA and Firefly are not strict, so there is no possibility of a 20% increase in the base amount, so the total amount of fines you have to pay will probably reach up to 160 million. ”

Eric was stunned and asked, "How long is the time limit for the fine to be collected?"

Edward knew what Eric was asking, and said, "As it stands, this lawsuit won't last more than three months, and after that, you have three months to pay the fine, by the way, Eric, I just emphasized to you, $160 million is only the worst possible scenario, in fact, under normal circumstances, the fine will be much lower than that, or even not have to pay." ”

"Half a year," Eric muttered to himself, he didn't ask Edward what would happen if he didn't pay the fine when due, it was clear that it was nothing more than an asset freeze and then an auction. What his assets are, it's just fireflies.

And, although the profits from these films at the end of the year may be far more than $160 million, Eric is sure that after these movies are released, he will not be able to get this money except for a lawsuit. And by the time the lawsuit is won, half a year is estimated to have passed.

Since the matter is irreparable, Eric no longer suffers from gains and losses, and says to several people around him: "Since it has reached this point, it is time for us to fight back." ”

Jeffrey had been holding his breath for a long time, because Eric lacked trust in the others, so far, only Jeffrey was present to know about the tape he left before: "Eric, what do you need us to do, just say it?" (to be continued)