Since the establishment of the alliance plan in 1993, after nearly three years of close cooperation, with the support of Cisco's hardware technology and the assistance of Yahoo's platform promotion resources, America Online took the lead in providing users with high-speed adsl broadband access services , relying on popular tariffs and stable network services, the number of AOL users has risen to 7.6 million in the past three years, accounting for nearly 30% of the market share of the US Internet access service industry. The old telecom operators are losing ground. ??One? ?Reading
Therefore, unlike Nokia's relatively low-key listing, AOL's IPO plan has attracted a lot of attention since the day it was announced.
In recent days, in addition to Eric himself, Cisco CEO John Chambers, Yahoo CEO Ian Grenier and other executives of AOL's allies have also come to New York to cheer for their stock offering ceremony.
Because of this, Eric was too busy with various entertainments and had no time for others.
So until January 29th.
Since the night before, company executives and guests who participated in the AOL IPO bell-ringing ceremony, as well as media reporters and stock traders who heard the news, crowded the Nasdaq stock trading hall.
The number of new shares issued by AOL this time is 15 million shares, accounting for 10% of the total share capital. The issue price per share is 33 US dollars, and it plans to raise 495 million US dollars.
However, due to the strong reaction of the market, after six rounds of public inquiries, the opening price of AOL directly soared to US$42, a 27% increase compared to the issue price. When the final price was confirmed, the trading floor was full of joy.
"The opening price was US$42, but the issue price was only US$33. Doesn't this mean that AOL lost all of a sudden during the issuance of 15 million shares... Well, at least US$100 million, why is the price so uncertain? How about higher?"
At the party after the ipo ceremony, Cindy Crawford, who came to join in the fun, asked Eric.
Eric let the woman hold his arm, raised his glass to a Morgan Stanley executive who nodded and greeted him, and explained: "According to the current stock price, AOL's market value is close to 7 billion US dollars. The price difference of 100 million U.S. dollars is negligible. If the stock is offered to investment banks and institutional investors at a lower price of 33 U.S. dollars, they will have more motivation to operate the AOL listing. At the same time, the stock price rose sharply on the first day. It can also stimulate shareholders' confidence in AOL and lay a good foundation for the company's further financing in the future, and these potential benefits cannot be bought with $100 million."
Cindy nodded half-understanding, and said, "Then do you think, if I buy some AOL stocks now, the value will appreciate in the future?"
"Of course." Eric nodded, looked at Cindy and said with a smile: "Your purse should be very big in the past two years, so try to invest in some technology stocks, not limited to AOL, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, etc. You can do whatever you want, throw 10 million in now, maybe you will become a billionaire in a few years."
"It's so powerful," Cindy blinked and asked, "Then, what if I lose money?"
Eric said indifferently: "If you lose, you will lose. If you are so capable, you will definitely not be hungry."
"Damn man, you suggested me to buy stocks. You have no sense of responsibility at all." Cindy pinched Eric's waist lightly, with some resentment, and then said bitterly: "I'll take all the stocks when I go back. All the money is invested in the few stocks you mentioned, and if you lose all, I will go to Los Angeles to rely on your estate."
Eric said: "In this case, should I share some of the money?"
Cindy didn't hesitate: "Okay, how much do you want?"
Eric said with a serious face: "Half, my financial advice is still worth the price."
"Humph," Cindy glared at Eric, remembering something, looked around at the crowd, and then asked jokingly in a low voice, "I heard you're looking for a little girl recently?"
Eric shook his head immediately when he heard the words, and sighed: "It seems that I won't be able to cooperate with your brokerage company in the future. It's not reliable at all. Anything can be spread."
Although knowing that Eric was joking, Cindy still explained: "No, I just went to the company the day before yesterday and saw someone sorting out the materials, so I asked John, and he said that you made the preparations. Are you going to do it again? What?"
"I need a few girls in this movie," Eric said without hiding anything, "It just so happens that I have picked three, and one has not been decided yet. The other two, one is in New York, and the other is in New York City." Milan, come back tomorrow, do you want to meet?"
