Chapter Seven Hundred and Seventy-Two Potential Benefits

Since the establishment of the alliance plan in 1993, after nearly three years of close cooperation, with the assistance of Cisco's hardware technical support and Yahoo's platform promotion resources, AOL has taken the lead in providing users with high-speed adsl broadband access services compared to other established telecom operators. , with popularized 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 U.S. Internet access service industry market share. The strong expansion momentum has made the traditional slow response Incumbent telecom operators are losing ground.

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's CEO John Chambers, Yahoo's CEO Ian Grenier and other corporate executives from AOL's allies have also come to New York to cheer on the platform of its stock offering ceremony.

Because of this, Eric was so busy with all kinds of entertainment that he didn't have time to take care of him.

And so on until January 29th.

Since the night before, company executives, guests, media reporters, stock traders and other people who participated in the AOL IPO bell ringing ceremony have crowded the Nasdaq stock exchange floor.

AOL issued 15 million new shares this time, accounting for 10% of the total share capital. The issue price per share is $33, and it plans to raise $495 million.

However, due to the strong reaction of the market, after six rounds of public inquiry, the opening price of America Online directly shot up to 42 US dollars, a 27% increase from the issue price. When the final price was determined, the trading floor was full of jubilation.

"The opening price was $42, but the issue price was only $33. Does this mean that AOL lost all of a sudden during the issuance of these 15 million shares... Well, at least $100 million, why is the price uncertain? Higher?"

At the party after the IPO ceremony, Cindy Crawford, who came to join in the fun, asked Eric Road.

Eric let the woman hold him, raised a toast to a Morgan Stanley executive who nodded hello to him, and explained: "According to the current stock price, the market value of AOL is close to 7 billion US dollars, relatively For example, the 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 be more motivated 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 can't be bought by $100 million."

Cindy nodded and said, "Then do you think that if I buy some aol stocks now, will they appreciate in value in the future?"

"Of course," Eric nodded, looked at Cindy and smiled: "In the past two years, your wallet should be very strong, then try to invest in some technology stocks, not limited to aol, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, etc. Anything is fine, throw in 10 million now, and in a few years you might be able to become a billionaire.”

"So powerful," Cindy blinked and asked, "Then, what if I lose?"

Eric said indifferently: "If you lose, you will lose. 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, feeling a little resentful, and then resentfully said: "I will go back and take all All the money is invested in the stocks you mentioned,

If you lose everything, go to Los Angeles to rely on you at your manor. "

Eric said: "In this case, should I earn points?"

Cindy didn't hesitate: "Okay, how much do you want?"

Eric said with a serious face: "Half, my financial advice is still worth this price."

"Hmph," Cindy glared at Eric, remembered something, looked at the crowd around, and then lowered her voice and asked sarcastically, "I heard you're looking for a little girl recently?"

Eric shook his head immediately and sighed: "It seems that I can't cooperate with your brokerage company in the future. It's not reliable at all, and everything can be spread out."

Although he knew that Eric was joking, Cindy still explained: "No, I just went to the company the day before yesterday and saw someone sorting out the information, so I asked John, and he said that you made the preparation. You plan to do it again. what?"

"I need a few girls in this movie," Eric said without concealing it, "Exactly, I have already selected three, one has not been decided yet, and the other two, one is in New York, and the other is in New York. Milan, come back tomorrow, do you want to meet?"

Cindy said indifferently, "What do I see them doing?"

Eric said: "You are a senior, maybe you can take them."

"And let them take my job?"

"Are you planning to work for another twenty years?"

Sindis didn't hide her thoughts, and said, "As long as the conditions allow me, 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 desolate scene. Although sitting in the heated room, you can still feel the outside world. chill.

Eric was in Australia in the middle of summer a few days ago, so it's a strange feeling right now.

Cindy, who was wearing a close-fitting black sweater and jeans, came out of the kitchen with the breakfast for the two of them, put the breakfast on the round table by the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked at Eric, who was staring at the laptop screen, curious: " 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 goblin."

Cindy looked at the laptop screen, it was an email, she subconsciously read: "Dear Mr. Williams, hello, I'm Miranda Kerr, it's an honor to receive your invitation... "

After simply reading a few sentences, Cindy lost interest, looked at Eric who had already eaten breakfast, and said, "Nothing special?"

Eric took a sip of the hot milk, put down the cup, and said, "You can talk about it after reading it."

Cindy shrugged and turned her attention to the e-mail on the screen, an e-mail from a girl named Miranda Kerr to Eric, in which the girl expressed the He expressed his excitement and gratitude to Eric for inviting him to participate in the film, and then euphemistically expressed the hope that after this cooperation, he could get more job opportunities to ensure his study and living expenses after moving to the United States. Just after reading this email, Cindy didn't feel anything special, and she probably would have said the same if it was herself.

