I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1094: Competition and Confrontation]

Manhattan, AOL Headquarters.

After the equity transfer signing ceremony concluded, Steve Case finally let out a huge sigh of relief.

With the completion of this equity deal, the pressure that the Firefly Group had put on Steve Case for so long finally lifted. As long as AOL's merger with Time Warner went smoothly, the 7.6% stake held by Firefly Investments would once again be diminished. The newly formed AOL-Time Warner Group would completely transform into a publicly owned company. With no dominant shareholder holding enough shares and influence, the control of the new company would rest entirely with the board and management team.

As the designated chairman and CEO of the upcoming company, there was no doubt that Steve Case would become the powerful master of this new multimedia giant.

Every time he thought about these developments, a sense of accomplishment swelled within him. He believed that once the merger was complete, the synergistic effect of one plus one being greater than two would propel AOL-Time Warner well past Yahoo, making it the leading internet media giant in North America.

The waiting staff served champagne to everyone, and Steve Case took a glass, smiling as he approached the heads of several Wall Street investment funds who had extended their helping hand to him in this deal.

After negotiations, the stock transaction price for this equity transfer was finally set at $93, just a mere 0.69 dollars lower than AOL's average stock price for the past week. AOL's shares had undergone a split, with a total outstanding share count of 825 million. The Clover Fund held approximately 25.57 million shares, meaning that this transaction reached a scale of $2.378 billion at the agreed price.

Steve Case had hoped Eric would offer a discount like he had in previous deals. However, this time Eric was adamant, only agreeing to round down a trivial amount that represented less than 1% of the stock price, which was effectively no concession at all.

Recently, with the Nasdaq index surpassing 2800 points, Wall Street's worries about a Nasdaq crash intensified. Many investment institutions were trying to sell off tech stocks to cash out. If it weren't for their optimism regarding the merger's potential, Wall Street would not have taken action.

Eric's unwillingness to compromise left Steve Case with no choice. After promising an additional board seat, Wall Street's investment funds finally agreed to take over the shares held by the Clover Fund.

The New York Times' expose at the end of last year, combined with the disputes over the transaction price, completely dissipated the good relationship Steve Case and Eric had built since Firefly Group began investing in AOL. Although AOL and Yahoo still had some collaboration, it was clear that future relations would trend more toward competition and confrontation.

As a result, at the simple post-signing reception, Steve Case couldn't even be bothered to maintain a facade of politeness. While he laughed and chatted with the heads of several Wall Street funds, he treated the representatives from Firefly Group who had participated in the signing ceremony as mere bystanders.

...

Eric, understanding Steve Case's emotions, realized if he were in Steve's shoes, he wouldn't have been able to maintain his composure either.

However, since Steve had chosen to see him as a bystander, Eric didn't feel the need to stick around and quickly left with Chris and others.

Since selling his AOL stock last year, Eric had decided to invest all the cash he planned to realize over the next couple of years into safe, short-term convertible bonds, meaning that he didn't need to discuss this new funding extensively. The Nasdaq market had entered a state of unpredictable frenzy lately. Although Eric was confident that the index would rebound from its previous downturn, he was also hesitant to buy tech stocks at this time.

Coincidentally, it was the last day of New York's Fall-Winter Fashion Week, and Gisele would be closing the show for the Klein brand that night. Eric had promised to support her.

However, the grand finale was set for 6 PM, and it was only a little past 2 PM. After parting ways with Chris, Eric headed to a building on 46th Street, where the television production company founded by Cindy and Linda was located.

...

Upon seeing Eric, a starry-eyed blonde receptionist personally guided him to a conference room. But when she noticed Eric didn't show any response, she reluctantly turned and left.

Eric pushed the door open, finding Linda absent, but supermodel Tyra Banks was seated with Cindy at the meeting table, whispering about something. Hearing the noise, the two women turned around in surprise and stood up to greet him.

Eric gently hugged the two women and smiled as he asked Tyra Banks, "Tyra, aren't you walking in any shows today?"

"Nope," Tyra replied, shaking her head, but then added with a hint of sarcasm, "We can't compete with the kids nowadays."

Eric simply smiled and sat down at the meeting table, glancing at the materials on it. "What are we discussing? And where's Linda?"

"Tyra's talk show proposal," Cindy said as she took a seat beside Eric. "Linda's outside; she just got a call. Didn't you notice?"

Before Eric could shake his head, the conference room door opened again, and Linda Evangelista stepped in, still holding her phone. Tyra, who had just sat beside Eric, had to move over to let her take her place.

Before even sitting down, Linda began her 'interrogation' by saying, "You jerk! The first thing you do when you come in is charm our girls, and you didn't even notice I was nearby. Well, I already fired one of them."

Eric replied, "Is it really okay for you to act like this as a boss?"

"Hmph," Linda scoffed, then quickly changed gears, saying, "Cindy and I saw the trailer for Iron Man that you starred in. Even though the mustache looks awful, I think you really suit darker hair; the blonde looks childish."

Eric shook his head, saying, "I don't like dying my hair."

After a bit of small talk, Tyra, sensing it was time to leave, excused herself. Linda excitedly pulled out a laptop to show Eric her electronic bank statement. "$168 million! I think this is enough for me to last a lifetime. But Cindy's is even more shocking -- over $280 million! It's infuriating to think that when you advised Cindy on investments, you didn't tell me, or I would have more money than her now."

During this time, following Eric's advice, Cindy and Linda had sold off all their stock holdings, making them among the few supermodels in the fashion industry to boast net worth in the hundreds of millions.

