Manhattan, AOL's headquarters. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

At the end of the signing ceremony, Steve Keys was finally greatly relieved.

With the completion of this equity transaction, the pressure that the Firefly system has long put on Steve Keys is finally gone.

As long as the merger between AOL and Time Warner goes smoothly, the 7.6% stake held by Firefly Investment will be reduced again. The new AOL-Time Warner Group will become a mass-owned company from the ground up. Without a major shareholder with strong shareholdings and influence, control of the new company will be fully in the hands of the board of directors and management.

As the future chairman and CEO of the new company, there is no doubt that Steve Keys will be at the head of the soon-to-be-born integrated media giant.

Every time he thinks about this, Steve Keys can't help but feel a little more complacent. He believes that as long as the merger is completed, AOL-Time Warner Group will definitely surpass Yahoo and become the leading Internet media giant in North America, driven by the synergy effect of one plus one is greater than two.

As the waiter waited for him to serve champagne to the crowd, Steve Keys took a glass of wine and walked to the heads of several Wall Street investment funds who had helped him this time.

After negotiations, the share price for the equity transfer was finally determined to be $93, which is only $0.69 lower than the average AOL share price in the most recent week. AOL's stock has undergone a stock split, with a total share capital of 825 million shares and a Clover fund holding about 25.57 million shares, bringing the deal to $2.378 billion at a $93 trading price.

Steve Keys originally hoped that Eric would be able to make a discount like the previous deals, but Eric was very resolute this time, agreeing to erase a dispensable fraction of the stock price, and the profit scale was less than 1% of the stock price, which basically means no concession at all.

Recently, as the Nasdaq index has exceeded 2,800 points, Wall Street's fears of the Nasdaq crash have also become stronger, and many investment institutions are trying to sell technology stocks to cash out. If it weren't for the optimism about the development potential of AOL after the merger with Time Warner, Wall Street would not have made a move at all this time.

Eric was reluctant to budge, but Steve Case had no choice, and after promising an additional board seat, several Wall Street investment funds finally agreed to take over the shares held by Clover.

The New York Times interview at the end of last year, coupled with the dispute over the transaction price, Steve Case and Eric's good relationship since the Firefly system invested in AOL has completely dissipated, although AOL and Yahoo still have some cooperation, but it is conceivable that the relationship between the two sides will be more inclined to competition and confrontation in the future.

Therefore, at the simple reception after the signing ceremony, Steve Case didn't even bother to maintain a superficial harmony, and while chatting and laughing with the heads of several Wall Street funds, he completely regarded the representatives of the Firefly system who participated in the signing ceremony as passers-by.

Eric could quite understand Steve Case's emotions, and if this kind of thing happened to him, he might not be able to maintain his demeanor.

However, since the other party regarded himself as a passerby, Eric was not bored enough to continue to stay, and soon left with Chris and the others.

Since selling AOL shares last year, Eric has decided to use all the funds he cashed out in the next year or two to invest in short-term convertible bonds that are sufficient to preserve and insure their value, and the funds obtained this time do not need to be discussed too much. The Nasdaq market has fallen into a state of complete elusive madness, and although Eric is confident that the Nasdaq is out of the curve it once was, and tries to suppress as much as possible from selling the shares hoarded by the Clover Fund in advance, he does not dare to enter the market to buy technology stocks at this time.

Today happens to be the last day of New York Fashion Week, and Giselle will be the finale of Calvin-Klein's fashion week closing show tonight, and Eric agrees to give her a show.

However, the closing show started at six o'clock in the evening, and it was only two o'clock in the afternoon, and after Eric and Chris parted, they rushed to a building on 46th Street, where Cindy and Linda's television production company was located.

Seeing Eric appear, the bright blonde at the front desk personally led him to the door of a conference room, and saw that Eric never said anything, so he turned away unwillingly.

Eric pushed open the door and found that Linda was not there, but another supermodel, Tyra Banks, was sitting at the conference table with Cindy and discussing something in a low voice.

Eric gently hugged the two girls, smiled and asked Tyra Banks, "Tyra, didn't you have a catwalk today?"

