I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1071: Soaring to Great Heights]

As time passed, the Nasdaq trading floor became increasingly packed, and the atmosphere grew more intense.

Executives and employees of Yahoo, the underwriting team from Morgan Stanley, guests attending the event, media reporters from around the world, and exchange staff crammed into the hall like sardines in a can. Everyone was shouting at the top of their lungs, urging those nearby to make room, just to inch along in the crowded space.

Large screens throughout the exchange displayed financial news about Yahoo's IPO from major North American TV channels, but the audio was completely drowned out by the surrounding noise, resembling scenes from a silent film.

As it neared nine o'clock, due to the chaotic situation in the hall, Nasdaq CEO Frank Zarb had to personally step in with a group of staff to maintain order. Ten minutes later, Yahoo CEO Ian Gurney managed to navigate through the crowd and arrived at the media briefing room to give his IPO speech.

At the same time, Eric, Chris, Steve Mitnick, Tina Brown, and other core executives from the Firefly organization began gathering at the front, preparing for the ringing of the bell at 9:30.

Originally, stock trading was entirely manual, so company executives traditionally rang the bell to announce the official start of trading on the day of an IPO. After more than a century, the bell-ringing ceremony had evolved into the pressing of a button to initiate electronic trading.

Minutes later, after Ian Gurney finished his IPO speech, he joined the others on stage, and the clock in the hall read 9:25.

With everyone in position and countless eyes on them inside and outside the exchange, Eric delivered a brief speech and then, along with the surrounding crowd, pressed the bright orange button to commence trading.

At the moment the button was pressed, the hall erupted with pre-prepared cannon fire, and the crowd spontaneously broke into applause and cheers. Media outlets displayed live feeds focused on the figures on stage.

Outside the exchange, on a massive outdoor screen near Times Square, Eric and the others appeared on camera, making the core members of the Firefly organization the center of attention.

Although Eric led them onto the stage, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista instinctively moved to the back of the crowd during the bell-ringing ceremony.

Even with their prior experiences of fame, both women felt a strange sense of nervousness amid the electric atmosphere. Cindy understood that this was likely the power of wealth, while a dazed Linda watched as Eric led the way off the ringing platform, merely smiling politely as she followed the crowd down like a puppet.

...

The bell-ringing ceremony seemed to start and end quickly, yet no one left the trading floor thereafter. Instead, Eric and the others moved upstairs to a large conference room overlooking the trading hall.

Only upon entering the spacious conference room did Linda feel her nerves settle.

The men gathered around the conference table to chat, while Cindy, without concern, walked toward the glass wall with Tina Brown and Amy Pascal, gazing down at the bustling hall. Linda glanced at Eric's figure and felt a strange urge to join him, but she obediently followed Cindy and the others to the window.

Finally recalling her enthusiastic commitment to purchasing 1.5 million shares of Yahoo stock, she hesitated a moment before asking Tina Brown, "What happens next?"

Before Tina could reply, the crowd below noticeably stirred, drawing attention to a stock price monitor, where someone shouted, "It's down, -2.6%."

Linda felt her heart tighten and instinctively looked over to ascertain what was happening. Although her knowledge of stocks was minimal -- she definitely considered herself a financial novice -- she could identify that the stock symbol was not for Yahoo. Yahoo's trading ticker was YHOO, which she was aware of. The ticker experiencing a 2.6% drop was AOL, and the other declining stocks also bore different symbols.

However, AOL belonged to his company, right?

Wait, that didn't seem right; he had just sold off his shares of AOL recently.

So, what was going on now?

Confused, Linda glanced next to her, where Tina Brown began to explain to other women nearby: "These are internet media stocks similar to Yahoo. AOL was in conflict with Yahoo's business model, which is why Eric distanced himself from that company. Yahoo's immense market share meant its IPO affected the overall decline of similar internet media stocks."

On the other side, Cindy curiously inquired, "So, will Yahoo be affected by this?"

"Well," Tina shook her head, her tone showing uncertainty. "No one can say for sure."

The women felt worried for a moment before Linda whispered, "So, what's happening with Yahoo now? Has trading begun?"

Tina replied, shaking her head, "They're still in the price discovery phase. This process will likely take about two hours, and trading won't formally start until after eleven."

Linda pressed, "What does price discovery mean?"

Tina patiently elaborated, "It's when the exchange determines the official opening price based on the price indications from buyers and sellers worldwide."

"I bought some shares too; does that mean I can participate in, um, price discovery?"

"Yes," Tina smiled. "You can call your broker now and tell them to submit your sell price."

Feeling a thrill at the prospect of being part of such a significant event, Linda thought, I need to state a really high price.

Would 100 dollars be too ambitious?

As she reached for her phone in her bag, she noticed Cindy rolling her eyes at her, which immediately made her drop the idea and return the gaze defiantly.

Although the IPO was open to global investors, it wasn't just anyone who could buy in; there was a minimum commitment of 100,000 shares.

With an average issue price of $33, that meant an investment of $3.3 million. For large investment funds, and even someone like Linda, that amount didn't feel astronomical. Yet, for millions of individual investors and smaller investment firms globally, $3.3 million was a steep hurdle.

Including the 22.5 million shares allocated for the overallotment option, Yahoo ultimately had fewer than 300 institutions subscribe to its offering of 172.5 million shares.

Many smaller institutions only bought tens of thousands or even thousands of shares, while individual investors had even lower purchasing power.

