Chapter 1025

The signing ceremony of the share transfer agreement took place at Firefly Investment's headquarters in Rockefeller Center. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Chris is a big admirer of Warren Buffett's minimalist business philosophy, so in many ways he tries to follow this predecessor as much as possible. Although the company's headquarters was moved to Rockefeller Center two years ago, compared with other large companies, Firefly Investments, which has more than $200 billion in assets under control, still maintains a small team of about 50 people, and the entire company occupies less than half of the office space of Building 50 of Rockefeller Center.

In comparison, Morgan Stanley owns 27 floors of office space from the 47th to the 74th floors of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The reason why Eric noticed this was because the last time he moved his office, Chris asked Eric if he wanted to move to the same building with Morgan Stanley, so that it would be easier for the two parties to work together, and Eric certainly couldn't agree.

However, Eric remembers that on the day of the 911 incident, almost all Morgan Stanley employees were evacuated safely, and only six of the nearly 3,000 employees died unexpectedly in the process, all of which were said to be attributed to a certain security director of the company, which has to be said to be a 'miracle'.

The signing ceremony was very simple, this batch of 16.5 million shares was taken over by Morgan Stanley, Vanguard Group and other seven other shareholders of AOL for $4 billion, and the processes such as payment settlement, shareholding structure change and filing with the SEC took another week to complete.

There have been so many rumors about AOL in recent times, and this equity transfer is the perfect time to respond to all the rumors lately.

Firefly Investment's staff room was temporarily set up as the scene of the press conference, and after the signing process was over, Eric, Chris, Steve Case, and John Mark sat on the stage together, no long tables, very simple four chairs, and one of Chris's deputies temporarily played the role of host, and the audience was packed with hundreds of media reporters.

After clarifying and responding to some of the rumors related to Firefly Investments and AOL through a simple and well-established interactive process, the press conference went into free time for questions.

The host clicked on a reporter, and the other party got up and directly aimed at Eric: "Mr. Williams, I'm a reporter from the Wall Street Journal, since Firefly Investment is optimistic about the future of Nasdaq and AOL, why do you insist on reducing your holdings?" ”

As soon as the words of the "Wall Street Journal" reporter came out, all the reporters on the scene cheered up and looked over.

Although there is a contradiction between the two sides some time ago to pave the way, judging from the current situation, in any case, the behavior of Firefly Investment selling at a low price is too much like a rush to cash out after feeling the crisis. Although the Nasdaq index has become stronger and stronger during this period, and many investors have gradually given up their worries, Wall Street has never lacked bears on the Nasdaq index.

Giving Chris a reassuring look at Chris, who wanted to help him block this problem, Eric raised the microphone and said, "Actually, Firefly Investment's reduction in AOL stocks has nothing to do with the overall trend of the technology stock market. Firefly Investments did this only because AOL's established development strategy could not complement Firefly Investment's other industries, so we chose to withdraw and focus more on other businesses. Firefly Investment is also a major shareholder in technology companies such as Cisco, Sprint, Qualcomm and Nokia. If you're not bullish on tech stocks, you'd probably see Firefly investing in other companies by now, but in fact, over the years, Firefly has never sold a single stock of Cisco, Sprint, etc. ”

After Eric finished speaking, many people at the scene showed thoughtful expressions on their expressions. The reporter from the Wall Street Journal just now wanted to refute it, but for a while he couldn't find a suitable reason.

The achievements of Firefly Investment in the field of new technology in recent years are obvious to all, and now, Firefly Investment has not given up on any other new technology company, but has reduced its holdings of AOL stocks, even if the reason really has nothing to do with the Nasdaq market bubble, but Firefly's move is still worth pondering.

The moderator didn't let the reporter continue to ask questions, and quickly ordered another one.

"Mr. Williams, I'm a journalist for Forbes magazine. After completing the 25% stake in AOL, Firefly Investment will receive a huge amount of tens of billions of dollars, what are your investment plans for the next step, will you continue to focus on the high-tech field? ”

"We don't have a detailed plan for this fund yet, but the traditional industries have basically formed a relatively stable industrial pattern, and Firefly is also very unfamiliar with these fields, so it is certain to focus on new technology fields with more opportunities and greater development potential."

In fact, Eric and Chris have already discussed where the money will go next.

Although it will not enter the stock market in the short term, which is already very much in the bubble, it is absolutely impossible for the nearly $10 billion capital to be simply put in the bank to eat interest.

Because the funds will be used again in about two years, Eric plans to invest in various types of short-term convertible bonds, compared to the bank's interest rate of less than 3% per annum, investing in bonds is still no problem to get 5% per year, and this investment can generally be converted into cash again within 12 months.

However, it is certainly impossible to be honest with these reporters in front of him, so Eric has to be sloppy, he actually did not lie to these people in front of him, but to invest in the technology field again at least until the technology stock bubble bursts after 2000, when it is a good time to buy the bottom at a low price.

Eric's chances of appearing in front of the media were so rare that the reporters on the scene asked Eric a series of questions, and finally the topic even turned to the movie he was filming, only to be jokingly refused to respond, and the reporters finally turned their attention to several other people.

After the press conference, some trivial matters were dealt with, and before I knew it, it was already evening.

To celebrate the successful completion of the deal, John Mark leased the Window of the World restaurant on the top floor of the Twin Towers in the name of Morgan Stanley.