"No," Tyra Banks said, shaking her head, but added pointedly, "we can't compete with the young people of now." ”

Eric just smiled, sat down at the conference table, looked at the materials on the table, and said, "What are you discussing, and what about Linda?"

"Tyra's talk show plan," Cindy sat down next to Eric and said, "Linda is outside, there was a call to find her, didn't you see?"

Before Eric could shake his head, the door was pushed open again, and Linda Ivangolinsta, still holding her phone, walked in. Tyra Banks had just sat down on the other side of Eric when she saw Linda walk straight to her place, so she had to step aside.

Before she sat down, Linda began to 'ask questions': "You guy, you seduced the girl in our company as soon as you came, and you didn't even see me standing nearby, and I have already fired her." ”

Eric said helplessly: "Is it really good for you to be the boss like this?"

"Hmph," Linda snorted lightly, changed her style in a blink of an eye, and said, "Cindy and I have seen the trailer of "Iron Man" played by you, although the beard is ugly, but, Eric, you are really suitable for dyeing your hair dark, blonde hair does not look mature at all." ”

Eric shook his head, "I don't like dyeing my hair. ”

After a few gossip, Tyra Banks took her leave early, and Linda excitedly found a laptop and showed Eric her digital account: "$168 million, I think that's enough for me to spend a lifetime." However, Cindy's is even more terrifying, more than 280 million US dollars, I am angry when I think about it, you didn't tell me when you instructed Cindy to invest, otherwise I would definitely be richer than her now. ”

During this time, following Eric's advice, Cindy and Linda both sold off all the stocks they held, and the two women also became a rare supermodel in the fashion industry with a net worth of more than 100 million.

Although the income of top supermodels has increased significantly in recent years, even if the income that can be expected in the future is counted, there are very few who can accumulate a net worth of more than 100 million yuan in the end, and just this point allows Cindy and Linda to confirm their position as the big sisters in the fashion industry in the long run.

"That's good," Eric said with a smile, looking at the laptop screen, "Have you figured out what to do next?"

Linda said, "No, can you help us plan it?"

Eric thought about it seriously with one hand on his cheek, then shook his head and said with a smile: "It's too little, I can't do anything, so let's keep it as pocket money." ”

Hearing Eric's words, Linda, who was in excitement, finally remembered the terrifying net worth of the man in front of her, hugged Eric's arm and shook it dissatisfiedly, and said: "I've read the report, many media say that more than half of the assets in your name are just a bunch of bubbles, and it's not a big deal." ”

The new Forbes rich list will be released next month, and Eric really hopes that everyone will think this way by then, and the pressure on him will definitely be reduced a lot.

As a joke, Eric seriously helped the two girls to do investment consulting.

With a total of less than $500 million, it is indeed too little for Eric, and most of the projects in the Firefly system that require Eric's personal attention, such as the '4200' plan that is being promoted, or the Firefly Studios Park that has already begun to be built, cannot be supported by just $500 million.

However, if it is not compared with Firefly Group, this amount of money is definitely a huge amount of money that cannot be ignored for most companies in the world.

was discussing carefully with the two girls, Eric's mobile phone rang, glanced at the caller ID, Eric did not avoid it, smiled and answered the phone and leaned into his ear: "Hi, Giselle...... Now, it's nothing, I'm on Cindy's side...... Of course, I'll definitely be on time, and I'll take Cindy and Linda with me to cheer you on...... Well, that's it, goodbye. ”

After Eric and Giselle finished speaking, they just hung up the phone when Linda pouted and said, "I didn't promise to go and cheer her on." ”

Eric glanced at Linda's expression and turned to Cindy, "You guys had a fight with Giselle?"

"No," Cindy said, shaking her head, "but you can't expect us to get along with them, can you?"

"You, they," Eric said with a keen smile as he grasped the two keywords, "sounds like a story." ”

Cindy just laughed and didn't say anything.

