I’m in Hollywood

In general, the plan given by John Mark is equivalent to a stock underwriting contract. From this point of view, John Mark is quite bold.

There are usually two ways for investment banks to underwrite client stocks, one is underwriting and the other is agency.

Under the underwriting model, the underwriter needs to ensure that all the stocks entrusted by the client are sold. If there is any remaining, the underwriter needs to pay for the remaining part, so the underwriter needs to bear a lot of risk. In contrast, consignment sales do not need to guarantee the sales share of stocks, and sell as many as you want. Similarly, in this sales model, the commission ratio that the underwriter can get is usually only half of the underwriting model.

Of course, these two methods are usually underwriting new shares issued by the company, but this time, John Mark intends to underwrite all the AOL shares already in Eric's hands, and the value of this stock is unprecedented.

In the plan, John Mark proposed that Morgan Stanley use its own stock sales network to underwrite all AOL shares in Firefly Investments. Firefly Investments needs to pay Morgan Stanley 5% of sales as a commission. At the same time, in order to cooperate with Morgan Stanley's sales, Firefly Investment also needs to give a relative discount and must also be a fixed price that is not affected by the fluctuation of the market's public stock price, which is similar to the issue price of the company's IPO.

From 1992, when Firefly Investment Company acquired 30% equity of AOL for the first time with US$60 million, until the beginning of the year when it aggressively absorbed AOL stocks in order to strengthen its control, the total amount of capital used by the Firefly system was 1.57 billion. Millions of dollars, a large part of which was spent on acquisitions from the end of last year to the beginning of this year.

However, according to Eric's plan, only 3.1% of the stocks held by the Clover Fund will be sold off next year when AOL's stock price is high, which is enough to recover all the capital paid by the Firefly System over the years. Firefly Investments' 32.6% of AOL's stock, no matter how much it sells, can be regarded as a net profit for Eric.

According to yesterday's closing price, Firefly's 32.6% publicly held AOL shares were valued at a total of $14.2 billion.

What does $14.2 billion mean?

On the Forbes list of the world's richest people at the beginning of the year, the Mars family, which controls the famous Mars Foods, ranked tenth on the list, with a family wealth of only $13.5 billion. If you don't consider the capital gains tax and other factors that need to be paid for the time being, just this $14.2 billion in cash is enough to make a person squeeze into the top of the world's richest list.

If he can successfully cash out at the current share price, even if he can't compare with corporate giants such as General Electric and Wal-Mart, Eric will definitely become the individual with the largest cash reserve in the world, and the amount far exceeds that of all other rich people in the world.

No one knows more about the bubbles contained in AOL stocks than Eric. His original plan was to take advantage of the period before the dotcom bubble burst to sell as many AOL stocks as possible and cash out $10 or 20 billion. Funds out.

Once the Internet bubble bursts, even if the remaining stocks in the hands still maintain a very high par value for a short period of time, in fact, there will never be any more investors who will easily buy them.

Therefore, if it can be fully cashed in a short time, it is safe to be in the pocket, even if the current market value of AOL is far below the highest point in Eric's memory, he will not resist the plan given by John Mark for a while.

However, after carefully reading the plan given by John Mark, Eric looked up and asked, John, it involves more than ten billion US dollars of capital operation. How confident are you that you can successfully complete this plan?

According to the information I have gathered recently, international hot money has begun to withdraw from Southeast Asia on a large scale, and some hedge funds have also begun to target the Russian ruble, and may even launch an attack on the ruble this month.

Once launched, I don't think the ruble will last even a month. John Mark did not answer Eric's question directly, with a touch of confidence in his tone, and said: So, Eric, I now fully agree with the point of view you said last time, the Nasdaq 2000 is just the beginning. In response to this plan, Morgan Stanley will release a series of analysis reports on the continued rise of the Nasdaq index to stimulate investors' confidence. In this regard, I hope that Firefly Group can also provide certain media resources. Cooperate.

