Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty Third Ultimatum

"Robert, speaking of it, it's been almost half a year since we first met?"

Robert Shea put down the coffee cup, looked at Eric and nodded: "Almost."

"Remember the conversation we had when we first met?"

Robert raised his head and said, "We should have said a lot at the time, what do you mean?"

Eric didn't care about Robert Shea's pretending to be confused, and reminded: "I told you, we don't have much time left."

Robert Shea looked at the seascape outside the window, fell silent, lowered his head and raised his coffee cup again.

Eric continued: "I said at the time that the merger trend of media groups and film companies has begun. If we don't seize the opportunity in these last few years, then, when this merger trend passes, we will completely lose development. The opportunity for growth can only be a vassal of several major media groups in the future."

Robert Shea remained silent.

Eric sighed lightly. There were some things he couldn't tell Robert Shea. In my memory, 20 years later, more than 90% of the media channels in North America were controlled by the six major media giants. Twenty years later, Eric basically has no room for resistance and can only compromise.

But now it is different. Now, the control of the American media is not highly monopolized, but in the hands of more than 50 large and small media companies. Therefore, even if all the media resources in the hands of several major film companies are gathered, it is impossible to control more than one-third of the public opinion channels. Although this turmoil seems to be menacing, except for those media that dominate the direction of public opinion, the major Part of it is just drifting with the flow, rudder by the wind.

So Eric is not completely powerless to fight back, just. He has been waiting, waiting for his enemy to show his last weapon. He can fight back. The four lawsuits this time will hit his reputation again. But like the scandal at the beginning, it won't cause him any fundamental damage. After all, although he is a public figure now, he is not a public figure who relies purely on fame, even if it is because of this turmoil that makes him short. He can't pick up the guide tube during the time, but he can still lead the production of the film by other means.

So everything he does now. All to keep the fireflies.

Firefly is like a city that belongs to him. As long as he has this foundation, he can develop his strength to conquer the city. Once he loses Firefly, even if he has a skill, he can't use it any more. At most, he can only mention others. The city takes care of the affairs, and he will never be the master.

The two were silent for a while at the same time, before Robert Shea spoke first: "Eric, I heard that in order to settle this matter. You may need a lot of money?"

"Okay," Eric nodded, slightly guessing Robert Shay's intentions.

Robert Shea didn't keep Eric waiting. He said: "The $60 million you paid me last time, plus the dividends from the new line at the end of the year, although I spent part of it on investment, I can still come up with about $60 million."

This time it was Eric's turn to be silent, 60 million, not much, not much.

"Eric, 15% is too little, it makes me feel insecure. I think at least 25%."

Eric lowered his head. Without a word, he looked at the three palm lines in his palm.

Which is the career line?

It must be the longest one.

After thinking for a while, Eric finally raised his head. To Robert Shea: "I promise you."

The two discussed specific details, and Robert Shea left with satisfaction.

When Robert Shea left, Eric sighed in disappointment. He originally wanted to merge Pixar Studios and Flower Pictures, which had the rights to adapt many popular movies from previous lives, into Firefly. However, now it seems that , it is better not to do so.

Because of John Barrymore's injury, the trial of this case could only be postponed to a week later, and for the other three lawsuits, Eric didn't have to appear in court in person, and was completely handed over to his team of attorneys.

But while he tried his best to avoid being in the public eye at this time, there was one thing he had to do.

On January 20, the 47th Golden Globe Awards for American TV and Movies were held at the Hollywood Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

And Firefly has won a total of 11 nominations for "Pretty Woman", "Dark War", "Steel Magnolia" and "Frightening Island", as well as "Friends" as a TV series, including Eric himself. The two best screenplay awards for "Dark War" and "Cry on the Island", the Golden Globe Award does not have the best director, otherwise Eric can at least get another nomination.

