I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1072: Exclusive Interview]

Noticing some movement around her, Linda opened her eyes, leaning against the man's chest, just in time to see Cindy quietly leaving the bedroom. The bright light filtering through the curtain indicated that it was getting late. Due to Yahoo's successful IPO, everyone had celebrated late into the night, even Eric had been unusually drunk. The man, still asleep, carried a faint scent of alcohol.

Recalling the events of yesterday, Linda felt her sleepiness vanish. She poked her head over and planted a peck on his cheek. Then, gently lifting the covers, she got up, threw on a large T-shirt, and began her morning routine. Although it was freezing outside in New York at the end of November, the apartment felt like spring.

This was Cindy's apartment, located on 75th Street near Madison Avenue. Though it wasn't a duplex, it occupied the entire top floor of the eleven-story building. The first time Linda saw this elegantly decorated apartment, she began to feel envious of her own place in Greenwich Village. She started to crash at Cindy's more often and even discreetly asked her real estate company to find out if there were similar apartments available on the Upper East Hydee, but so far, there had been no results.

Making her way through the hallway to the living room, Linda sank comfortably onto the soft sofa, stretching like a cat. She lazily reached for the remote on the coffee table and switched on the TV. It was the morning news, and most of the anchors discussed Yahoo's incredible IPO success with excitement or amazement.

...

"...By the end of trading yesterday at four PM, Yahoo's stock price closed at $72.56, an astounding 119.88% increase from its initial offering price, giving it a market valuation of $91 billion. This marked the biggest IPO miracle since the eruption of the tech wave. Reports indicated that, in addition to the initial issuance of 150 million shares, Yahoo issued an extra 22.5 million shares under the greenshoe option. Based on the total issuance of 172.5 million shares, Yahoo's IPO fundraising scale reached an impressive $5.6925 billion..."

"...The Nasdaq index surged past 2600 points in the hour leading up to closing..."

"...While everyone is talking about a tech stock bubble, they find it hard to resist the allure of high returns from tech stocks, including myself. I called my broker right after work yesterday, only to find out that the markets would be closed for the weekend. What a disappointment..."

"...AOL's stock fell 3.36% today, but Steve Case expressed confidence in AOL's future, claiming the company wouldn't be bothered by short-term stock price fluctuations. However, he indicated that AOL would expedite merger negotiations with Time Warner to make up for the content shortfall from losing Firefly's support..."

"...According to Yahoo's submitted stock distribution data to the SEC, post-IPO, including the soon-to-be-exercised greenshoe options, Yahoo's total share capital expanded to 1.255 billion shares, with Firefly Investments holding 986 million shares at a 78.56% stake; management holding 96.5 million shares at a 7.69% stake; and public float of 172.5 million shares..."

"...The IPO created two billionaires, six more centi-millionaires, twenty-six multi-millionaires, and two hundred thirteen millionaires. Based on Yahoo's closing price yesterday, the management's 96.5 million shares were worth a staggering $7 billion. We have to commend Eric Williams' generosity. However, comparatively, our richest man's wealth surge was even more astonishing. Compared to Forbes' earlier $15 billion valuation on Yahoo, the IPO instantly inflated Eric Williams' fortune by $57 billion..."

"...A Microsoft spokesperson expressed optimism about Yahoo's future outlook but declined to comment on Microsoft's 30% stake in Yahoo and the associated long-term stock transfer agreements..."

"...Since the second half of this year, many Wall Street media outlets have valued Yahoo at over $50 billion. Insiders disclosed that Yahoo's early IPO plan had a much higher ratio of new share issuance than the actual 13.75%. Therefore, we must admit that at such a sensitive time during the surge of new technology, Yahoo made a very wise IPO strategy choice. Calculating from the issuance price of $33, Yahoo's valuation during IPO was only $35.7 billion, far below Wall Street's average valuation. Undoubtedly, this significantly stimulated countless global investors' buying motivations, leading to the astonishing surge of over 100% on Yahoo's IPO debut..."

