"Now there's no need to pretend anymore. Next time your family has an event, invite me. I'll go show off."
Bang!
Eric's shoulder was hit: "You're annoying!"
"Let me ask you a question, should I move into your mansion?"
"You… you want to live with us?"
"Why not? I can accept them, and I like them. Nicole, Gadot, Theron, tsk tsk."
"Especially the three girls from the Olsen Family. Speaking of which, you're quite impressive to be able to make the three of them willingly live together."
"It's not just the three of them; there's actually something even more exciting," Eric chuckled, saying somewhat proudly.
"There's more? Who?" Judy instantly became excited.
"Look at you, you're like a horny cougar. You're not even old enough yet."
Judy bit his earlobe: "Your women are mine, I just can't wait to enjoy them."
"That sounds really strange, as if everything I've done has been to work for you."
"Don't think that, my dear. You can enjoy me, and I'm helping you, aren't I?"
Mmm.
An involuntary passionate kiss.
Judy gasped slightly: "I have a suggestion. Actually, there's no need to move into that big house so quickly."
"Phew, that's for the best. I hadn't figured out how to say it. Actually, you can come to the house to play first, and everyone can spend more time together before we lay out all the cards."
"No, that's too inefficient. Write me a list. How many mistresses do you have outside?"
"Hm? What do you mean?" Eric looked at her, puzzled.
"Buy another big house. I'll slowly handle them."
"Can you do it?"
"Your surprised tone really annoys me. When it comes to picking up girls, I might not be worse than you!"
"This is like a business. We need bargaining chips to make the scales on both sides more balanced."
"I can even tell that those six darlings around you will definitely feel threatened. To exclude newcomers, they will form a united front."
"If you choose her, you abandon us. When this question is thrown in front of you, tell me what you should do?"
"Uh, that's also the problem I'm struggling with." Eric shook his head.
His mother certainly did a great service, a plan that helped him settle his harem.
But while settling them, it also effectively bound them together. Accepting Elizabeth was possible because Ashley and Mary could accept her.
She is so lovely and gets along well with everyone. Nicole, Theron, and Gadot are already exceptions.
But if he wanted to bring outsiders into the family again, he knew without thinking that it would be out of the question.
For Eric's philandering outside, they would at most turn a blind eye, but coming in would be absolutely impossible.
Eric believed that the six of them had already reached a consensus on this matter in private.
"That's why we need to make the bargaining chips equal. They have six. What if I have eight on my side?"
"You can give up one person for six people, but will you give up eight people for six people?"
"At that time, they will become timid, and perhaps you won't be the one struggling anymore."
Eric thought for a moment and felt it made so much sense.
He couldn't help but give Judy a big kiss on the face: "Baby, it seems my greatest luck in this life was being classmates with you. You really are my chief strategist."
"Stop talking nonsense! How many mistresses do you actually have? If it's not enough, I don't mind personally going out to find some more."
Eric began to count on his fingers: "Krysten Liu, the Chinese-American actress in the hunger games, you know her, right?"
"One!"
"And her mother and her aunt."
"What! You also got her mother and aunt?" Judy was a bit surprised.
"Didn't I just say there's something even more exciting? But Crystal actually doesn't know about my relationship with the two of them."
"So, forget it, don't count them."
"Alright, still one."
"And Alexandra Daddario, the girl who starred in mean girls."
"Wow! I remember her. She has a pair of very special, very beautiful eyes. I like them."
"Then there's Avril."
"The singer?"
"Yes, didn't she transfer to UTA?"
"OK, now I know why. That's the third one."
"And the Olsen Sisters' aunt, Eileenah Olsen. When I first took over the company, I got a loan from her."
"However, Ashley and the others don't know about my relationship with Elena, so she doesn't count either."
"And then there are none. Strictly speaking, there are only three people: Crystal, Daddario, and Avril."
Judy crossed her arms and fell into thought: "Counting me, there are only four people. The strength is still too weak. At least, both sides need to be evenly matched."