If it weren't for this turmoil, Eric, who received two nominations at the same ceremony before the age of 20, would undoubtedly become the most beautiful one on the red carpet. Although Eric also considered missing the Golden Globe Awards ceremony, doing so would be tantamount to showing weakness to the enemies behind him, and Eric finally braved the red carpet.

This time, Eric did not bring any female companions, but was alone.

Passing the media access area, Eric stopped and smiled confidently in cooperation, letting the flash light on frantically.

"Eric, Eric, can you say a few words?" a reporter shouted at this time.

Eric smiled noncommittally, neither agreeing nor denying it. If the other party asked a question that was difficult to answer, Eric made up his mind to leave.

"Eric, you haven't shown up for a while, so what are you doing in Malibu Manor, are you preparing a new script?"

Eric was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect the other party to ask such a question. In this situation, he still had no mood to think about the script. However, since the question wasn't too harsh, Eric replied, "I just signed up for a music company and may release a single in a while."

"Eric, can you reveal the theme of the single first?"

"Mr. Williams, what's the name of the music company?"

"Eric, are you going to give up directing movies and switch to music?"

Eric didn't intend to answer the question again, and was about to leave when he heard the last question. Still rolled his eyes and said, "It's just playing tickets. My main energy will always be on movies."

After saying this, Eric ignored the reporters. Go straight to the end of the red carpet.

Compared with last year, Eric's achievements this year are even more two-eyed. But there were obviously a lot fewer people who came to say hello, and most of them were men who were familiar with him. As for the female stars present, except for Julia, Virginia and Nicole, they followed Eric's prior instructions. Instructed and nodded to him, other actresses were concerned about Eric's current reputation, and none of them dared to come forward and talk to Eric.

Eric didn't care either, it was everyone's instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

waiting period. Celebrities continue to appear on the red carpet.

About ten minutes later, amid the cheers of fans, Eric saw Aniston in a white tube top dress walking over, posing for a while in the media area, and then came to the rest area.

The eyes of the two met unexpectedly, and the reporters who paid attention to the situation also raised their cameras, expecting the couple who broke up to make newsworthy behaviors.

"Jenny..." Eric shouted softly without moving his footsteps. After that day, Eric tried to contact Aniston more than once. But the chick seemed to be determined this time, and she never answered any of his calls, nor did she respond to the letters she sent. The flowers sent were also returned.

Aniston's eyes were only heard on Eric's face for less than two seconds, then he quickly turned away and walked towards the opposite direction of Eric as if nothing had happened.

Eric sighed and didn't dare to join up on this occasion. He didn't care too much about his own reputation, but for Aniston's sake.

During this period of time, because Aniston "disengaged" from him on the day the incident happened, only Aniston was basically not attacked among several close women. If at this time he gets up. If there is news that the two are suspected of getting back together, it will definitely bring trouble to Xiaoyi Niu.

"Eric. Are you okay?" Noticing Eric's depressed expression, Jonathan Demme, who was standing beside him, comforted.

Eric shook his head: "It's okay."

Tom Hanks on the other side also said at this time: "Eric. I believe everything will pass."

"Of course." Eric smiled confidently.

...

In the ceremony hall, Eric sat at the table of "Frightening Island", because this table was arranged at the back, Eric would feel more comfortable and would not attract too much attention.

Of course, the world will never revolve around a certain person. Therefore, the turmoil that Eric is encountering has not affected the lively atmosphere of this Golden Globe Awards at all, perhaps because of some prior instructions. , the host of this session did not make fun of Eric. During the whole awarding process, Eric's name was not even mentioned, and the camera rarely swept the table where Eric was sitting.

Eric also gradually realized that this was someone planning to treat him coldly. Well, although firefly-related movies and TV series got 11 nominations tonight, they certainly won't get any heavyweight awards.

As expected by Eric, because "Scent of a Woman" missed the nomination of the Golden Globe Awards, the more important ones such as "Pretty Woman" and "Steel Magnolia" are the best films in the musical comedy category. The best film in the category, without exception, goes elsewhere. The two best screenplay nominations related to Eric also fell through. Even the most likely two nominations that Julia had won in her previous life had not won anything, not to mention the nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series won by Virginia for "Cry on a Island". Any suspense fell on Michelle Pfeiffer, the heroine of "Baker Brothers", which Eric has no memory of.

