Due to the rush of time, the news of Eric's guest on "The Oprah Show" only had time to be announced on the ABC channel, Yahoo Portal, and several newspapers that had a good relationship with the Firefly system.
However, although Eric actually did not want this program to receive too much attention, the final ratings results were beyond many people's expectations.
Half an hour of interviews, including commercials, the 45 minutes of the entire program, the highest number of viewers once rushed to 31.3 million, and the average number of viewers also reached 26.6 million, which is almost three times the daily viewership of "Oprah Show" many.
As a daytime talk show, "The Oprah Show" usually has only about 8 million viewers for its first broadcast.
With the broadcast of this episode of "The Oprah Show", various media seemed to have gotten hints and began to discuss more or less what Eric talked about in this talk show.
However, the attitude of most media is still very cautious.
Because just yesterday afternoon, the famous Sequoia Capital in Silicon Valley suddenly announced the departure of Ronald Hill, its LH fund manager. Immediately, some media quickly discovered that Ronald Hill happened to be the main investor of the 'Hollywood Gossip' website that provoked this incident.
Meanwhile, last night, the 'Hollywood Gossip' website, which had been down for a whole day, issued an announcement announcing that the website would be shut down permanently.
As an entertainment news website that has been operating for more than two years and has accumulated considerable traffic, according to the current wave of new technology that has completely fallen into a frenzy, if this website goes public, its market value can reach at least 20 to 30 million US dollars.
Just because of the exposure of gossip news about Eric Williams' children, in just one day, a large investment fund manager who controlled assets of more than 1 billion US dollars resigned, and a website with a market value of tens of millions of dollars was completely shut down .
Although the parties involved were tight-lipped about the reasons, everyone understood that these two incidents were obviously inextricably linked with the Firefly system.
Therefore, although there are hints that can be discussed, most media people don’t want to wake up to hear that they are fired or even their newspapers, websites or TV stations are closed because of their remarks that provoke Eric Williams. news.
"There is no doubt that as a father, Eric Williams is undoubtedly very competent, especially considering that this super rich man was only in his early twenties, the courage to take responsibility is even more commendable."— The New York Post
"Although the relationship between Eric Williams and several women is somewhat special, his sincere, frank, and courageous personality really makes it impossible for anyone to criticize. Even, we have to Remind the world's richest man, you have to be careful, maybe you will have more children in the future." - "Newsweek"
"When I saw Eric Williams showing those pictures one by one, I only felt envy in my heart. Although I didn't approve of the open relationship between Eric Williams and several women, but At the same time, his meticulous emotional maintenance with women and children can bring some inspiration to many families who have gradually become numb in marriage." - Yahoo Women's Plate
"As a director, a screenwriter, and an actor, our Mr. Williams has accumulated a net worth of hundreds of billions of dollars without knowing it, which really makes all Wall Street investors feel ashamed. However, his commentary on the third industrial revolution is indeed very incisive, we are in a new period of wealth distribution, so seize the opportunity, otherwise, you really have to wait another hundred years, Of course, if you live to live a hundred years from now." - Wall Street Journal
"Eric Williams' disappointment with Howard Hughes' biography may be his disappointment with the news attitude of the entire media industry. Over the years, the entire industry has become more and more impetuous, and too many media have gradually lost them as a news platform The seriousness and seriousness of the newspapers are only for higher newspaper sales and higher ratings, and they pay attention to gossip entertainment news that is only for sensationalism." - "Washington Post"
"In order to suppress competitors, vicious strife without a bottom line may bring temporary benefits to one party, but it will damage the foundation of the entire industry. When everyone abandons due business ethics, habitual When relying heavily on discrediting opponents to gain an advantage for themselves, the final result will only be the collapse of word of mouth in the entire industry. People have no way of distinguishing good from bad, and will only classify the entire circle as a basket of rotten apples, and then avoid them.” —— The Hollywood Reporter
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Generally speaking, the subsequent media’s evaluation of the whole matter either maintained their appreciation, downplayed it, or talked about him from left to right. Occasionally, some critical voices appeared, and they could no longer have much influence on the overall media trend.
Of course, it's not that the North American media suddenly became very talkative.
The reason for this is, on the one hand, Eric's sincere and calm attitude in "The Oprah Show", on the other hand, it is also the strong attitude of the Firefly system that makes most of the media afraid.
Affected by the entire media trend, most ordinary people have unconsciously accepted the relationship between Eric and several women and the fact that he is already the father of three children before they even have time to form prejudices . Of course, this attitude of tolerance or indifference is largely due to Eric's wealth status. For a super rich man with hundreds of billions of dollars, in the eyes of most ordinary people, his private life should be extremely 'colorful'. For many people, Eric's side in front of the media is even very 'colorful'. Convergence'.
As this gossip incident that hardly caused much disturbance quickly subsided, the original publicity momentum of "Iron Man" was already overwhelming, and the audience's expectations not only did not drop, but the popularity even rose to a higher level. The most intuitive manifestation is that the popularity curves of discussions about "Iron Man" on portal websites and search engines have risen significantly.
As the opening chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it has already won a very good reputation in the early stage, if a gossip incident causes the film to fail at the box office, even if the Firefly Group can fully bear the commercial loss, it will still be a problem for the entire Marvel movie. The impact of the cosmic plan is very serious.
Now, everything is back on track and everyone is relieved.
Of course, in private, many things are not over yet.
When someone hits you with a black punch, if you can't counterattack at once so that the opponent doesn't dare to take another shot easily, then the next small moves will only follow one after another.
Long Island, East Hampton.
Because the incident subsided very quickly, the women and children avoided the incident as soon as it happened. At this time, East Hampton seemed very calm, and there was no media gathering from the beginning to the end.