However, because of the sheer number of these smaller investment groups, demand for a newly issued stock often far exceeded its IPO allocation. When such a situation occurred, stock prices inevitably surged. This explained why many new stocks opened significantly higher on their debut than their issue price.

...

After patiently waiting for half an hour, the trading hall suddenly buzzed with excitement again.

The women halted their conversation and looked over.

On a stock price display, Yahoo's basic information first appeared:

Ticker: YHOO; Share issue price: $33.00; Number of shares offered: 150,000,000.

Then, two sets of figures lit up: 41.00 -- 43.00.

Though Linda had already formed an opinion, she still registered some hesitation.

As she felt a pair of large hands wrap around her waist from behind, the familiar scent wafted in, and she turned to see that Eric and the others had also moved over to the glass wall.

Earlier, while in the hall, Linda noted that those rooms weren't one-way glass. With her and the other women standing at the front, it was easy for Eric to be seen by those below, including reporters who remained on the trading floor.

Her body stiffened for a moment, yet she quickly relaxed back into him.

After all, if he didn't care, why should she -- just a little woman -- worry about it?

However, it was clear that those in the trading hall showed little interest in the scene by the second-floor window. After a brief silence, enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted as they observed the two glowing red numbers on the display.

Seeing the crowd's reaction below, Linda finally became certain and leaned closer, murmuring to Eric, "Is this the opening price? Didn't they say it would take two hours? But it's gone up so much!"

Eric smiled, kissing her cheek and shaking his head. "Not yet; this is just the first round of price discovery. There will be more to come."

Feeling Eric's kiss, Linda instinctively retracted her neck, but couldn't help gazing at the display again. Even with a price of $41, the 1.5 million shares she purchased meant she was already sitting on some serious gain.

She hadn't calculated the exact amount, but it was certainly substantial.

Thinking about this, she whispered, "Eric, the upcoming price discovery -- shouldn't the stock price keep rising?"

Holding her close, Eric gazed down at the trading floor without confirming her concerns. "We'll need to see the next round of price discovery results to know how the price will trend."

As the first round of price discovery saw Yahoo's stock shoot up a remarkable 24% above its issue price, participants were anxious about what could follow. However, it was evident that Yahoo's debut wouldn't face the same disastrous fate as Facebook did in an alternate timeline, where its stock plummeted below its issue price.

As Eric considered Facebook, he turned to locate Steve Mitnick. "Steve, is the tech team still in the server room?"

Aside from Eric's memories of Facebook, there had not been any incidents of system failures on an IPO day at Nasdaq since its inception in 1971. Although Steve Mitnick considered Eric's worries slightly unfounded, he too was inherently cautious. Realizing the positive atmosphere, he nodded, "I'll go check."

Once Steve left, Eric turned his attention back to the trading floor.

...

The first round of price discovery took about half an hour.

However, the subsequent rounds proceeded much more swiftly.

Just fifteen minutes later, the screens in the trading floor displayed the results for the second round.

46.00 -- 49.00.

Compared to the previous lowest bid of $41, the $46 minimum bid represented a staggering increase of 39% on Yahoo's stock price from the issue price, indicating a substantial surge.

Before this, the Yahoo team's most optimistic earnings forecast for their stock on its public debut was just about a 40% increase. With the second round's results, it invalidated all their earlier expectations.

Yet, no one in the hall betrayed any disappointment. As applause and cheers filled the room, Ian Gurney, Tina Brown, and all the core executives from the Firefly organization, including Katzenberg, John Chambers, Jeff Bezos, Victor McNally, and Amy Pascal, spontaneously joined in the celebration.

Everyone understood that the initial surge in the first round paved the way for even higher bids in the subsequent rounds.

...

As events unfolded, they were expected yet still surprising for everyone involved.

Amid the excited atmosphere, time flowed both slowly and swiftly.

After the second round's result at 10:15, the third round was quickly announced at 10:30.

49.00 -- 51.00.

Shortly after came the fourth round: 53.00 -- 57.00.

Then the fifth round: 56.00 -- 59.00.

The sixth round: 61.00 -- 65.00.

Finally, at 11:30, the seventh and final round's results appeared on the large screen, leaving everyone in a state of astonished frenzy.

67.00 -- 69.00.

After the crowd erupted into one last wave of applause and cheers, Yahoo representatives and Morgan Stanley hurriedly conferred based on this last round of results to determine the final opening price. To ensure nothing went awry, the head of Nasdaq's market department announced that the official opening time would be postponed by half an hour, to noon sharp.

...

Inside the conference room, after receiving congratulations from guests and Nasdaq executives alike, everyone, except for Ian Gurney and a few others, remained in the room, continuing to await the final moments by the glass wall.

Ultimately, Yahoo opened at $68.50 and instantly skyrocketed to $70.29.

$70.29 represented a remarkable 113% increase compared to its issue price.

Consequently, Yahoo's market capitalization soared to an astonishing $88.2 billion.

As Eric gazed out at the buzzing Nasdaq trading floor, he took a deep breath to steady his own excitement and reached to pat the slightly dazed Linda in his arms. "Hey, quickly call your stockbroker and tell them to liquidate your shares."

Despite leaning against Eric, Linda instinctively raised her hands in front of her, like a little girl trying to protect her doll from being taken away, resisting in a hoarse voice, "No, wait! It can go higher!"

*****

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