In the end, Eric had given up any hope and thought that all 11 nominations would be lost. However, when it was the turn of the TV drama for the best actress in a musical or comedy category, Aniston unexpectedly won the best actress. main character.

Looking at the little girl on the podium who spoke with a touch of surprise and did not mention her award speech at all, a sneer appeared on the corner of Eric's mouth, what is this, is it to warn the women who are close to him, as long as he is with Eric. Will Williams break, can he get the award?

The two-hour awards ceremony had passed, and Eric had no plans to attend the subsequent party. Just as he was about to leave, an unfamiliar waiter handed an envelope to him.

Eric got into the car back to Malibu Manor and opened the envelope.

There is only one piece of paper inside. On it was written a series of numbers, 19900201.

Very good to distinguish. It means February 1, 1990.

Eric didn't need to think about it, he knew that this was the ultimatum given to him by the manipulator behind this turmoil.

I really can't hold my breath, Eric thought to himself. In his previous life, Michael Jackson was attacked by the media for three months. 'Killer'?

Reminds me of Michael Jackson. Eric couldn't help but find that his current experience was similar to his previous life, Michael Jackson.

The reason why Michael Jackson was attacked on such a large scale in 1993 was not only because of his black identity, but also because he jumped from his original contracted singer status to the seat of Sony Records boss in one fell swoop. It owns 50% of the shares of the record, and also owns the song copyrights of the popular Beatles, Elvis and other famous superstars.

In the 1990s, the record industry was still prosperous. The value of the copyright of these songs alone exceeded one billion US dollars, not to mention the 50% shares of Sony Records.

And all this and. For the titans of the recording industry and the predominantly white West, it was unbearable.

So, after an overwhelming storm. Michael Jackson fell silent.

More than ten years later, in 2009, Michael Jackson turned 50 and planned to hold 50 world tour concerts to commemorate. Originally, many people thought that the fifty-year-old pop singer would definitely not be as popular as before, but things were not as many people imagined, with a total of more than 750,000 concert tickets, after the start of booking. It was swept away by fans around the world in just a few hours, as it turned out. The Emperor Superstar is still the Emperor Superstar.

So, a few days before the start of this much-anticipated 50 concerts. A generation of superstars died inexplicably.

Thinking of this, Eric shivered involuntarily, thankful that he was not reborn into a black man. Therefore, although he is now being ostracized by several giants, he has not been discriminated against from the bottom of the heart of the public.

After the Golden Globe Awards, Eric and Robert Shea quickly signed a contract to transfer 10% of Firefly's shares again, and at the same time directly put the $60 million in cash paid by Robert Shea into the account of an investment company in New York.

Although Jeffrey and Chris both objected to this and hoped that Eric would leave a sum of cash for emergencies, Eric was firm and demanded that Chris use the $60 million plus the amount he had already arrived at. The $10 million in the account, a total of $70 million in cash, will try to take as many shares of Cisco as possible.

Before this turmoil, Eric never paid too much attention to money. He felt that as long as he developed steadily, he would definitely reach the peak step by step in the future.

But after the turmoil, Eric discovered that in this world of capital, money is the most important thing. It is like a talisman. If Eric was a billionaire with billions of dollars in wealth before, even if No matter how young he is, these people would not dare to attack him like this now.

Time passed by day by day, enduring the indiscriminate bombardment in the newspapers and media every day, Eric could also hear good news from time to time, because most investment institutions were not very optimistic about Cisco's prospects, coupled with Cisco's current market value Only 225 million US dollars, therefore, under the price offensive of Chris, some investment institutions that had already decided to buy Cisco shares transferred their subscription shares.

