I’m in Hollywood

Although the specific split plan needs to be further discussed in detail, Eric does not intend to hide the news.

On the contrary, spread the news that Firefly Electronics intends to spin off the fireflyerer player business as soon as possible, and release a signal to the outside world that Firefly Electronics intends to list this business separately, and it can also temporarily stop some forces that make small moves in private.

Taking a glass of champagne from the waiter's tray, Eric said straight to Larry Ellison: I plan to spin off the fireflyer player business from Firefly Electronics in the near future and set up a special subsidiary. problem, so it's a bit late.

Larry Ellison is not aware of the recent games and negotiations between Firefly Electronics and several major record companies, but he naturally thinks of the current turbulent Nasdaq market. According to the promotion speed and profitability of fireflyer player, if the IPO is carried out in the near future, it will definitely be able to obtain a super high valuation.

Eric, do you plan to let this subsidiary go public?

Eric took a sip of champagne, beckoned to Christina who was not far away, and said to Larry Ellison, We don't have any further plans for the time being. We will divest the business first.

Larry Ellison watched Eric rub Christina's head as naturally as he was petting a kitten. The petite girl squinted her eyes and fluttered her eyelashes. She was also enjoying herself, and her expression was a little weird. But he still turned his attention to the topic the two were discussing, saying: Eric, the Nasdaq has now peaked and may collapse at any time. If you let Firefly Electronics go public directly, it may be too late now. If you wait until the split is completed, It's very likely that we won't be able to catch up with this bull market.

There is still a lot of room for fireflyer players to rise. If they can't catch up with this time, they will wait a few years.

The current annual sales of fireflyer players have just exceeded 20 million units, but its market limit is far more than that. Even if it can't catch up with this bull market in technology stocks, as long as the global sales of fireflyer players maintain the current growth rate, it will be more beneficial for Firefly Electronics to delay the launch of the IPO after two or three years.

When Larry Ellison walked away, Eric looked at Christina who was already hanging on his body, reached out and picked the girl's chin, looked at it, and smiled: You have gained weight recently. A little, are you greedy again?

Christina immediately denied it somewhat cautiously: No, Eric, it must be your illusion.

Eric half-jokingly said: I don't care if it's an illusion, but if you change from a bottle elf to a barrel elf, I won't care about you anymore.

Elf in a Bottle is one of the main singles of Christina's first album some time ago, and it is also the famous song of the girl. Since he just remembered it, Eric took it out.

At this time, Christina, who was definitely a 'little waist', obviously couldn't imagine herself becoming an elf in a barrel. There was even a terrifying expression on her small face, and she gently shook Eric's arm, and said dissatisfiedly and coquettishly: Certainly not, Eric, your description is really bad.

Eric smiled, did not continue the topic, and instead said: How is the sales of your first album?

It has exceeded 15 million copies,

When I mentioned this, Christina immediately turned her anger into joy, but her little face soon showed a lost expression, and said, However, Mr. Weiss said that it is unlikely that it will reach 20 million, and it should only reach 18 million in the end. about.

With the popularity she has accumulated in the MGM film universe in recent years, and the first impression advantage of releasing a record before Britney this time, Christina can be regarded as the fastest rising teen pop star in more than a year.

18 million is not bad. There are few other singers who can achieve such high sales with their first albums. The next one will definitely exceed 20 million with a little more care.

Eric said, and took Christina to the buffet table. After more than four consecutive hours of meetings from the afternoon, he is now hungry.

Eric, can you give me an idea for the next album?

Okay, but I don't have much time. I'll see if I can write two more songs for you.

Eric originally planned to return to Los Angeles the next day. However, because of a temporary plan to split the digital music player business, Eric stayed in San Francisco for the next few days to personally participate in the discussion of the split plan.

At the same time, the news that Firefly Electronics will split the fireflyer player business separately spread quickly, and the media immediately turned the speculation to the topic of listing.

