[Chapter 992: ABC's Adjustments]
Manhattan.
Gisele Bundchen and Alessandra Ambrosio got out of the taxi, walking hand in hand into their apartment building. They were joking and laughing as they reached their penthouse, only to find Miranda Kerr already home, happily preparing something in the kitchen.
Switching out of their high heels, Gisele glanced at the figure in the kitchen and couldn't help but snicker. It really was a rare sight. Alessandra chimed in, "Is she making anything edible?"
...
"Hey, you're back!" Miranda called out cheerfully when she heard the commotion from the living room.
The two girls responded with a nonchalant murmur, but Miranda didn't mind. She turned back to her cooking.
Today, Eric was coming over, and she had made up her mind to impress him, hoping to persuade him to let her go back to Los Angeles.
After being sent to New York by Eric in March, Miranda initially felt a bit sulky about it. She didn't want to live with Gisele and Alessandra, nor did she want to be watched like a child by Cindy Crawford, who was assigned to look after her by Eric.
However, soon after, despite knowing that Cindy or perhaps Eric might have had a hand in it, she found herself startled.
Since Miranda was reluctant to live with Gisele and Alessandra, Cindy offered her a place in her own apartment and took good care of her. But, she thought, as a model, she couldn't just sit around.
Therefore, Cindy took her to an interview at Elite Model Management, along with dozens of other girls scouted from all over North America.
Cindy personally escorting her gave Miranda a bit of confidence. Watching those dozens of girls look at Cindy like she was a queen made her feel somewhat smug. Surely, she thought, she could easily reach Cindy's status herself one day.
Because of Cindy's reputation, while waiting, several girls intentionally chatted with her. Some recognized her as one of the four tennis girls in Casino Royale and from her appearances on Disney Channel shows, asking why she was attending the Elite model auditions.
Miranda couldn't very well say she was sent to New York because she annoyed Eric, so she puffed up with pride, remarking that she wasn't interested in acting and wanted to try modeling instead.
That statement drew some looks from the girls, making one of them half-jokingly say, "I've only heard of models trying to find a way into acting!"
Miranda understood the underlying meaning but couldn't let it show on her face. Deep down, she felt frustrated.
After spending half the day taking photos and walking the runway with a group of girls, she eventually received some 'special' feedback. A manager from Elite personally explained the outcome of her audition: slightly short, lacking definition in her features, an ordinary walk, no professional training, and overall, completely lacking the potential to be a high-fashion model; she could only pursue commercial modeling.
Before the big Victoria's Secret show, a model aiming for supermodel status needed endorsements from high-fashion brands like Prada, Tiffany & Co., and Chanel. Only by securing collaborations with these brands could one elevate their status and gradually gain recognition within the fashion world, and eventually ascend to the coveted supermodel status.
But Miranda's looks and height virtually ruled out any high-fashion opportunities.
This meant that without any advantageous connections, she could never become a supermodel, destined instead to be a commercial model -- that is, one who could do clothing displays, print ads, car show promotions, and other gigs that had little chance of leading anywhere significant. Of course, a commercial model could also excel, as Cindy had, but in the original timeline, despite a twenty-year gap, Cindy's and Miranda's paths to success were almost identical.
Given Miranda's situation, Elite offered her a training contract similar to an internship. The company would provide housing and a fixed monthly salary of $1,000, and she had to undergo regular training with Elite and complete tasks assigned by the company.
This only made Miranda angrier, realizing it might have been a power play by Cindy or Eric, and she felt a surge of rebelliousness.
Fine, she thought, "If that's how it is, then so be it."
She signed the contract willingly, and then Cindy, along with an Elite agent, took her on a tour of where she might work -- a day at the car show, changing through dozens of outfits at a tear-filled fitting site, being treated like a living prop on the set of the new season of Project Runway.
By evening, when Cindy and the Elite agent brought Miranda to the West Village in Manhattan, seeing she would be living with seven other girls who didn't look much worse than her in a cramped old apartment of under sixty square meters, Miranda finally broke down.
After spending the night at Cindy's, when Miranda woke up the next day, she hadn't mentioned working with Elite again, nor did Cindy, as if nothing had ever happened.
After breakfast, Cindy took Miranda to her agency, IMG Models, pulled out a pre-prepared contract, and signed Miranda under the same agent. Then they moved her into Gisele and Alessandra's apartment.
Due to her age restrictions, Miranda wasn't getting much work at the moment. For the past few months, Cindy had treated her like an adult, regularly bringing her along. The more she saw and heard, the more Miranda realized that those girls had been right about her during the waiting period at the audition. If possible, she would have wished she could look at herself with that same idiotic gaze.
Thus, when she heard from Cindy that Eric was coming over today, she hurried back to the apartment, eager to impress Eric to get herself back to Los Angeles. After all, she had lost all interest in being a model.
...
After resting for a week in East Hampton, Eric found himself facing internal personnel issues at ABC Group upon arriving in Manhattan.
This issue wasn't related to infighting or layoffs, but it was still quite tricky. Over the past few years, ABC Group had become increasingly powerful, leading other companies to take an interest in its management. After all, even if Eric could come up with countless brilliant ideas, the Firefly Group could not develop so rapidly without an exceptional management team to execute those ideas.