"...It's not hard to imagine that if Yahoo had conducted the IPO according to Wall Street's valuation data, yesterday's stock trajectory would not have been so outstanding, possibly even resulting in a drop on the first day because of the inflated valuation. Moreover, according to our analysis, Yahoo's 15% supplementary issuance of greenshoe options was certainly not for shareholders and management to acquire more IPO financing. If that were the case, Yahoo could merely raise the issuance price to $37 to obtain an additional $700 million in financing, and it has been proven that a $37 issuance price is still within market tolerance..."

"...I believe that Yahoo chose to activate the greenshoe mechanism to mitigate the risk of a first-day drop. In the event of stock price declines, underwriters can legally step in to support the stock. If my assumption is correct, it indicates that the controlling shareholder behind Firefly Investments, Eric Williams, remains exceptionally clear-headed amid the surging tech tide. Such clarity is particularly rare for someone who has already achieved multi-billionaire status at twenty-eight. Therefore, although Yahoo's stock has severely inflated, I still suggest investors to buy in as someone who can remain composed in a storm certainly possesses the potential to lead this company to continued brilliance..."

"...According to the latest statistics, Eric Williams' net worth has reached $265 billion. Let's take a look at the Forbes list of global billionaires from the beginning of the year. What do we find? That's right! At $265 billion, it exceeds the total wealth of the other nine billionaires in the top ten ranking. From the listed data, the combined net worth of those ranked second to tenth is only $259.4 billion. Although this year is coming to an end, and other billionaires' net worth will see some growth with the global economic recovery, given Nasdaq's current wild performance and Firefly Investments' substantial holdings in multiple star tech stocks, despite only a month left in the year, we still have ample reasons to predict that in this month, Eric Williams' wealth may possibly reach historic highs, surpassing an unprecedented $300 billion..."

"...At 4:20 PM, our reporter stationed outside the Nasdaq headquarters still failed to interview Eric Williams personally. Reportedly, he had already left the Nasdaq headquarters earlier that afternoon with his two girlfriends. However, after some effort, we lucked out with a brief opportunity to interview Chris Hansen, president of Firefly Investments. According to Chris Hansen, Yahoo will focus on expanding its overseas business after completing this IPO..."

...

In the past, Linda would have changed the channel at the mere mention of stock prices, options, or IPOs without a second thought. But today, she flipped through channels, captivated by different anchors discussing Yahoo's IPO and all the details from yesterday. While she didn't grasp all the specifics, she still listened with keen interest, even feeling a sense of inexplicable pride.

However, when she heard the last anchor's report, Linda suddenly froze. Something strange seemed to have slipped into the anchor's narrative.

Two girlfriends? Was that referring to her and Cindy? When did she and Cindy become his "two girlfriends"? Moreover, what was with the anchor's nonchalant tone? Was this situation really that common now?

After a moment of pondering, Linda felt she might have understood something, yet upon deeper reflection, she couldn't hold onto any particular thought.

So, naturally, she climbed up, leaning over the back of the couch and yelled towards the kitchen, "Cindy, Cindy!"

After a moment, Cindy impatiently peeked out from the kitchen, "What's up?"

Seeing Cindy appear, Linda suddenly swallowed the words she had intended to say. Sensing the sweet aroma of freshly baked cupcakes in the air, she shifted her approach and said pitifully, "Cindy, darling, I'm hungry."

Cindy rolled her eyes and asked, "Did Eric get up yet?"

"I don't know."

"Go wake him up; it's time to eat."

"Uh, you go instead. I'm scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Men can be pretty grumpy when they just wake up, especially since he came in drunk last night and did nothing. I'm worried I might get killed if I go over."

"I'd like to kill you now; hurry up!"

...

Even though it was the weekend, the day after Yahoo's IPO, there were still countless loose ends for Yahoo's management team, the Morgan Stanley crew, and Firefly Investments to tie up.

Eric was never a micromanager; with the scale of Firefly Investments, it was impossible for him to keep track of every single detail. Hence, after handling all the matters from the previous day, Eric decided to let everything go and planned to stay in New York until after Thanksgiving, giving himself a brief respite.

