[Chapter 700: The One that Got Away]
Eric simply ignored Gwyneth Paltrow's question, lowering his gaze to the documents in his hands. He asked, "Didn't you say there was an audition today?"
Gwyneth Paltrow showed no signs of embarrassment. She leaned on the table, propping her chin with her hand as she looked at Eric and said, "I suddenly thought that script was terrible. I'm not going. By the way, I heard your Matrix is already in the works. I've read that novel countless times. Do you think there's a role in it for me?"
This woman truly had a good opinion of herself.
Eric chuckled. "How about the lead female role?"
Gwyneth Paltrow's eyes lit up in an instant. "Really?"
Eric shook his head without hesitation. "No."
Gwyneth Paltrow didn't seem upset at all; instead, she lightly tapped Eric on the shoulder and stated, "Eric, you're so bad."
With a pile of work to do, Eric had no time to indulge her -- especially since he didn't feel anything for her. Just as he was about to lose his patience and send her away, he heard the young girl's voice from behind, "Kate, I didn't expect you to be up earlier than me."
"Hey, Drew, good morning," Gwyneth Paltrow greeted the girl.
Eric felt the girl lean into his back, turned to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, and then subtly signaled with his eyes.
The girl giggled and released Eric, reaching for Gwyneth Paltrow, who was lounging next to him. "Kate, come on, let's go have breakfast."
Although Gwyneth Paltrow didn't want to leave, she didn't dare to refuse Drew's invitation and reluctantly got up.
...
As the area quieted down, Eric redirected his attention back to the documents in his hand.
This was a private bond financing agreement, the result of the lobbying efforts by Chris and Irwin Jacobs in recent times. The contract was for Firefly Investments to provide Verizon Communications with $300 million in private bond financing, specifically for purchasing CDMA base station equipment and mobile communication network solutions from Qualcomm. The bond had a five-year term with an interest rate of 3%.
After paying the hefty licensing fees for mobile spectrum permits, aside from the financially robust AT&T, all other telecom operators faced funding shortages during their communications network's digital upgrade. Firefly already held 40% of Qualcomm's shares, making it the largest shareholder with nearly absolute control over Qualcomm.
This financing agreement essentially represented Verizon's price for joining the CDMA technology camp.
Although Verizon was already bearing nearly $9 billion in debt, it had firmly rejected Firefly's equity investment proposal. This decision was not hard to understand; for a company with substantial growth potential, the cost of equity financing was much higher than debt financing. Just like Firefly Group, which also held significant debt, if they were in need of cash, Eric would still opt for issuing bonds rather than bringing in other shareholders to share in Firefly's future profits. As long as Verizon weathered the coming few years of hardship, the operational situation would soon improve once the mobile communication network was established, and its debts would gradually be absorbed.
However, the deal also had a sense of opportunism to it. Given its enormous debt burden, Verizon's next public financing would have required an interest rate of at least 6% to ensure success. But the interest rate on this private bond financing was only 3%. If they agreed to this contract, Firefly would lose $10 million annually just on interest, and considering the principal of $300 million, the potential returns if that capital were invested elsewhere could be significantly higher after five years.
Eric didn't know how CDMA technology triumphed in the original timeline, but at the moment, he couldn't decline this contract. Chris had just informed him over the phone that signing this agreement to pull the second-largest telecom operator in North America, Verizon, into the CDMA camp would effectively revive Qualcomm. Once the news broke, Qualcomm's stock would likely soar by at least 100%. Eric wasn't particularly concerned about Qualcomm's skyrocketing stock price because Firefly would never easily sell its shares. What mattered most to him was the rapid promotion of CDMA technology.
Considering all of this, Eric recalled another thing Chris mentioned over the phone: while Verizon had rejected the equity investment proposal, Sprint's stance wasn't as firm.
Even though Sprint had made enormous profits last year, its overly aggressive expansion in mobile communication sparked widespread investor concerns. Most analysts believed that if Sprint proceeded with its plan to build a nationwide mobile communication network, the substantial upfront investments would leave the company unable to generate any profit over the next three to five years. Moreover, if the bets failed and the mobile communications industry didn't meet expected growth, Sprint risked bankruptcy due to its aggressive expansion strategy. These factors significantly lowered the chances of Sprint successfully securing debt financing, leaving investors unwilling to purchase bonds from a company that might face bankruptcy in the coming years, forcing Sprint to opt for issuing stocks to raise funds.
At a party in New York, Chris had spoken with a board member from Sprint who revealed that Sprint could issue an additional 10% of total stock to Firefly but at a price of $1.6 billion -- 60% above Sprint's current stock price. While this wasn't likely to be the final trading price, Firefly would have to pay a premium to complete the deal. Eric would've preferred to acquire Sprint shares in the open market, but compared to Qualcomm's possible 30 million shares even after issuing more, Sprint's total stock was a staggering 3.6 billion shares -- 120 times that of Qualcomm. Most stockholders were investment-oriented entities not prone to sell their stocks easily, making it challenging for Eric to build a significant stake through the public market.
With these thoughts in mind, Eric noted several digits in his notebook. Regarding Verizon's $300 million debt financing and acquiring Sprint's stock, he probably needed at least a 30% premium -- around $1.3 billion. The ongoing plan to increase stakes in Cisco would require a larger $2 billion investment. Adding these together brought the total to $3.6 billion.