The share of the stock in hand increased from 7% at the beginning. At the end of January, all the 70 million US dollars were spent, and a total of 23% of Cisco's shares were taken, although according to Cisco's market value of 225 million US dollars, 70 million US dollars. Taking a 23% stake is a huge loss, but at Cisco's peak value of $500 billion, the stake would be astronomical.

Of course, Eric also knows that with the development and growth of Cisco, this share will definitely be gradually diluted, but as long as he can maintain about 10% of the shares in the end, it will still be a huge wealth in the future.

While Chris spent all $70 million, February 1 finally came, and the four lawsuits were still lingering at the same time. The Los Angeles branch of the Federal Trade Investigation Commission, the US antitrust investigation agency, held a press conference, announcing that it will investigate the alleged monopolistic behavior of Firefly and United Elite Agency (uta).

As soon as the news came out, public opinion was once again in an uproar. Various analyses quickly appeared in the newspapers.

In the Malibu Manor, Edward Lewis hurried into the living room. Sitting down opposite Eric, several people were already in the living room, Jeffrey, Robert Shea and Kapoor Sid of Uta were all here.

"Edward, let's talk about the situation first?" Eric said after pouring a cup of coffee for Edward Lewis himself.

Edward drank his coffee in one gulp, then took out a thick stack of documents and put them on the coffee table. He took out one of them and said, "Eric. It's roughly like this, the Federal Trade Investigation Commission has begun to investigate Firefly and Uta. Investigate and collect evidence, once you are convicted, you may face a huge fine in addition to selling all the shares of uta."

"How much will this fine be?" Eric asked the question he was most concerned about. Columbia and Fox joined forces to owe Firefly a huge share, and Eric realized that the final killer must have something to do with money.

Edward Lewis found another document: "According to the provisions of the anti-monopoly law, under normal circumstances, the penalty is based on 20% of the revenue generated by the violating enterprise due to monopolistic behavior. However, this number is not fixed. And it is flexible. It's quite big, if you do it well, you don't even have to pay a penny in fine. Just transfer the uta shares in your hand, but if..."

"Edward, I'm sorry to interrupt you. You know, we all know little about the relevant laws, so you can just say how much fine I might have to pay for it."

"Well, okay," Edward Lewis said. "According to Firefly and Uta's violations. You may have to pay a fine of up to 160 million US dollars."

Eric made a jump: "How can there be so much, uta's profit today is only a few million?"

Edward explained: "Eric. It's not your algorithm, you should calculate uta and firefly together. Because before uta and firefly are your personal industries. And I used Caroline Elliott from Caroline Elliott. The lady got some information there, and your total revenue this year has reached more than 400 million US dollars. Add in the possible income from the five movies still in theaters, because the violations of uta and firefly are not serious, so, 20 There is no possibility of increasing the base amount of %, so in total, the penalty you have to pay may be as high as 160 million.”

Eric was stunned for a while and asked, "How long is the time limit for fines to be collected?"

Edward knew what Eric was asking, and said, "According to the current situation, this lawsuit will not last more than three months, and after that, you have three months to pay the fine. By the way, Eric, I just As I emphasized to you, $160 million is only the worst-case scenario, and in fact, in general, the fine will be much lower than that, or even paid."

"Half a year," Eric muttered to himself in a low voice. He didn't ask Edward what would happen if he didn't pay the fine when it was due. Obviously, it was nothing more than freezing the assets and then going to auction. His assets are nothing but fireflies.

Moreover, although the profits of these films at the end of the year may be far more than 160 million US dollars, Eric can be sure that after these films are down, he will not be able to get this money except for a lawsuit. And by the time the lawsuit is won, half a year is estimated to have passed.

Since the matter is irreversible, Eric no longer worries about gains and losses, and said to several people around: "Since we have reached this point, we should fight back."

Jeffrey has long held his breath, because Eric lacks trust in others, so, at this point, only Jeffrey knows about the video tape he left before: "Eric, need What do we do, let's talk about it?" (To be continued)