Firefly Studios, sitting in the lounge area next to the toughened glass curtain wall on the second floor of the office LOFT in the digital domain, Robert Pittman, president of AOL, looked at the burning clouds that were gradually dyed red in the sky, but he did not feel the joy of seeing this magnificent sunset scene in his heart .
Eric's article interviewed by The New York Times a few days ago caused heated discussions in countless media around the world, and at the same time, it once again injected a shot in the arm for the already severely bubbled new technology industry. Even though more than a week has passed, the influence of this interview has not dissipated. However, as one of the most important new technology companies in Nasdaq, America Online, which should have benefited from this interview, was tossed about because of some of Eric’s comments in the interview.
On the day Yahoo went public, AOL's share price was already dragged down. In the past week, under the influence of that interview, the market value of Yahoo successfully exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars, but the market value of AOL has fluctuated from the peak of 66.7 billion U.S. dollars, and has now slipped to the edge of 60 billion U.S. dollars.
However, this is not the worst.
In an exclusive interview, Eric suddenly revealed that Firefly Group's Clover Fund still holds as much as 3.1% of AOL's stock. Intensive merger talks.
Therefore, despite the anger in their hearts, AOL executives still had to face this problem.
However, when Steve Case made up his mind to contact Eric, Eric suddenly disappeared from the sight of the media. Not only did he leave Manhattan, he did not return to Los Angeles, and he was not even seen in London. Steve Case himself called Firefly and got a completely businesslike response of 'Mr. Williams is on vacation and doesn't want to be disturbed' which never happened when AOL was still part of the Firefly system over this situation.
In desperation, Steve Case had no choice but to ask Yahoo CEO Ian Grenier with the cheek. Although he got the news that Eric was in Maryland, he was also reminded not to disturb him. Jeff Case had to follow suit. Just when he heard the news of Eric's return to Los Angeles, he sent his deputy, Robert Pittman, to fly over overnight.
The orange-red fire cloud gradually turned dark red. Robert Pittman looked at his watch and was about to ask the staff again when Eric Williams got off work. When he got up, he saw Eric and another A casually dressed middle-aged man came out of an office at the end of the corridor, and Robert Pittman hurried up to greet him.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Williams," Robert Pittman greeted Eric patiently and politely despite his anxiety.
"Bob, you can still call me Eric." Eric smiled and shook hands with Robert Pittman, and then introduced: "This is Robert Byron, my special effects director for this movie."
Robert Pittman greeted Robert Byron again, and then said: "W... Eric, I have reserved a table at a nearby restaurant, can we have dinner together?"
Knowing that Eric and Robert Pittman had something to talk about, Robert Byron took the initiative to leave.
Eric waited for Robert Byron to go away, and said to Robert Pittman: "I will attend a cocktail party later, let's eat on the big boat next door."
Robert Pittman just wanted to get a chance to negotiate with Eric, so naturally he would not object.
The two rushed to the restaurant on the big ship next door, and as soon as they sat down, Robert Pittman couldn't wait to say: "Eric, AOL wants to buy back the 3.1% shares held by the Clover Fund, what price do you think is appropriate? "
Eric didn't answer Robert Pittman's words, and saw another beautiful waitress who was completely unfamiliar came over, completely ignoring the opposite Robert Pittman, and asked him eagerly what he wanted to eat. Frowning slightly, Eric said to the waitress: "Let George come over, I have something to tell him."
The waitress was stunned for a moment before realizing that the George Eric was talking about should be George Watling, the manager in charge of several restaurants on the big ship. Although she was puzzled, she nodded and turned to leave.
After a while, George Valint, who was notified, hurried over and said respectfully, "Mr. Williams, are you looking for me?"
Eric pointed to the waitress standing not far away, and said, "Don't change again, or I will change you."
When George Valint heard this, cold sweat broke out all of a sudden.