The party looking to poach talent was Comcast, targeting ESPN's CEO, Steve Bernstein.
When ESPN signed a massive broadcasting rights deal with the NFL worth $9 billion, the network's business only flourished. With the increases in cable division revenue and advertisement income, ESPN alone contributed over $500 million in net profit to the group that year.
Steve Bernstein had been at the helm of ESPN for over a decade, transforming what was once a small station with fewer than 300,000 subscribers into North America's leading basic cable provider with over 90 million subscribers.
In any company, achieving such outstanding results warranted a promotion. Eric wouldn't let the company talent slip away just like that.
However, the stability of the Firefly Group's current situation was strong.
Under Eric, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Frank Wells managed the Firefly Group, primarily overseeing its film and entertainment business. After Tom Murphy's retirement, Robert Iger and veteran Stephen Burke from ABC were appointed CEO and President of ABC Group, respectively, in charge of Firefly's television business. Under them were the heads of various subsidiaries, such as Kenneth Horne from New Line Cinema, Robert Thompson of Buena Vista Distribution, Stan Winston in Digital Domain, Anne Sweeney from A&E Networks, Steve Bernstein from ESPN, Barry Weiss from Firefly Records, and so on.
The top executives of these companies oversaw various divisions and subsidiaries, collectively managing a workforce of over 120,000 employees globally within the Firefly Group.
Putting aside other matters, with Steve Bernstein's accomplishments and his current level, a promotion would require at least reaching the position of ABC's president. However, there was no deadweight among those above him; all his superiors were capable, and nobody was expected to leave or retire anytime soon, putting Eric in a tough spot.
Eric was no king; he couldn't merely promote someone to a new title. For someone like Steve Bernstein, seeking more room for his role, a simple salary increase wouldn't suffice as motivation to stay.
On the other hand, the position Comcast offered Steve Bernstein was very tempting -- the Chief Operating Officer.
Comcast was still under the control of founder Ralph Roberts and his son, both serving as chairman and CEO, respectively.
The role of Chief Operating Officer placed Steve Bernstein on equal footing with Comcast's president, directly responsible to the Roberts, managing the entire Comcast cable network's operations. Though it wasn't absolute power, Comcast, which was in a rapid growth phase, offered much more room for maneuver compared to the already fully realized operations of ESPN.
Firefly didn't have a Chief Operating Officer position; the responsibilities were split between Katzenberg and Frank Wells.
Eric also couldn't just create a similar position out of nowhere to retain Steve Bernstein. The stability of Firefly Group's management structure represented a harmonious balance of power distribution; stripping power from one manager to give it to a new one would imbalance this management system.
However, if Eric expanded his view to the larger Firefly system, there was a position that was about to become vacant that might suit Steve Bernstein perfectly -- AOL. Given Steve Bernstein's demonstrated talents in management, he would be competent in stepping into the CEO role at AOL, given the many similarities between the two companies.
In fact, most executives at America's giant companies couldn't be considered "professionals" in their specific field. Once a business reached a great scale, the requirements for management shifted from technical skills to a person's management philosophy.
Of course, nothing had been settled yet. Whether they could reclaim control of AOL from Steve Case's team remained uncertain. But to avoid losing Steve Bernstein, Eric needed to stabilize him in advance.
...
At the ABC headquarters on the Upper West Hydee, it was nearing the end of the workday. Eric had spent the afternoon discussing with Steve Bernstein, who had purposefully come from ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.
Steve was tempted by the role Comcast offered, but he was also intrigued about the prospect of taking charge of the rapidly growing new internet technology company, AOL. Their discussions were in-depth, and Eric's proposed future direction for AOL received Steve's endorsement.
Finally, Steve said, "Eric, if that's the case, I can wait a month before responding to Comcast. But if you can't regain control of AOL, I fear I'll have to formally submit my resignation."
Eric nodded; he felt they had said all they could. If they couldn't keep Steve, there wasn't much to be done. Still, he couldn't help saying, "Actually, Steve, even if this doesn't work out, if you're willing to wait another two years, I can guarantee Firefly will undoubtedly acquire another telecom operator, which I would still hand over to you to manage."
Steve smiled and gently shook his head. "Eric, I appreciate your confidence in me. I know you will succeed in the future. However, I can't afford to pass up this opportunity for an uncertain promise."
Eric felt regretful; with Jorma Ollila's departure from Nokia, there was indeed another position available at Nokia that could be given to Steve Bernstein.
However, the leap between media and telecommunications was too vast. After the lesson of how Apple had faltered when it hired John Sculley from the beverage industry as CEO, Eric refrained from suggesting it. Moreover, Nokia's headquarters were in Northern Europe, making it unlikely that Steve would accept such an offer.
After wrapping up their discussions, Eric stood up and extended his hand to Steve Bernstein. "Well then, how about we grab dinner? I've already made a reservation."
"Of course," Steve replied, shaking Eric's hand firmly.
The two of them greeted a few other senior executives at the headquarters before leaving ABC, heading to a top restaurant in Rockefeller Center for dinner.
After the meal, Eric personally arranged for the driver to take Steve Bernstein back to his hotel, the Plaza, before finally returning to the penthouse apartment on Madison Avenue where the three girls were waiting.
*****
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