The official economic analysis reports of several major Wall Street investment banks have a very strong influence, and in many cases may even affect the economic data trends of some countries.

In the past subprime mortgage crisis, it was because the major investment banks on Wall Street repeatedly advocated the safety and rate of return of high-risk housing mortgage loans through public publication of a series of economic data, which made a large number of investors who bought related bonds lose their money. Among the misguided investors, including even European financial giants such as Deutsche Bank, this shows the strong influence of Wall Street investment banks.

As the Nasdaq topped 2,000, many investors who were aware of the tech bubble became increasingly cautious. However, if a Wall Street investment banking giant like Morgan Stanley makes a clear endorsement of the Nasdaq index, a large number of investors will be affected.

When John Mark said these words, he has made clear his confidence in this plan and the intensity of spending.

Eric thought for a while, then asked a question that he was more concerned about, and said, So, how long will it take you?

John Mark has obviously considered the details of this aspect, and answered decisively: In three months, Morgan Stanley needs a month to release relevant economic forecasts to make public morals. If the Russian economic crisis breaks out as scheduled during this period, we will It will be more certain. It will be a month before Morgan Stanley can sell AOL shares to our affiliates.”

In this case, Eric leaned back on the sofa and looked at John Mark. What do you think should I do with the plan I said in the video conference?

At the video conference in New Zealand at the end of June, Eric strongly demanded other AOL shareholders to buy 10% of AOL's shares in Firefly Investments within one month, otherwise Firefly Investments would choose to sell to the public market.

At this time, nearly half a month had passed since the deadline given by Eric, and he naturally couldn't just let it go.

John Mark suddenly found himself negligent. From yesterday afternoon to now, he almost naturally felt that after he came up with this very guaranteed plan, Eric would definitely not stick to the original plan.

After Eric finished speaking, he paused for a moment, and before John Mark spoke again, he said, John, let me tell you what I think.

John Mark couldn't think of what to say for a while, and he nodded subconsciously when he heard Eric's words.

Actually, everyone knows that other AOL shareholders, including Morgan Stanley, are not too resistant to buying this 10% stock. You are just worried that Firefly Investment will weigh the remaining shares on you.

When Eric said this, he paused for a while and continued: However, your plan has solved the problems everyone is facing. In this case, I can make some concessions, the 10% of the stock, still Taken by AOL shareholders, the price is based on the $4 billion I originally gave. Next, Firefly Investments will give Morgan Stanley 15% of the AOL stock underwriting rights at a price of $6 billion. At the same time, Firefly Investments publicly guaranteed , within one year, will not reduce the remaining shares in the hands.

John Mark had a surprised look on his face. He didn't expect that Eric would make such a drastic change to the plan he came up with in such a short time.

However, after careful consideration, John Mark has to admit that Eric's modification plan is undoubtedly the most beneficial to Firefly Investments.

Selling a total of 25% of the stock for $10 billion. According to the current market value of AOL, Eric has given up about 900 million US dollars in benefits. But in fact, the price is comparable to Eric's offer in a video conference at the end of June.

At the same time, the transaction is divided into two parts, 10% of which will be undertaken by other AOL shareholders according to the plan given by Eric at the beginning, and Firefly Investment will not need to pay Morgan Stanley's 5% commission.

The other 15% of the stock is underwritten by Morgan Stanley. Compared with the original large-scale underwriting plan, this will undoubtedly greatly improve the success rate of sales and reduce risks. At the same time, Firefly Investment can also recover funds in the shortest time.

If only underwriting 15%, Morgan Stanley definitely doesn't need three months.

Selling 25% of the stock, Firefly Investment still holds 7.6% of the stock.

The shareholding ratio has been reduced to less than 10%. Although it is still a major shareholder, Firefly Investment can no longer have much influence on AOL. Coupled with Eric's promise not to reduce his holdings in the last year, AOL's share price will be completely freed The shadow of the firefly investment may reduce its holdings at any time, and return to the overall trend of the rapid rise of the entire market.