Because of the frequent access to some important figures in Hollywood, the several restaurants, bars and banquet halls on the Titanic, especially the waiter positions in this internal restaurant dedicated to the top executives of the Firefly Group, are definitely Hollywood's countless dreams. The shortcut to the top position that men and women dream of. Over the past few years, although Eric himself has not had any vivid thoughts on the waiters in the restaurant, there are indeed many "lucky ones" who are valued by the big shots in Hollywood.
Therefore, although he is only an ordinary manager of the lowest-level catering and entertainment department of the Firefly Group, George Valint has naturally become the object of many people's curry favor because he holds the 'power' over the appointment and dismissal of the wait staff on the big ship.
The most indispensable thing in Hollywood is a beautiful girl with a beautiful face and a hot body. You want to be a waiter on a big ship, but you don’t want to pay extra, so why? In the past few years, although he didn't dare to do it too blatantly, George Valint has actually enjoyed several very high-quality beauties. Under the matchmaking of some people in the circle, he even secretly bought a stake in a Hollywood agency. All the waiters in the in-house restaurant signed an agency contract with that agency.
George Valint had always wondered why Eric, who often came to the restaurant for dinner, had never been interested in the waiters in the restaurant, which was not in line with the character of the big boss. At this moment, Eric casually pointed it out, and he finally understood. There are no fools in Hollywood, let alone the young people in front of us.
How to say now.
Do you want to assure the big boss that you have never touched any of the waitresses in this internal restaurant
He really didn't touch it either.
To secure such an important position, George Valint did not lack shrewdness. If Eric or some other high-level executives of the group took a fancy to a certain girl and realized afterwards that the girl had already been signed by his agency, they might just laugh it off. But if these bosses find out that the girl they fancy is a 'second-hand item' that has been enjoyed in advance, then his end will definitely be very miserable.
Hollywood is full of transactions and desires, and Eric has no moral obsession, just casually knocking on George Valint. He didn't even think about replacing the other party. The big ship exhibition hall was right under his nose, and Eric could still see that the catering department on the ship was still well managed. What's more, if you change someone, things may not necessarily change.
Looking at George Valint with a pale face in front of him, Eric waved his hand impatiently to signal him to leave, but immediately stopped him and said, "You can contact Ms. Kelly Haines and ask her to take care of it personally. This restaurant employs a few waiters, I don't bother to take care of other places, but don't let me hear any messy things come out."
George Valint nodded quickly, but an embarrassing expression flashed across his face. His level was far from being able to contact Eric's assistant office director.
However, seeing that Eric had run out of patience, he didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he left quickly. I can't get in touch, the person in charge of the exhibition hall park, or the head of the theme park operation department of the upper-level group can always get in touch, but I have to be tossed off a layer of skin.
After George Valint was sent away, Eric and Robert Pittman ordered a dinner before Eric continued: "Where did we just talk about, oh, do you want to buy back the shares in the hands of the Clover Fund?"
Robert Pittman tried his best to forget the episode just now, and he didn't dare to be displeased, and replied: "Yes, Eric."
"What's the reason?" Eric asked, and added: "AOL's stock price still has a lot of room to rise, and I don't want to sell it now."
Robert Pittman hesitated for a moment, but still bit the bullet and explained: "Time Warner does not want the Firefly Group to directly hold shares in the new company after our merger."
Eric nodded, seeming to agree with this reason, and said again: "How is the progress of your negotiation over there?"
Robert Pittman knew that there was no need to hide anything from Eric, and quickly said: "We have already begun to discuss the ownership of the management authority after the merger between the two parties, and the audit of the balance sheet has also started. Probably, at the latest in February next year, the merger The case can be submitted to the SEC (Federal Trade Commission) for review. Eric, if Firefly Group insists on holding this 3.1% stake, it will probably affect the attitude of the SEC at that time. "
Eric recalled carefully, if according to the merger schedule given by Robert Pittman, compared with the original time and space, the merger of AOL and Time Warner was exactly one year earlier.