Cindy said indifferently, "What did I see them doing?"
Eric said: "You are a senior, maybe you can take them with you."
"And let them steal my job?"
"Are you going to work for another twenty years?"
Cindy didn't hide her thoughts, and said, "As long as the conditions allow, of course I will. People who don't work will age faster."
…
In New York in February, the temperature in the early morning is at least minus five degrees. Looking out from the high-rise mansion at the exit of Sixth Avenue, Central Park presents a bleak scene. Although sitting indoors with the heater on, you can still feel the outside world. chill.
Eric was in Australia a few days ago in the middle of summer, so it feels strange right now.
Cindy, who was wearing a close-fitting black sweater and jeans, came out of the kitchen with breakfast for two people, put the breakfast on the round table by the floor-to-ceiling window, looked at Eric who was staring at the laptop screen, and said curiously: " What are you looking at?"
"Very interesting little guy," Eric turned the laptop around with a smile, pushed it in front of Cindy, and said, "Look, it's another little elf."
Cindy looked at the laptop screen, it was an email, she subconsciously read it: "Dear Mr. Williams, hello, I'm Miranda Kerr, it's an honor to receive your invitation..."
After reading a few sentences, Cindy lost interest, looked at Eric who had already had breakfast, and said, "Nothing special?"
Eric took a sip of hot milk, put down the cup, and said, "You can talk about it after you finish reading."
Cindy shrugged and turned her attention to the email on the screen. It was an email to Eric from a girl named Miranda Kerr. In the email, the girl expressed it very gracefully. I was excited and grateful to Eric for inviting me to participate in the film, and then tactfully expressed the hope that after this cooperation, I could get more job opportunities to ensure my study and living expenses after I moved to the United States. Just after reading this email, Cindy didn't feel anything special, and if it was herself, she would probably say the same.
However, Cindy soon realized something, raised her head and asked Eric: "This, little guy, how old is it?"
"Thirteen."
Cindy laughed immediately, she was really a goblin at the age of thirteen to be able to play tricks so well. The girl hopes that after this cooperation, she can get more job opportunities, and then she will be able to contact Eric, a super powerful contact.
"Hehe, if you agree, this little girl will depend on you from now on."
Eric shrugged: "For men, this should be considered a trouble of happiness."
"Well, you said yesterday that you are going to meet the other two little guys today, is that the same?"
"I haven't seen it yet, and I'll know it after we meet," Eric said, "However, you know my vision, and the person I choose will definitely not be bad."
Cindy said, "I'm suddenly curious."
"I made an appointment at noon, so I invited them to dinner at home. Come back then."
"Okay," Cindy nodded.
She is currently rushing to produce the second season of "America's Next Top Model", but the filming work is in Manhattan, not far from Eric's residence.
After eating breakfast and sending Cindy away, Eric read the email again with great interest, thought for a while, replied an email, and agreed to Miranda Kerr's request. He was quite curious in his heart, and wanted to see what level this little fairy could evolve to in the future.
After running around for these days, I finally had a little leisure time. Eric didn't go anywhere all morning, and stayed at home and watched the script of "Rush Hour" that was just revised. Although "Red Fan District" has not yet been released, "Rush Hour" "But the project has been officially approved, with a budget of 30 million US dollars for the first part, and New Line has signed contracts with the two leading actors, Jack Cheng and Chris Tucker.
The plot of "Rush Hour" is very simple. The main selling point of the film is actually the performance of the two protagonists full of strong personal styles. This is also the reason why the two protagonists in the original time and space are paid outrageously high, which even caused multiple delays in the sequel. In order to prevent this situation from happening again, Eric also asked New Line to sign a trilogy option contract with the two leading actors in advance, stipulating the salary standard for the sequel, so as to prevent the company from completely losing the initiative in the sequel salary negotiation in the future .
After reading the script and sending the revised comments back to Los Angeles by e-mail, the time has come to noon unknowingly.