As she spoke, her gaze roamed back and forth over Eric.
"What do you mean? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You need to find two more pretty girls."
Eric was stunned: "You're really not joking?"
"Of course not. Actually, I could look too, but Bar Refaeli proved that my taste isn't as good as yours. It's more reliable if you find them."
Eric was at a loss for words and could only pull Judy tightly into his arms.
"Does it feel good?"
"Yeah! Judy Caroll Infittwo Newhouse, you truly are a gift from God."
"Okay, so that's settled for now. I need to go deal with those damned tasks."
"Wait, baby, there's one more important thing I must tell you."
"More important than this?"
"Much more."
"I've decided to take Facebook public, very soon."
"After a successful IPO, I will launch a takeover bid for Warner Bros."
"If the acquisition is successful, I plan to have you take over as Warner Bros.' new president."
"Me?" Judy pointed at her nose in surprise.
"Yes, you. This isn't based on sentiment, but on trust in your ability."
"You, Warren, Billy, Bordeaux—only you have the ability to manage a company worth tens of billions. You have vision, you have ability."
Judy gasped. Although she had a high opinion of herself and looked down on many people,
she also knew in her heart that her current achievements were inseparable from the man in front of her.
Whether this was the result of choice or her own ability was hard to say.
And Warner Bros. was no small fry; it was a supreme power at the top of Hollywood. Could she really do it?
Her butt wiggled hesitantly on Eric's lap: "I'm not sure, can I really do it? You'll support me from behind, right?"
"Hahahahaha. Of course! I like being behind, you know."
"Cheer up, Judy Newhouse has never been afraid of anything!"
"Alright, then let's give it a try. Do you have any relevant information on Warner Bros.? I need to understand it first."
"I'll have Carol send it to you. Also, if Facebook goes public, you should also come in and hold some shares."
Judy shook her head: "Facebook is too expensive. Its valuation is at least tens of billions of dollars. I can't afford it!"
"Silly girl, I'll definitely give you an internal bargain price. You're my girl, I love you."
Judy's cheeks flushed slightly, a sign of her excitement.
Her big, watery eyes stared at Eric: "I like hearing you say these sweet nothings. I want to do it now, what should we do?"
"Now isn't suitable, is it? There are still many people waiting outside to report on work."
"But I want it now."
"Then let's make it quick."
"Hold onto the armrests of the chair, I'm going to shake you to pieces, kid!"
Half an hour later, seeing Judy leave the office, Carol walked in with a stack of documents.
He sniffed, noticing a strange smell.
He didn't know why, but he always felt that the situation between the two seemed a bit off, yet he couldn't pinpoint it—a woman's intuition.
A new week, Silicon Valley. A car stopped in front of the Facebook office building.
As it grew, the company's business had already covered North America and Europe, and the massive operations required a large staff to maintain.
This also meant that the original single-story office building could no longer meet Facebook's needs.
So last year, Eric simply waved his hand and bought an entire office building, moving everything there.
Although it wasn't full yet, it would be soon, because it was about to go public.
Pushing open the conference room door, all company management gathered. Eric strode to the main seat and sat down.
He looked around. Everyone's face was beaming with smiles. After working so hard for so long, everyone knew that the time to get rich was coming.
"OK, today is a special day, and it's a big day worth celebrating."
"Through our joint efforts and struggles, Facebook has finally reached the point of going public."
"Recalling the days and nights we've experienced, I understand everyone's hard work. You've all been waiting for this moment."
"I won't say any more nonsense. Today's meeting is mainly for internal pre-purchase of shares."
Eric looked at Heisenberg: "Fitz, have you told everyone the valuation?"
"No, that good news should be announced by you, boss."
"Alright then, I hereby officially inform everyone present that Facebook's current valuation is 114.5 billion US dollars."
Boom!
When Eric uttered this number, everyone felt as if thunder was rolling, and many fell into a daze.