Finally, keep 7.6% of the stock. Once the market value of AOL continues to rise, Firefly Investments can still gain certain benefits from the rise in stock prices in the future.

Only, in this way, Morgan Stanley's earnings will be much lower.

According to the original underwriting plan, although the risk is a bit high, once it succeeds, Morgan Stanley will receive a commission income of US$600 million to US$700 million according to the commission ratio of 5%. Just this one project will bring about the equivalent of Morgan Stanley. Danley's annual profit is about 25%.

But now, for a $6 billion underwriting plan, Morgan Stanley can only get $300 million in commissions, more than double the original plan.

For a time, John Mark suddenly had a feeling of making wedding clothes for others.

If Eric could see through John Mark's mind, he would definitely admire the other party's ability to analyze all his intentions in such a short period of time.

Selling 25% of the stock at one time, in fact, the share of AOL shares held by Firefly Investment and Clover Fund still reached 10.7%. However, on the bright side, the shareholding ratio of Firefly Investments has dropped to 7.6%. Such a shareholding ratio is enough for the market to let go of its worries about Firefly Investments.

As for the 25% of AOL's shares, the price is only $10 billion, which is far lower than the value at the peak of AOL's market value in memory. But Eric believes that even the opposite John Mark, if he can see the future, he will probably make the same choice.

Only by completely removing the invisible 'reins' of Firefly Investments from AOL, AOL's stock price will be able to follow the overall trend of the Nasdaq market for more than a year, and it will soar like a wild horse. Otherwise, AOL will always be shrouded in the shadow of the firefly investment reduction, and Eric will not be able to give up the reduction of AOL stocks, otherwise, this wealth will only be destroyed in the future with the collapse of the Nasdaq index. .

In my memory, this time next year, the Nasdaq will also break the 3,000-point mark. At that time, seeing the continuous explosion of technology stocks, not only Wall Street, but investors all over the world will be completely lost in madness.

By then, Firefly Investments and Clover Fund will gradually reduce their remaining AOL stocks, which will not only cause no more negative reactions, but will even be robbed by investors.

Seeing that John Mark was silent for a while, Eric had to take the initiative to speak again: John, I believe that the 5% commission you just gave still has room for bargaining. However, as long as Morgan Stanley cooperates with me just now I can guarantee now that the 15% of the stocks that Firefly invests in Morgan Stanley will be calculated according to the 5% commission ratio, what do you think?

John Mark hesitated for a moment, and there was still a faint wry smile on his face as calm as possible. At the same time, he admired Eric's keen business vision. He came directly to Los Angeles to meet Eric, instead of first contacting Eric's agent Chris Hansen in New York. Persimmons' thoughts. At this time, I understood that my little abacus was completely wrong.

Moreover, what if he doesn't agree now.

There are no restrictions such as patent rights for business solutions. If he does not agree, Eric can find Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and other companies to cooperate at this time. Once this happens, it is estimated that Morgan Stanley's competitors will wake up laughing from their dreams. Several major investment banks on Wall Street have always wanted to take away the super-large customer Firefly.

Without further hesitation, John Mark quickly reached out to Eric and said, Then, I wish us a happy cooperation.

Eric reached out and shook hands with the other party, smiled and nodded: Happy cooperation.

Eric will be involved in the filming of Gravity on Monday, and the detailed cooperation details will naturally be handed over to Chris in New York.

After discussing this matter, the two talked about the issuance of the Firefly Group's $2 billion bond, which has been sold since last week.

Although Firefly Investment is expected to make a large sum of money, Eric has not terminated the bond issuance plan of Firefly Group. Not only because this plan has already been pushed forward and cannot be temporarily withdrawn, but also, appropriate liabilities can also play a role in tax relief and other effects for Firefly Group.

Retaining John Mark for lunch at the Corner Manor at noon, and sending him off in the afternoon, Eric took Aniston to Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California for the weekend.