Eric was too lazy to make lunch by himself, and was about to call a nearby restaurant to ask the other party to deliver some lunch when he heard the doorbell ring.
I looked at my watch, it was only half past eleven, half an hour before the appointment time. Westerners pay great attention to the concept of time, and it’s not that the sooner the better, Eric thought it was Cindy who came back early, turned on the intercom and asked with a smile: “Come back so early?”
After a moment of hesitation on the other side, a girl with a somewhat hoarse voice asked anxiously, "Is it... Mr. Williams?"
"Um?"
"Me, we are Gisele Bundchen and Alessandra Ambrosio."
Eric was silent for a while, opened the door, and said, "Come in."
A few minutes later, Eric opened the door and looked helplessly at the two young girls outside the door.
From the list of newcomers sent by several major modeling agencies, Eric only found Gisele Bundchen and Alessandra Ambrosio, not Adriana Leigh, another big star of Victoria's Secret in the original time and space. The figure of the horse, so I only picked these two.
However, he originally invited two girls and their agent to come here together, but the current situation is obvious, the agent must have sent these two girls here and then left.
well!
Do you really think you are a good person
Do you really think you are a bad person
Eric sighed in confusion, turned sideways to the two girls and said, "Come in."
Like well-behaved and obedient kittens, the two women walked into the porch quietly and obediently, looking at the spotless living room, but hesitated in their footsteps.
Eric closed the door and said, "There's no need to change your shoes."
The two women just stepped into the living room, and after getting a signal from Eric, they sat down on the sofa together.
Eric poured two glasses of juice and handed them to them, and looked at the two girls again.
Although they have undergone careful makeup, it is still difficult to hide the greenness on their faces. However, the two girls already have tall figures, especially Gisele Bundchen, if you count the pair of high-heeled leather boots on her feet , almost as tall as Eric.
It's freezing cold outside in New York, but the heating in the room is fully turned on. Although girls who love beauty will definitely not wear too much, but at this time, the foreheads of the two girls who are also wearing short windbreakers soon seeped light sweat.
Eric pointed to the hanger at the entrance, and said, "If it's hot, you can take off the windbreaker and just hang it there."
The two girls nodded together, got up, took off their trench coats, hung them on the hangers, and then came back and sat down quietly.
Eric was almost dumbfounded.
In the original time and space, the achievements of Gisele Bundchen and Alessandra Ambrosio in the fashion industry are definitely much higher than Miranda Kerr.
But at this time, compared with the shrewdness Miranda Kerr showed in the email in the morning, Eric only felt that he was facing two frightened little quails.
"Where's your manager?" Eric sat casually on the single sofa next to him, a little disappointed and had nothing to say.
Noticing the disappointment on Eric's face, the expressions of both women flashed a moment of uneasiness. Although Giselle and Alexander are newcomers scouted by img and elite respectively, the instructions they received from the bosses of the two brokerage companies before coming here are similar. Same, keep going.
Several major international modeling agencies recruit hundreds of newcomers from all over the world every year, and only a few of them can stand out.
Brazil, where the two girls were born, is the most competitive country in this industry. Brazil has a very common model training mechanism. For Brazilian girls, if they want to go out of Latin America, becoming a model is the only way. As for many well-known models who are always used to claiming in their personal resumes that they were accidentally discovered by scouts while shopping one day, and then made it to the top, that is basically nonsense.
Take the two girls in front of me as an example. Although they did not know each other before, their life trajectories are similar to most Brazilian girls who dream of modeling. They both began to receive professional modeling training when they were around ten years old. At the age of one year old, they submitted photos to major brokerage companies, or participated in various model selection competitions, and only a small part of them were lucky enough to be signed in the end, and these few people wanted to become famous models or even supermodels. The chances are even slimmer.
This is why the two girls are so cautious in front of Eric.
They are not traversers who know the future like Eric, let alone know where they are in another time and space. At this time, they are just two young girls who have just left Brazil with dreams in their arms. When the opportunity comes to him, no matter how cautious he is, there is no surprise. (To be continued.)