Gisele and Alessandra decided to head back to Brazil this year to spend Christmas with their families and had already left New York. This meant only Miranda remained, which led to Eric sending her back to Australia.

This allowed for a very manageable allocation of time with the women. He could stay in Manhattan with Cindy and Linda from the weekend through Tuesday while keeping an eye on some post-IPO matters for Yahoo. After Wednesday, he would return to the Hamptons for Thanksgiving weekend with the women and children.

...

Both the America's Next Top Model and Project Runway were continuing steadily, with Cindy and Linda having already wrapped up their shooting before the winter hiatus, so they were both taking a break.

After breakfast, Linda eagerly pulled Eric and Cindy into a discussion about how to spend the upcoming days, even go so far as to create a detailed schedule.

That afternoon, they went shopping together; of course, it wasn't the normal window shopping. They had set up appointments at exclusive boutiques, where Cindy and Linda would go straight to pick something out.

Both women were now multi-millionaires but still took pleasure in swiping Eric's credit card in front of the boutique attendants. Linda took it especially far, racking up over half a million dollars in a single day and even using Eric's card to reserve a latest BMW sports car, exuding the energy of someone who was rebelling against society due to some unseen trigger.

However, even during their break, they still had work to do, albeit not something critically important. It was an interview with The New York Times.

...

Previously, to avoid any negative press during Yahoo's IPO, Eric and everyone else had worked diligently. Although Eric controlled North America's largest media empire, he couldn't expect everyone to bow down at his first appearance. He still had to owe a few small favors, which led to the promise of this interview with The New York Times.

Under the pretext of being too busy during the day, the interview was scheduled for the evening, and ultimately arranged to take place in Cindy's apartment.

Eric had rarely accepted media interviews publicly over the years, and even within the Firefly network, it was nearly impossible to secure an opportunity to interview him, making The New York Times highly appreciative of this rare chance and offering no objections regarding the interview timing.

"Ms. Miller, I must reiterate, this interview is strictly limited to topics related to Yahoo and should not involve anything else, especially Mr. Williams' personal life. Furthermore, the news release must be approved by us before publication, and you only have one hour," said Merissa Mayer, ushering a roughly thirty-five-year-old blonde reporter through the elevator at 8 PM on East 75th Street in the Upper East Hydee.

Judith Miller, the reporter, nodded while watching the ascending floor indicator. Seizing a moment, she interjected, "Ms. Mayer, may I have a personal interview with you?"

Merissa Mayer, holding a stack of documents, shook her head, "Sorry, you'll need to discuss that with my boss."

Judith felt a tad disappointed, yet replied, "Perhaps we could have lunch tomorrow, just to chat."

Merissa continued to shake her head, "Sorry, I have a lot of work to do."

...

The two arrived at the top-floor apartment, where Cindy opened the door, warmly welcoming them in. In the living room, Eric, who had been flipping through a fashion magazine upon Linda's request, stood up and smiled while shaking hands with Judith Miller, who was dressed in a light gray plaid business suit. "Hello, Ms. Miller."

"Mr. Williams, it's a pleasure to meet you," Judith responded, casting a curious glance at the living room scene. Although she was one of The New York Times' leading reporters and harbored some feminist inclinations, she didn't feel any negativity about Eric living with two supermodels. In fact, like many others, she subconsciously thought it was a given.

After a bit of introductory small talk, Eric gestured for them to sit down. "Ms. Miller, let's head to the study. Cindy, please take care of Mary."

Once he finished his sentence, Eric led Judith Miller to one of the apartment's studies.

The room was tastefully decorated, with everything from the desk and chairs to the bookshelves giving Eric a sense of deja vu.

Earlier in the day, he had entered for the first time to check an email and had initially wondered why Cindy's apartment sported such a formal study. However, upon noticing a pencil holder brimming with pencils on the wide desk, he dismissed the question.

Eric didn't believe there could be another person in Cindy's circle who happened to enjoy using pencils while working.

*****

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