In the Window of the World restaurant, after dealing with an executive of First Boston, Chris and Eric walked to the window overlooking the whole of Manhattan, looked at the city with lights under their feet and said with a smile: "First Boston also wants 5 million shares, if we raise the price a little now, maybe we can sell them all." ”

"Think of it as an IPO," Eric instinctively resisted the hapless high-rise building under his feet, but his face didn't show it, holding a glass of red wine in one hand and putting the other in his pocket, "There's no need to make a fuss now, let's get the $10 billion first." ”

Although AOL's current share price is $10 billion to sell 25% of the shares, Firefly Investments is equivalent to giving up about $2 billion. But in fact, in the whole process, Firefly Investment is definitely the one with the most lucrative returns.

After all, according to Eric's memory of development, from the birth to the fall of AOL, all the profits generated in more than ten years combined, did not exceed $10 billion.

These investment institutions, which now think that they have taken advantage of the shares from Firefly Investment, can resist the temptation of a rapid rise in stock prices and sell their stocks immediately after half a year, and they will definitely be able to obtain huge returns. But Eric is sure that there will definitely be a large number of people who will not be able to suppress the greed in their hearts, and will not wake up until the collapse of the NASDAQ, but regret it too late.

Some people always ask where the money lost by shareholders after the stock market crash goes, but in fact, it is made by those who are willing to withdraw in time.

"As things stand, the other 15% of the shares will be sold in the next month, and I'll pick out a list of the most recently issued high-quality bonds, and if the Firefly Group's bonds aren't sold, we can buy some of our own. When do you plan to go back to Los Angeles? ”

Eric said: "Tomorrow afternoon, the filming of "Gravity" will continue on Monday. ”

Chris nodded and said, "By the way, you really invested $1.6 billion in promoting 3D and IMAX movies?" ”

"Yes," Eric said with a relaxed smile, "According to the preliminary plan, the average renovation cost of 4,000 3D screens in the world is 300,000 US dollars, and Jeffrey is discussing the details of cooperation with major theaters." There are a total of 200 IMAX theaters in North America and overseas, and we plan to operate them ourselves, because of the location, the cost of this is not very certain, and the average is $4 million per theater, so it is $1.6 billion. ”

Chris listened attentively, shook his head at the end, and said, "It's too risky. ”

"When you've seen Gravity in production, you probably won't think so," Eric said confidently, "and I can afford to take the risk now." ”

While the two were talking, John Mark brought another middle-aged man over, and Eric and Chris stopped talking and greeted them politely.

After a while, Eric left the party early at nine o'clock.

Caroline and Mayer were sent to their apartment on Sixth Avenue, and after some instructions, Eric rushed to East Hampton overnight, leaving tomorrow afternoon, and sure he would still have to see the children.

It was already eleven o'clock in the evening when we arrived at East Hampton, and the car slowly drove into the waterfront manor, and Joanna was already waiting in the courtyard with a maid.

Seeing Eric get out of the car, Joanna walked over with these joys in her expression and called softly, "Eric." ”

Eric hugged Joanna, kissed her on the lips, and said, "Are the little ones asleep?" ”

Joanna smiled and nodded, and instructed the maid beside her to take Eric's bodyguards to the villa next to her, and then walked into the main villa with Eric.

Thoughtfully helping Eric hang his coat on the hanger, Joanna turned to see that Eric had already changed his shoes, and naturally walked towards the children's bedroom with him, while whispering: "Xia Xia and Kevin fell asleep at nine o'clock, Emma only fell asleep for a long time, and the little one is getting naughty and naughty." ”

"Then I'll teach her a good lesson tomorrow," Eric laughed, and Joanna gently pushed open a bedroom, without turning on the light, and by the light in the hallway, a small figure could be seen lying on a small bed.

Approaching, Joanna carefully helped Hawaii tidy up the blanket on her body, gently touched her daughter's delicate face, and withdrew her hand, seeing that Eric was about to reach over with his big rough hand, she glanced at him and stretched out her hand to block it.

Eric had to bow his head and kiss his daughter lightly on the forehead, and watched quietly for a while before leaving the room.

As they got older, all three little ones already had their own rooms.

Eric followed Joanna to see Kevin and Emma again, and the two went upstairs together.

"Didn't Vicky say that she would concentrate on taking care of Kevin in the future, why did she go to film again?" In the bedroom on the second floor, Eric took off his shirt and asked with some dissatisfaction.

Joanna helped Eric put the bath water in the bathroom, and said, "It's just a small role, it's done in a week, and you don't know Vicky's temperament, she can't stand staying at home all the time to watch the children." ”

Eric said, took off his trousers and threw them on the big bed, walked into the bathroom, and said, "Then there's no need to go to filming, and go to Vancouver to do something else." ”

"Heh, I can't control her, next time I come back, you can tell her."

"Looks like we need to teach a good lesson," Eric said with a smile, stepping into the bathtub and seeing that Joanna was about to get up and leave, he reached out and hugged the woman without taking off her clothes.

"You, your clothes are wet," Joanna struggled a little, and then leaned into Eric's arms, feeling the man kiss between her neck.

……

……

Joanna helped Eric put the bath water in the bathroom, and said, "It's just a small role, it's done in a week, and you don't know Vicky's temperament, she can't stand staying at home all the time to watch the children." ”

Eric said, took off his trousers and threw them on the big bed, walked into the bathroom, and said, "Then there's no need to go to filming, and go to Vancouver to do something else." ”

"Heh, I can't control her, next time I come back, you can tell her."

"Looks like we need to teach a good lesson," Eric said with a smile, stepping into the bathtub and seeing that Joanna was about to get up and leave, he reached out and hugged the woman without taking off her clothes.

"You, your clothes are wet," Joanna struggled a little, and then leaned into Eric's arms, feeling the man kiss between her neck.

……