Although Firefly Electronics has not even held a formal press conference for the time being, all sources of information have confirmed this matter.

As a result, the federal stock market responded immediately. On the Nasdaq market, the stock prices of other companies related to digital music players almost all fell significantly in the following period of time. Component suppliers such as Seagate, which provides micro-hard disks for fireflyer players, have no suspense in their share prices.

There is not much entanglement in the naming of the subsidiary to be divested. It is directly named fireflyer company. During the process of registering the fireflyer trademark, Firefly Electronics has registered the company at the same time, and it can be used directly at this time. Eric privately Also came up with a very nice Chinese translation name for fireflyer company, Fei Huo Liu Ying.

Compared with the name of the subsidiary, the determination of the split plan is not so easy.

For a week in a row, everyone was meeting and discussing repeatedly, and Eric also had to juggle the promotion of the upcoming Iron Man, and he was so busy.

Time flies to April 20th.

The Tokyo premiere of Iron Man is the day after tomorrow, and Eric has to leave for Japan tomorrow morning.

Firefly Electronics Headquarters.

Eric is participating in one of the last high-level meetings before leaving San Francisco.

The separation plan between fireflyer and its parent company Firefly Electronics mainly focuses on two aspects. The split of technology patents and the distribution of benefits after the split seem simple to sum up, but there are too many details that need to be reconsidered.

It was just the distribution of patented technical solutions for digital music players, and everyone discussed it for a week. The disagreement among the company's top executives focused on whether the full set of patented technologies for digital music players should be incorporated into fireflyer.

In the conference room, Eric patiently leaned on the leather chair and listened to the speeches of several high-level executives, and did not intend to let this disagreement continue, saying: I agree with Victor's plan, the patented technology of digital music players. All are retained by the parent company, and fireflyer obtains authorization by paying royalties to the parent company. As for the proportion of royalties, you can come up with a plan for me as soon as possible.”

Bill Olson, the party who agreed to put the digital music player technology patent into fireflyer, said: Eric, if we do this, we will face a very difficult problem, and fireflyer will definitely continue to fireflyer player. For the research and development of new products, if the patents are split, what should be done with the patented technology developed by fireflyer itself?

Victor McNally said immediately: This problem is easy to solve. Fireflyer's own technology, of course, is retained by itself. After the split, Firefly Electronics will focus on the research and development of tablet and mobile phone products, not Let’s get into this business again.”

But what if the parent company's electronics need to use technology developed by fireflyer?

We can naturally get the authorization if needed.

This is so unfair to fireflyer, and if it goes public, investors will definitely criticize it.

Eric heard the signs of a dispute between the two, and interrupted: Bill, I need you to be able to distinguish a primary and secondary issue, Firefly Electronics is the most important thing to us. Fireflyer is just for us to seek cooperation. As long as we determine the specific profit distribution plan in advance, investors who will join fireflyer in the future can only choose to accept or not to accept the shell that is peeled off as a partner. Therefore, the solution to the problem you just raised is also very simple, developed by fireflyer. Firefly Electronics will automatically obtain reverse authorization. Of course, if Firefly Electronics applies these technologies to its own products, we will also pay the patent fees. The matter is settled, I don’t want everyone to continue this kind of dispute, you We need to devote our energy to the polishing of the specific stripping plan, so, is there any problem?

After Eric finished speaking, he glanced at the quiet conference room for a week, and everyone stopped talking, so he nodded with satisfaction and said, Then, that's it, I'll fly to Tokyo tomorrow, what else will happen next? If you have any questions, you can contact me anytime.

Until the evening, the day's meeting ended again, and everyone left the conference room, but Eric didn't get up, and Victor McNally and Bill Olsen also stayed tacitly.

Eric quietly read the minutes of today's meeting again, before looking up at the two of them, and asked bluntly, Did you two have any conflicts in private?