However, Cindy soon realized something, looked up and asked Eric: "This, little guy, how old is it?"

"Thirteen."

Cindy suddenly laughed. At the age of thirteen, being able to play Xiaosi so smoothly is really a little goblin. This girl hopes that after this cooperation, she can get more job opportunities, and then she will be able to contact Eric, a super powerful network.

"Hehe, if you want to agree, this little girl will depend on you from now on."

Eric shrugged: "For men, this should be considered a happy trouble."

"Well, you said yesterday that you were going to see the other two little guys today, is that the same?"

"I haven't seen it yet, I won't know until we meet," Eric said, "However, if you know my vision, the person I choose will definitely not be bad."

Cindy said: "I suddenly became curious."

"I made an appointment for noon and I'll invite them to dinner at home. Come back then."

"Okay," Cindy nodded.

She's currently working on the second season of America's Next Top Model, but filming is taking place in Manhattan, not far from where Eric lives.

After eating breakfast and sending Cindy away, Eric read the email again with great interest, thought about it, 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 goblin could evolve to in the future.

After running around for these days, I finally had a little time to spare. Eric didn't go anywhere all morning. He stayed at home and watched the newly revised "Rush Hour" script. Although "The Red Zone" has not been released yet, "Rush Hour" " has been officially approved, with a budget of $30 million for the first film, and New Line has signed two male protagonists 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 were paid absurdly high, and even caused the sequel to be delayed many times. In order to prevent this situation from happening again, Eric also asked the new line to sign a trilogy option contract with the two male protagonists in advance, and stipulated the remuneration standards for the sequel, so as to avoid the company losing the initiative in the sequel remuneration negotiation in the future. .

After reading the script and sending the revision comments back to Los Angeles by email, the time has unknowingly arrived at noon.

Eric was too lazy to make his own lunch. He was about to call a nearby restaurant and ask the other party to bring some lunches when he heard the doorbell rang.

Looking at his watch, it was only half past eleven, half an hour before the appointment time. Westerners are very focused on the concept of time. It’s not that the sooner you are, the better. Eric thought that Cindy had come back early, and turned on the intercom and asked with a smile, “Have you come back so early?”

After hesitating for a moment, a girl with a hoarse voice asked nervously, "Is it... Mr. Williams?"

"Um?"

"I, we are Gisele Bundchen and Alexandre 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 Alexander Ambrosio, and did not have another great actress Adriana Li in the original time and space. The figure of the horse, so only these two were picked.

However, he originally asked two girls and their agent to come together, but now the situation is obvious, the agent company must have sent these two girls over and left.

well!

Do you really think you are a good person?

Do you really think you are the bad guy?

Eric sighed in a mess, turned to the two girls and said, "Come in."

Like obedient kittens, the two women walked into the entrance quietly and obediently, looking at the spotless living room, but their footsteps were hesitant.

Eric closed the door and said, "No need to change shoes."

Only then did the two women step into the living room, and after receiving 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 been carefully makeup, it is still difficult to hide the youthful appearance on their faces. However, both girls already have tall bodies, 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 full. Although girls who love beauty will definitely not wear too much, at this time, the foreheads of the two girls who are also wearing short trench coats soon seep a light sweat.

Eric pointed to the hanger at the entrance and said, "If it's hot, you can take off the windbreaker and hang it there."

The two girls nodded together, got up, took off their trench coats, hung them on the hanger, then came back and sat down quietly.

Eric was almost dumbfounded.

In the original time and space, Gisele Bundchen and Alexandre Ambrosio have achieved much more in the fashion industry than Miranda Kerr.

But at this time, compared to the shrewdness of Miranda Kerr's e-mail in the morning, Eric only felt that he was facing two scared and silly little quails.

"Where's your agent?" Eric casually sat 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 the two women flashed a moment of apprehension. Although Giselle and Alexander are newcomers to the two major brokerage companies, img and elite respectively, but before they came, the instructions they received from the bosses of the two brokerage companies were similar. This meeting is either going to the sky in one step or with many newcomers. Same, keep going.

Several major international modeling agencies look for hundreds of newcomers from all over the world every year, and only a few of them can stand out.

Brazil, where the two girls came from, 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 also the only way. As for many well-known models, they are always used to claiming in their resumes that they were accidentally discovered by a talent scout while shopping one day, and then went on to flourish, that is basically nonsense.

Take these two girls as an example. Although they did not know each other before, their life trajectories are similar to that of most Brazilian girls who dream of modeling. They have been trained as models since they were ten years old. Submit photos to major brokerage companies at the age of 20, or participate in various model selection competitions, and only a few of them are lucky enough to be signed in the end, and very few of them want to go to well-known models or even supermodels , the odds 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, and it is even more impossible to know where they have reached in another time and space. At this time, they are just two young girls who have just walked out of Brazil and embraced their dreams. The opportunity came to him, no matter how careful he behaved, there was no surprise.