However, the two women, Joanna and their children, did not return immediately. They planned to wait until the end of the summer when Kevin and Emma started school.
Therefore, in the seaside manor in East Hampton, Eric was the only male master at home at this time.
After participating in "The Oprah Show", Eric rushed here. In fact, he couldn't predict the follow-up reaction of the media and the public 100%, so he took the initiative to avoid it, out of sight and out of mind.
The result is naturally very satisfying, and Eric also turned his mind to deal with the finishing touch of this matter.
However, today's guest is George Soros.
Long time no see, the old man still looks hale and hearty.
After Quantum Fund stumbled in the Russian bond and stock market last year, although it lost 3 billion US dollars, it did not hurt the fundamentals.
What Eric admired was that, as the most risk-taking investor in everyone's eyes, Soros this time, like Buffett, avoided the increasingly turbulent Nasdaq market very shrewdly and cautiously. Although Quantum Fund has also participated in the investment in technology stocks, the scale is very small. It is more like a casual test. Even if all the funds invested are lost, it does not matter.
In comparison, the Tiger Fund, which was tied with the Quantum Fund at the beginning, due to the founder Julian Robertson's continuous large-scale bets on shorting technology stocks, in just a few months, the continuous misjudgment of the situation has already cost the capital of this hedge fund. The scale quickly fell to 11 billion US dollars, which has shrunk by more than half compared to the peak two years ago.
In early summer, there is a round table on the lush green lawn in the manor.
While drinking coffee, Eric and Soros casually chatted about many recent things.
"Actually, I am also very interested in technology stocks, but the current situation can only remind me of the madness before the stock market crash in 1929 and 1987. What's more, I know very little about the new technology industry. I think it's better to stay away from old men who are not up to date."
Talking about the Nasdaq market at this time, Soros's tone contained a kind of disappointment of missing a great opportunity, but he was obviously calm and abnormal.
Eric put one hand on the table, sat sideways, crossed his legs casually, looked at the scenery of Anran in the afternoon sun, and said: "Over the years, this is the biggest feeling I have. A truly smart investor I have never been a gambler, and everyone's occasional losses are just because they can't judge the situation more accurately, not because of bad luck."
Soros nodded slightly, put down the coffee cup in his hand, and said with a smile: "So, Eric, you invited me here today, isn't it just for chatting, although chatting with you is indeed very pleasant?"
"Of course not," Eric said, took a sip of the coffee beside him, and said, "Some time ago, I found some bugs in my residence and office."
"This kind of thing has happened to everyone," Soros smiled indifferently when he heard Eric say this, and said, "You will get used to it in the future."
"Maybe," Eric also smiled, and said, "However, we found something next."
"Um?"
"First I found the person who placed the bug, and then I went up and found the middleman who commissioned this matter. The other party's funds came from an anonymous fund in the Cayman Islands. You know, it is more difficult to find out."
Soros nodded, and also became curious, and said, "And then?"
"The people hired by Firefly did not find out the owner of this fund. However, we did find some cases funded by this fund, such as bill lobbying, travel funding, etc. These cases basically point to the Scottish state of Pennsylvania. Scott Gas Company," Eric said, picked up an envelope on the table, took out a photo from it and handed it to Soros, saying: "It just so happens that we found out that the owner of Scott Gas Company, Milos S. Scott has always been an important client of Tiger Fund, and the Scott family has invested at least US$500 million in Tiger Fund, now, here is a photo of Milos Scott and Julian Robertson."
Soros listened patiently, but he knew in his heart that these pursuit processes definitely did not want to be so lightly described by Eric at this time.
After taking a look at the photo, Soros put it down casually, shook his head and said, "Eric, these don't prove anything."
"I don't want to prove anything, and I don't plan to sue anyone," Eric shook his head in the same way, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, and said, "I just hope you can help me transfer this photo to Mr. Robertson, and at the same time I He is free to short any company he wants, but don’t reach out to Firefly. Everyone knows that the Nasdaq market may crash at any time, but Firefly has enough funds to support the stock price of any of our companies , when necessary, I can even repurchase all the tradable shares of some companies in the market.”
"Actually, the operation of the Clover Fund should be regarded as the point that I am most confused about but I have to admire you, little guy. Of course, I also know that you will definitely not reveal anything to me now. Maybe when these things are settled , you can tell me a little bit about your experience," Soros suddenly changed the subject, put the photo in his suit pocket, and nodded: "I will pass it on to him."
After talking about this matter and chatting a few more words, Soros said goodbye and left.
Sending Soros away, Eric returned to the lawn in the backyard again. Mayer was already waiting here. Seeing Eric sit down, Mayer still couldn't help asking: "Eric, that's all." gone?"
"Otherwise," Eric remembered Soros's words of "you will get used to it" just now, smiled, and said: "Next Julian Robertson should not attack the Firefly system again. If he Really continue to do this, I don’t mind taking a stick to go back. Moreover, this person has completely entered a gambler’s mentality now. According to the current trend of Tiger Fund, if he continues to short, the only way to go is bankruptcy and liquidation. What else needs to be done.”
Mayer nodded, carefully cleaned up the cups on the round table, returned to the villa behind him for a while, changed to a pot of hot coffee, and said: "Eric, Ronald Hill, is the 'Hollywood Gossip' The investor, he is now in New York, he said he hopes to apologize to you in person, do you want to see him?"
Eric refilled some coffee for himself, and asked lightly, "Is that all?"
"There is another fax," Mayer handed over the folder she had just held in the other hand, and said, "The person in charge of that website confessed on his own initiative. He paid him $300,000, and those press releases were also provided by the other party.”