These days, it's not just the stripping of patented digital music players, Victor McNally and Bill Olsen are diametrically opposed in many ways.

Eric, this is definitely not the case. My dispute with Bill is limited to work.

The conflict between the CEO and the president of the company in terms of work is even worse for my boss.

Bill Olson felt the displeasure in Eric's tone and took the initiative to speak: Eric, we can guarantee that it will never affect the specific work.

I don't think so, Eric put down the pencil in his hand, sat up straight and looked at the two of them, Now, let's sort out this matter. The fundamental issue between the two of you is still between fireflyer and the company. On the distribution of interests of Firefly's parent company. Bill, you are more inclined to fireflyer, Victor, you are on Firefly's side, so, I want to know why?

Victor McNally did not speak. He is a technical executive who is not very good at words. Although he is the CEO, most of his energy has always been on product development. Moreover, he also understands that Eric's personal position is obviously on his side, which seems to be enough.

Bill Olson was silent for a moment, but he took the initiative to say frankly: Eric, I hope that after the company splits, I can replace my holdings with fireflyer's shares.

You need money?

Bill Olson shook his head subconsciously, but felt that this denial was too unfounded, so he nodded slightly.

Victor McNairy and Bill Olsen have joined Firefly Electronics since its inception. Eric initially gave them an annual salary of $300,000, and only last year increased the base salary to 800,000, which is basically The pinnacle of professional managers.

Of course, the main source of income for top professional managers has always been bonuses and options, but in the first few years, the income of the two is naturally zero.

However, since last year, the two have begun to receive lucrative bonuses.

Since the sales of fireflyer players exceeded 20 million units last year, the bonuses they received at the beginning of this year were even more generous. Bill Olson's bonus was determined by Eric himself, and was the same as Victor McNally. $20 million. Moreover, not only that, the two also received shares worth nearly $200 million each.

Therefore, hearing Bill Olson say this, Eric couldn't help being a little disappointed in him.

Bill, pay more attention to the Nasdaq, and you should understand that we can't catch up with this bull market, and even if you barely make it to the market before the Nasdaq crash, your holdings have at least a one-year lock-up period. So. , in any case, it is impossible for you to cash out at a high level.

Eric, of course I know this, and I haven't thought about cashing out.

That is, Eric raised his arms on the conference table with his fingers crossed, and said, Do you hope to gain a higher net worth, even if it is only on paper, um, or, do you think I gave you too little?

Bill Olson fell silent again.

Eric waited for a moment, shook his head and said: If you really think so, I have nothing to say, but you have to understand, just this year, I gave you 220 million US dollars, you tell me, Silicon Valley still has Which professional manager can make $200 million in one year?

Bill Olson lowered his head slightly, not daring to look directly at Eric.

Eric did not stop, and continued: Perhaps you will think that Eric Williams has a fortune of 300 billion US dollars, and he has only 200 million US dollars, this is too unfair, you at least There should be 2 billion, or 20 billion, right?

Eric, I didn't think so.

Then stop thinking nonsense, Eric said with aggravated tone, staring at Bill Olson: I have never treated anyone who works for me badly, even, I always give you more subconsciously, If you are still dissatisfied, you can tell me at any time, and I can let you go to find a better development space for you.

Eric, I, well, I'm sorry.

Then, that's it, Eric stood up directly and said, I hope I can see the preliminary draft when I come back from London.

After speaking, Eric left the conference room without looking back.

Victor McNally watched Eric's figure disappear before saying, Bill, you shouldn't think that way.

Sorry, Victor, Bill Olsen rubbed his forehead in a slump, and said, Maybe it's because I've been too busy recently and I've been under a lot of pressure.

You should know that Eric is busier than us.

Feel sorry.

So, said Victor McNally, we'll go out for a drink, and I'll treat you.

After hesitating for a while, Bill Olsen nodded, got up and said, I'll invite you.

You should make time to call Eric.

I will.