Not 11.45 million, nor 11.5 billion, but an exaggerated 114.5 billion US dollars.
What does this concept mean?
Even if MGM reclaimed its throne and became the world's largest film company, its market value only barely reached around 26 billion US dollars.
Paramount, for example, the bottom-ranked among the Big Seven, had a market value of just over ten billion.
Even if all seven companies were tied together, their combined market value would not be as high as Facebook's.
Because this was only the initial valuation. Once listed, and when market capital poured in, it was foreseeable that the market value would continue to rise.
No one knew how high it could go, but an increase of several tens of billions of dollars would be normal.
In the original timeline, Facebook went public in 2012, and Eric vaguely remembered the opening market value was also around 110 billion US dollars.
But despite the seven-year difference, Facebook back then was far from as well-developed as it is now.
At that time, Zuckerberg was still in the exploratory stage of a profit model, and its business scope was far less extensive than it is now.
Eric could be said to have packaged and integrated the excellent experiences and practices of Facebook and Tencent, allowing Facebook to enter a mature stage many years ahead of schedule.
That's why the valuation could exceed one hundred billion US dollars, and he even thought this price was low.
If it could have caught the internet bubble before it burst, it wouldn't be strange to reach three or four hundred billion US dollars.
Regarding Facebook's equity division, YouTube held 10%, and AK Films and BK Films each held 5%.
He allocated 3% to Judy, and he planned to retain between 10% and 15% for himself.
The remaining shares would be left to the market.
During this period, investment firms like Sequoia and Goldman Sachs lobbied countless times to get involved, but Eric rejected them all.
If you want it, go buy it directly from the market. I'm not Zuckerberg; I don't lack startup capital.
"Let me repeat, 114.5 billion US dollars!"
"Considering the actual situation within the company, I plan to offer 3% of the shares to everyone at half the valuation."
"That's roughly 1.8 billion US dollars. You have a maximum of one week to decide."
"How much you can get depends on your abilities. This is a benefit I'm giving to everyone, thanking you for your hard work for the company."
Clap clap clap. Clap clap clap.
OMG!
After Eric finished speaking, the conference room could no longer be contained and instantly erupted into a frenzy.
After spending a few hours at the company, reviewing various documents, Heisenberg saw Eric out.
"Fitz, you'll come with me to Nasdaq for the bell-ringing ceremony."
"Me? Me?"
Seeing his excited look, Eric patted his shoulder: "Calm down. No one knows your contributions better than I do. You deserve this."
"I just, I just never thought that I would have a day like this in my life."
"Hehe. Then think about it more. Your life will be this exciting every day from now on!"
"Thank you, thank you, boss! I don't know what to say."
"Alright, that's enough. Manage the company's affairs well during this period. I'm leaving."
Watching the exhaust fumes spewing from the back of the car, Fitz Heisenburg quickly pressed his hand to his chest; his heart was about to pound out.
Feeling a bit light-headed, he suddenly slapped himself.
"Hehe. Hehe."
"I feel the pain, it's not a dream. Oh right, money! I need to quickly raise money!"
In the car, Eric was flipping through documents for Time Warner.
He noticed that Peter's attention was unfocused, constantly glancing at him.
"Focus on driving, Peter. I never want to be in the ICU of a hospital a second time in my life."
"Don't worry, boss. With the quality of our car, unless a rocket launcher hits us, nothing will happen."
"What's wrong with you?"
Hesitating for a moment, Peter said awkwardly: "Boss, I want to borrow some money."
"Your salary isn't enough?"
"It's for stock trading. You mentioned Facebook is going public, and I want to buy first-hand shares."
"My third child was born last month, and I need to save money for his college."
"Another one?"
"Yes, it's a boy."
Eric smiled: "You've worked for me for three years and had two children. Alright, consider this a small gift from me to the child."
"Thank you, thank you, boss. My whole family will be grateful for your generosity."