At the same time, although the specific details are not clear, Eric is also sure that the Nasdaq index, which has broken through 2600 points at this time, is much higher than the same period in the original time and space. That is to say, the current history of Nasdaq has been very obviously deviated because of Eric's appearance. This deviation is also destined to make it impossible for the Nasdaq index to go out of the previous curve.
In sporadic memories, the Nasdaq index, which had been in a frenzy around 2000, rushed from 3,000 points to 5,000 points in just four months, and the rising speed was faster than the previous four years.
Then, with the current rate of increase from 2600 points to 3000 points is relatively restrained, even if it takes one month to calculate every 100 points, from 2600 points to 3000 points, and then from 3000 points to 5000 points, there are only eight people left. month time.
In eight months, counting from now, it will be July next year, which is the deadline for the performance of the 30% forward equity transaction contract agreed between Yahoo and Microsoft. However, Microsoft still has a three-month hesitation period to decide whether to fulfill the contract and to what extent.
This is not a good thing.
Once the Nasdaq collapses, Yahoo's share price will definitely fall far more than Microsoft.
Although I know that the specific trend of the Nasdaq index cannot be as simple and clear as I imagined, but at least, the possibility of an early collapse of the Nasdaq index next year is very high. October next year.
But no one can guarantee this kind of thing.
Historically, one of the triggers of the Nasdaq’s collapse was Microsoft’s defeat in the antitrust case. Eric spoke well for Microsoft in an exclusive interview with the New York Times. The investigation of the anti-monopoly case can be delayed for a longer period of time, and it is best to drag it to nothing.
If you think about it carefully, if there is no fuse for Microsoft’s anti-monopoly case failure, perhaps, with the crazy level of the Nasdaq index in the future, since it can reach 5,000 points, it is not impossible to continue to 6,000 points or even higher. possible.
Of course, if the Nasdaq is "stimulated" by other fuses in advance and collapses before 5,000 points, it will not be too surprising.
America Online in front of us is actually a very unstable factor.
Although he gave up his seat on the board of directors of AOL and no longer intervened in the management of AOL, since Eric had such worries in his heart, he naturally would not be too laissez-faire with AOL.
Quickly sorting out the information in his mind, Eric was in a trance for a short moment, and said to Robert Pittman: "I said before that I will not do things that are not good for AOL, because it is also harmful to Firefly. Interest. Although Firefly has sold most of AOL’s shares, you can see that our shareholding ratio still reaches 10.7%. Therefore, my original promise is still valid. As for the shares you want from Clover Fund, I can agree, but not right now."
Robert Pittman had a distressed expression, and his tone was pleading: "Eric, you should also understand our difficulties. Now is the most critical stage of negotiations between AOL and Time Warner."
"Didn't you say that you have to wait until February next year to submit the SEC review?" Eric was unmoved, and said, "You can reply to Steve and Time Warner, next February, if you still insist on taking back this I can sell some stocks to you, of course, the price must be calculated according to the stock price at that time."
Although the stock price fluctuated during this period, everyone also understands that this is only temporary.
Since the beginning of this week's trading day, as the media turmoil gradually cooled down last week, Yahoo's stock price has shown obvious signs of a correction. Relatively speaking, the stock price of AOL, which is the leader in the field of Internet service providers in North America, will definitely show an upward trend. attitude.
In February next year, AOL will undoubtedly have to pay a higher price to buy back the shares held by the Clover Fund.
But seeing that Eric had no intention of backing down at all, Robert Pittman could only accept the reality. The two sides chatted about some details while having dinner. In order to reassure AOL, Eric also agreed to draw up a letter of intent for equity transfer in advance.
After dinner, Robert Pittman left in a hurry, and Eric also rushed to the mansion of Amy Pascal's family on the northern hillside of Santa Monica to attend the cocktail party held by the other party.