Additionally, Ian Gurney, the CEO of Yahoo, had recently discussed the management's views on the company's future with Eric via phone and email. According to their ideas, Yahoo would also turn into a cash-burning giant in the coming years.
Even if Firefly Group maintained a $2 billion annual profit for the next few years, with Eric's 73.7% shareholding, his annual dividends would only amount to $1.5 billion. Although he had other side income, it still wouldn't be sufficient to support these plans.
After mulling this over, Eric resolved to take things one step at a time. If it didn't work out, he would scale back on some projects.
...
"Eric, what are you thinking about?" The girl suddenly popped up next to him again, still accompanied by Gwyneth Paltrow.
"Nothing, just some random things," Eric answered vaguely. With someone else around, he couldn't be casual like he usually was; if certain things got out, it could lead to unnecessary trouble.
The girl didn't mind, though. She took the fresh coffee from Natasha's hands and poured it for Eric. "Eric, I'm heading to the office. Are you leaving today?"
Eric shook his head. "No, I'll wait for you to come back."
"I'll leave a Natasha with you. Just let her know if you need anything."
Eric smiled. "Let's skip that. You take her with you. It feels a bit weird to split them up."
"Okay, the maid's phone number is under the coffee table. They live nearby in Coldwater Canyon. You can call them over if you need help," the girl added and turned to leave. Upon noticing Gwyneth Paltrow hadn't moved, she said, "Kate, come with me. I'll take you to see my company."
Gwyneth Paltrow realized she had a chance to be alone with Eric, so she wouldn't easily leave. "Drew, you go ahead. I'll leave on my own later. I'm heading to Burbank; we're going different ways."
"Oh, alright," the girl nodded, winking at Eric playfully in front of Gwyneth Paltrow before walking toward the door where the twins had already opened the car.
As the engine roared and faded away, the mansion was quickly left with just Eric and Gwyneth Paltrow.
...
"Eric, can I sit here?" Gwyneth Paltrow asked, not waiting for his answer before plopping down beside him.
Eric felt a bit of a headache; the girl was being mischievous again, knowing he didn't like this woman and still keeping her around.
"Eric, both twins are named Natasha. That's pretty interesting," Gwyneth Paltrow quickly initiated small talk.
Eric replied casually, "The older one is Natasha; the younger one has a longer name that's in Russian. No one remembers it, so we just call her Natasha."
"Oh," Gwyneth Paltrow seemed intrigued. "How do they differentiate between them when they're together?"
"They're both the same. Why differentiate? When together, just call out Natasha, and the older one will respond."
"That's so interesting! I wish I could have a pair of servants like that," Gwyneth Paltrow didn't hide the envy in her tone.
Eric chuckled, stealing another glance at Gwyneth Paltrow. A sudden thought crossed his mind, making him look back up again to catch that fleeting notion.
Se7en.
Though he had been revisiting various films in his memory, Eric realized he had completely forgotten about this classic. According to his recollections, Se7en was released in 1995 and should have started production around this time.
However, the female lead was right here, and the male lead was still lingering in television. Eric had also never heard anything about Se7en. If it weren't for the not-so-prominent female lead sitting in front of him, he wouldn't have remembered when he would think of it again.
In the original timeline, Se7en shook audiences with its dark and despairing plot, achieving a $300 million box office on a $30 million budget, marking it as a signature work that propelled New Line Cinema into a leading film company.
Seeing Eric gazing at her for an inexplicable longer time, Gwyneth Paltrow's expression shifted slightly, and her tone became reserved. "Eric, what are you looking at?"
"Nothing," Eric said, picking up his phone. "Sorry, Gwyneth, I need to make a few calls."
Gwyneth Paltrow's expression turned a bit forlorn. "Should I... step out?"
Eric nodded but, remembering that she had just helped him recall a film that had slipped through the cracks, he softened a bit. "You can go watch TV in the living room for a while."
Gwyneth Paltrow sensed the change in Eric's tone and smartly decided not to push further. She stood up and walked toward the villa.
Eric grabbed his phone and pondered for a moment before dialing the head of New Line Cinema to inquire about a screenwriter named Andrew Kevin Walker.
When the big boss personally called, the head of New Line Cinema didn't dare to pry too deeply and took care to follow Eric's instructions, searching for the information.
Eric quickly obtained Andrew Kevin Walker's information; the writer had one released work titled Brainscan and, importantly, he also found Se7en listed.
The script for Se7en hadn't veered off its original path and still sat with New Line, but the head of New Line had been hesitant about the project due to its dark theme, which lacked appeal, alongside their failure to secure a suitable director, thus leading to its stalling. Moreover, New Line had originally estimated just $8 million for this script, intending to create a low-budget cult film. As a result, this inconspicuous little project hadn't come to Eric's attention.
Eric understood that with his rising status, he inevitably missed many opportunities he might have encountered before. It was an unavoidable reality; after all, he could only focus on so much.
He instructed the New Line head to fax the script over and asked them to arrange for David Fincher to meet with him before hanging up.
Gwyneth Paltrow had no interest in watching television; she had been peeking around the villa. When she saw Eric hang up the phone, she hurried out.
Approaching Eric, she noticed the fax machine on the long table was making a series of clicking sounds.
*****
https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.