Even though top supermodel incomes had risen significantly in recent years, there were still very few who could accumulate over a hundred million even considering future projections. Yet Cindy and Linda secured their positions as top leads in the fashion industry.

"Not bad," Eric smiled at the laptop screen, saying, "Have you decided what to do next?"

Linda replied, "Nope. Can you help us plan something?"

Eric rested his chin on one hand, pondering seriously but then shook his head and laughed, "Not enough to do anything with. Better save it for pocket money."

Once Eric said this, Linda, who was feeling excited, suddenly recalled the man's immense fortune, and she wrapped her arms around him, shaking him playfully, "I've read reports that many media outlets say more than half of your assets are just a bubble, and it's not a big deal."

Next month's new Forbes Billionaires list would be released soon, and Eric actually hoped that everyone would think that way when it came out; that would relieve a lot of pressure from his shoulders.

After joking around, Eric turned serious and began offering investment advice to the two women.

With less than $500 million combined, Eric found that it was indeed too little. Most of the projects that required his personal attention from Firefly, such as the ongoing '4200' plan or the construction of the Firefly Theme Park, could not be managed with just $500 million.

However, if compared to the Firefly Group, this amount was still a substantial sum for most businesses globally.

As they discussed in detail, Eric's phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, he didn't hesitate to answer the call with a smile, bringing the phone to his ear, "Hey, Gisele... Yes, I'm free now, doing fine at Cindy's... Of course, I'll be there on time, and I'll bring Cindy and Linda along to cheer you on... Okay, let's leave it at that. Goodbye."

After hanging up with Gisele, Linda pouted, "I didn't agree to go cheer her on."

Eric glanced at Linda's expression and turned to Cindy, "Did you have a fight with Gisele?"

"No," Cindy shook her head, "But you can't expect us to get along with her, can you?"

"You guys," Eric caught onto the keywords, laughing, "Sounds like there's a story."

Cindy only smiled without saying more.

But Linda couldn't hold back, saying, "You might not know, but your Brazilian beauty is quite something now. A few months ago, WM launched a new model, and she's got great potential. However, they designed her development path exactly like Gisele's -- both are all about the healthy, natural look. They even compared her to Gisele in a magazine, and that girl had a rough time."

Eric didn't quite understand; what did WM mean?

Looking at Cindy, the understanding lady picked up a pen and wrote two words in the blank space of a document: Wome.

WM, Wome, a women's management company.

It seemed to be a modeling agency, but it couldn't compete with giants like Elite, IMG, or Ford in terms of scale and reputation.

Seeing Cindy's action, Linda remarked, "WM is just Wome; Kate Moss's North American agency is with this company. Since the 'Horizon' beauty style has fallen out of favor, they're rushing to rebrand. So, what was I saying?"

Eric interrupted with a smile, "That girl had a rough time."

"Right," Linda nodded, "Initially, WM had lined up 15 shows for that girl during this New York Fashion Week. Guess how many she ended up walking?"

"Zero?"

Linda gently hit Eric's shoulder, then held up three fingers, "Three, and I heard that when she realized her Dior opening was taken from her, she just fell apart. Poor thing."

Watching Linda's expression of anguish, Eric didn't feel much empathy.

He was quite protective of those close to him; when his own little kittens got into fights with others, he wouldn't side with the outsiders, would he? He also always preferred strong-minded women; too soft ones wouldn't last long in his company. It was like horse riding; the best riders naturally chose spirited horses.

After pinching Linda's chin, Eric laughed, "Don't sound so pitiful. Haven't you ever bullied anyone?"

"Never," Linda boldly shook her head, then pointed to Cindy, betraying her: "She did that during the 1991 THIERRY-MUGLER fall show, where she directly got into a shoving match with other models on the runway, ruining the entire show. Haha, I remember the THIERRY-MUGLER designer was in tears that time."

Hearing Linda leak her own past scandal, Cindy shrugged it off, "Everyone knows that Naomi Campbell started it, and by the time I walked onto the runway, the chaos had already begun."

Linda continued, "And the next day's fashion news was all 'Cindy Crawford shoves other models.'"

Cindy shot her a proud glance, "That just shows I have the biggest reputation; no one else can compare."

After a light spat, Linda suddenly got animated, linking arms with Eric, "By the way, I'm definitely going to cheer on your Brazilian beauty tonight. CK invited her to the show too, and I haven't heard news of her being sidelined, so it'll be quite a lively scene. Who knows, something might even happen."

As Linda reveled in the drama from the office on 42nd Street, the atmosphere was already buzzing at Bryant Park, where CK's closing show was about to take place.

...

Seeing Gisele hang up the phone with Eric Williams, CK's show director Tom Corey wore a troubled expression as he spoke to the model sitting at the makeup table having her makeup touched up.

"Gisele, it's just a minor appearance; no one will even notice her. Plus, at this point, there's no time for adjustments. Just pretend she's not there, alright?"

However, Gisele remained unwavering, gazing into the mirror at her reflection before saying, "She shouldn't even be here. You decide -- either I walk off, and Ferne and Coco do too, or you make her disappear. I don't want to see her backstage."

Tom thought for a moment, "How about this? I'll have her get ready in a different area, and she'll leave right after her walk. She won't appear in front of you at all."

Gisele waved her hand, signaling the makeup artist to step back, then turned to Tom, sitting but giving off an imposing air, "Tom, it's the closing show tonight. I really don't want trouble, but Eric will be here, and you should understand what I mean. I don't want a model with a similar style appearing on the runway. There's no room for negotiation."

*****

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