After returning to Los Angeles, William White was even busier. The affair with Sophie had made the French quite displeased. In this situation, crisis management was naturally needed.
What? Sophie was lured away by William White!
Let's not joke around. She was pursuing her dreams. This was a showcase of French flair to the world, so how could you speak so disdainfully?
Mr. William White was a very upright person, a devout Christian, and a great philanthropist. If you continue to slander him, expect a letter from his lawyer!
Crisis PR didn't really need William White's involvement. This peculiar department was a non-profit organization under the White Foundation.
Haha, this was indeed a pioneering move. Not just companies, even government departments didn't have such a thing.
Crisis PR was usually very effective. William White was used to being reckless and had offended quite a few people. If he didn't find a way to deal with issues in time, he'd have run into trouble a long time ago.
This was a minor issue, not worth delaying things. But a group of jealous women was a problem.
What's this? Got a girlfriend already?
If you had an official relationship, others were less likely to make a move, at least not blatantly.
Comforting those broken-hearted souls was indeed exhausting. Someone clearly felt strained, and if things continued like this, he might really be doomed.
Forget it, since they can't be pleased, I give up. Whoever wants it, go ahead. I have plenty on my plate!
...
William White was indeed very busy. Apart from everything happening at White Films, he needed to check in on his other companies. Letting things slide wasn't an option.
His first stop was naturally Disney. The money spent there was giving him a headache. If not for Filson stopping him, he would've sent some of the previous folks to jail.
Filson was speechless too. He had never seen anyone like this. Who calculates past accounts like that? If they had really pocketed the money, fine, but this was just regular business. How could you behave this way?
His casual actions had truly startled the Disney family. Their hands weren't clean, and if this reckless guy really exposed them, it would have been a scandal.
"Michael, get me the script for Beauty and the Beast quickly. We need to get this big movie ready. This is the first launch, and it absolutely can't have issues."
"Got it, Mr. White, it's almost done."
"What about those old folks from before?"
"Haha, they're probably scared stiff."
"Hmph, a bunch of idiots. They expect me to bear such a huge burden alone."
"Mr. White, they're just not competent. Do you have to go this far?"
"Hmph, do you think the French compromised for no reason? If they had no issue, they wouldn't have given a cent off that billion-dollar deal."
Michael Eisner didn't know what to say. Things were a bit deep here; it was better not to get involved. It made sense -- if a family only held under 5% of shares, what's surprising about some incidents?
Having already spent the money, William White didn't want to make trouble. Yet some didn't know better. Don't they know? This company no longer concerns them, yet they still try to meddle.
Such a simple script and they dared to delay it. If something wasn't done to show them who's boss, these old folks wouldn't know their place.
...
After giving those old folks a piece of his mind, William White started inspecting his new building.
Some less kind people dubbed the White Center the American Twin Eggs.
Alright, even if it did look like a duck egg, why couldn't they call it something else?
The Twin Eggs?
Who's butting into my business?
No matter how others saw it, the building looked pretty impressive. According to a shameless designer, its design was inspired by Da Vinci's Eggs.
William White's idea had given the architects quite a headache. Now that it was done, they could brag about it, but during the process, it was a mess of feathers and suffering they had left behind.
Starting two landmark buildings at the same time showcased William White's power.
But more flamboyant types easily attracted criticism.
This joke naturally involved William White's eggs. Because the White Plaza in Houston looked equally like an egg, rumors spread about his fondness for eggs.
"Hmph, you fools wouldn't have known that I bought the adaptation rights for Godzilla films. Having it lay an egg here would be perfect. By then, I'd even blow up that egg!" William White felt awkward; he couldn't pursue this matter further, else he'd be petty, bordering on narrow-mindedness.
...
The American economy finally hit an upward trend. Though not fully recovered, it wasn't worsening either. Unemployment was still high, yet approximately at the 1981 level.
You should know it was a severe deflation era, with bank interest rates at 20%.
If, if the Federal Reserve were to inject liquidity now, the American economy would certainly leap. Reagan was very keen on this idea; though likely to win, why not win by a larger margin?
But Paul Volcker simply ignored him, insisting that inflation was still high and there was no basis to lower interest rates.
In fact, Paul Volcker's reasoning didn't hold. Wall Street's leverage was already very low. As to why he was so persistent, various theories existed, and conspiracy theories had never been scarce.
To William White's view, Paul Volcker was crucial to America, having indeed helped it rise again. But to other countries, he wasn't as benevolent.
Post-war, America got quite complacent, squandering its predecessors' savings almost entirely. It was Paul Volcker who ended the Bretton Woods system, causing global economic chaos.
It was also Paul Volcker who then established a new financial system. Compared to the former actor, this guy was more critical to Wall Street, being the real person controlling America's future.
So, no matter the current leader, Volcker didn't care at all.
*****
https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.