Linda couldn't hide her words and said, "You don't know, your little Brazilian honey is amazing now." A few months ago, WM launched a newcomer, and the foundation is very good. It's just that WM designed her to develop exactly the same route as Bündchen, which is to follow a healthy and natural image style, and they also compared her to Bündchen in a magazine, and then the girl was unlucky. ”

There's something Eric doesn't understand, what does WM mean?

Looking at Cindy, the girl picked up the pen very understandingly, and wrote two words in the margin of a document: Women-Management.

WM, Women-Management, a women-management company.

It should be a model agency, but its scale and reputation can't be compared with Elite, IMG, Ford, and other giants in the modeling agency.

Linda caught a glimpse of Cindy's small movements and said, "WM is Women-Management, this needs to be explained, Kate Moss's North American brokerage contract is in this company, but now that Hailuo is out of fashion because of the style of beautiful women, they are in a hurry to transform." Hmm, where did I just go?"

Eric laughed, "That girl is out of luck. ”

"That's right," Linda nodded, "WM originally arranged 15 shows for that girl at this New York Fashion Week, guess how many she ended up walking?"

"Zero?"

Linda slapped Eric lightly on the shoulder, and then raised three fingers: "3 Oh, I heard that after that girl knew that her Dior opening was snatched away, she collapsed directly, so good." ”

Eric looked at Linda with a sad little expression, but he didn't feel much in his heart.

He is actually a very protective person, and when his own kitten fights with other people's families, it is impossible to favor outsiders, right?

Moreover, Eric has always liked women with strong personalities, and women with too soft temperaments can't stay by his side for long. It's like riding a horse, and the most powerful knight will naturally choose a fiery horse with a fiery personality.

Reaching out and pinching Linda's chin, Eric smiled, "Don't be so pitiful, haven't you bullied others?"

"No," Linda shook her head unashamedly, and then pointed at Cindy again, and began to betray the revolution: "SHE DID THIS, IN THE FALL SHOW OF THIERRY-MUGLER IN '91, SHE DIRECTLY PUSHED UP WITH OTHER MODELS ON THE CATWALK, RUINING THE WHOLE SHOW." HEHE, I REMEMBER THAT TIME THE DESIGNERS OF THIERRY-MUGLER WERE ALL ANGRY AND CRIED. ”

Hearing Linda digging into her black history, Cindy looked indifferent and said, "Everyone knows that Naomi Campbell picked it up first, and the scene was already chaotic when I walked on the runway." ”

Linda said: "Then the next day's fashion news was full of 'Cindy Crawford pushing other models'. ”

Cindy glanced at her proudly: "This shows that I am the most famous, and I am not comparable to a kitten or a puppy." ”

The two women quarreled for a few words, and Linda suddenly became interested again, took Eric's arm and said, "By the way, I am indeed going to give your Brazilian little honey tonight, CK also invited the girl this time, it seems that she has not heard the news that she was excluded, and the scene must be very lively at that time, maybe there will be a fight." ”

Linda gloated in her office on 42nd Street, and in Bryant Park, the tent where the CK closing show was about to take place, the scene was already very lively.

Seeing Giselle hang up Eric Williams' phone, Tom Corey, the director of CK operations in charge of the show, said to the girl who was sitting at the makeup table and letting the makeup artist touch up her makeup: "Giselle, it's just a very inconspicuous appearance, everyone won't notice her at all, and it's too late to adjust now, so you just treat her as if she doesn't exist, okay?"

Giselle didn't give in at all, looked behind him through the makeup mirror, and said: "She shouldn't exist in the first place, you decide for yourself, either I quit, Fell and Qusi and they also quit with me, or, you let her disappear, I don't want to see her backstage." ”

Tom Corey thought for a moment and said, "In this way, I will let her put on makeup somewhere else alone, and leave immediately after she is done, and she will never appear in front of you." ”

Giselle waved his hand to signal the makeup artist to go away first, turned his head to look at Tom Corey, the girl was obviously sitting, but she looked condescending, and said: "Tom, this is the closing show, I really don't want to make trouble, but, Eric will come over tonight, you should understand what I mean, I don't want to see a Madou with a similar style to me appear on the catwalk, this matter is not negotiable." ”