I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1172: Microsoft's Little Moves]

Eric spoke with Mark McCormack about IMG while keeping an eye on the match.

High hopes were pinned on Anna Kournikova, but she failed to deliver, getting knocked out by veteran Lindsay Davenport in just two straight sets. The whole match lasted only two and a half hours. To avoid the crowds dispersing afterward, Eric and his party left the venue a few minutes early.

The deal had basically been finalized, and Mark McCormack didn't linger. The old man lived in Greenwich Village, so he quickly boarded a yacht at the coastal pier north of the National Tennis Center and left.

After seeing off Mark McCormack, IMG CEO Payne Forstmann enthusiastically asked Eric, "Mr. Williams, would you like to check out our training center? It's right next to the court where Anna and the others will be heading soon."

Hearing the slightly tentative eagerness in Payne's tone, Eric knew he was concerned about his position after IMG's acquisition. From the outside, big company CEOs often appeared glamorous, but in reality, besides a few strong-willed executives, most were simply high-level hired hands, vulnerable to being fired by the board or major shareholders at any time.

While Eric had a whimsical aspect to acquiring IMG, he didn't take it lightly. Payne had been in the CEO role for five years. Eric had looked at IMG's financials from the past few years, and overall, Payne performed exceptionally well.

This acquisition had initially been proposed by Cindy and Linda, but the two women were unlikely to be involved in management anytime soon. Unlike other investors who typically replaced management to reduce the influence of original shareholders post-acquisition, Eric had no such intentions.

Nodding, he invited Payne to join him in his vehicle. Once the car started moving, Eric said, "Payne, for now, I don't plan on making any management changes following the acquisition. If you have no other plans, I would like you to continue as CEO of IMG."

Upon hearing this, Payne, who had been feeling uneasy for days, finally relaxed. He quickly replied, "Mr. Williams, I would be delighted to continue working for you."

Eric nodded but added, "There's one thing I must make clear, Payne. Although IMG is a small company in my eyes, my benchmarks for evaluating a company worth $100 billion and one worth $100 million are entirely the same. Either it has high growth potential, or it brings me direct profits. So, don't feel anxious because IMG is insignificant within the larger Firefly system, but also don't take it lightly. While I won't directly intervene in the management, IMG needs to provide me with detailed operational and financial reports every quarter."

Payne, already aware of the circumstances behind Eric's acquisition of IMG, felt some envy toward Cindy Crawford and had contemplated certain lofty notions. After all, while IMG was a powerful player in the industry, it was just a small skiff next to the massive aircraft carrier that was the Firefly system.

Hearing Eric's unabashed warning made Payne's heart tighten. Even though the young man beside him was twenty years his junior, the youthful tycoon had built a vast business empire in just a decade. Anyone who dared to underestimate him based on age would be a complete fool.

With that thought in mind, Payne quickly responded, "Mr. Williams, I assure you that IMG's future development will be even better than it is now."

"I know IMG has already reached the pinnacle in the industry, and further development won't be easy," Eric said with a satisfied expression. He continued, "Thus, I won't demand quarterly or annual performance increases like those public company shareholders. As long as the reasoning is sound, I can even tolerate a poor financial situation for a time. However, you must maintain sufficient loyalty to Firefly. If you do that, you will have the autonomy you need at IMG. If you fail in this regard, I will have you out of this job in a minute."

The aura of authority Eric had unconsciously developed over the years put significant pressure on Payne. Despite being in an air-conditioned vehicle, the middle-aged man felt a bead of sweat form on his back.

Assuring Eric yet again, Payne also realized that while it seemed simple to keep this position, it was far from easy. Over the years, Eric had increasingly understood that managing the ever-growing assets of the Firefly system ultimately boiled down to human management.

As long as he chose the right executives and ensured they had enough talent while fully executing his vision, the companies they managed typically fared quite well. Many once-renowned businesses fell into decline, often due to an uncontrollable management layer.

...

The pier was less than two kilometers from the National Tennis Center, and Eric's vehicle quickly stopped outside a closed sports arena near the center.

Everyone exited the car, and the bodyguard who had left earlier returned with a box, following Eric's group into the arena.

This sports center in Queens hosted dozens of various tennis events each year, so it wasn't surprising that IMG, the largest sports celebrity management agency in the world, owned a sizable training facility in the area.

After a brief tour of the training center and listening to Payne's introduction, Eric suddenly thought of something and asked, "How much longer does Anna's contract last?"

"Three years," Payne replied smoothly, adding, "The company typically signs players around the age of ten, and professional competition usually begins at fourteen. Anna signed her contract when she was eleven, so it runs for ten years, ending in 2002."

"Given Anna's current state, do you think IMG will still consider her a priority development prospect in three years?"

"That depends on the circumstances," Payne stated. "If Anna's performance remains as mediocre as it is now, and we have better backup options, then IMG will certainly let her go."

Eric nodded, saying, "I remember IMG has been developing backup talent at its sports academy in Florida. Have someone bring me that information."

Payne looked puzzled, asking, "Mr. Williams, do you want it right now?"

Eric glanced at his watch and nodded. "We still have some time today."

Payne quickly instructed his assistant to gather the information. After that was done, he saw Eric sitting on a bench beside the indoor tennis court and walked over.

...

Though the bench had enough space for two, others with Eric remained standing as he showed no inclination to invite anyone to sit. Payne smiled politely and stood beside him, noticing as Eric opened the suitcase handed by the bodyguard, finding an assortment of glasses inside.

Eric took his time selecting several pairs, finally picking up a blue-framed pair, removing the lenses, and handing them to the quietly accompanying Katherine Neumann, saying, "Here, give this a try."

From the start, Payne had sensed a strong presence about Katherine, despite her speaking very little.

As she obediently put on the lensless glasses, Payne felt a twinge of envy. As the head of a company managing hundreds of the world's top models, he had seen plenty of beautiful faces, but Katherine was no mere decoration. He could sense a faint instinctual threat from her, akin to how a female black widow spider might devour a male.

Perhaps only Eric Williams could tame such a naturally fierce woman.

Once Katherine donned the glasses, Eric scrutinized her and shook his head in dissatisfaction. He tried on a few other frames but found none suitable until finally selecting a slightly square black pair to hand to her, stating, "This should be it."

Women, especially working women, often appeared more assertive with black frames. However, just as Eric noted, once Katherine put on those black-framed glasses, her originally imposing demeanor somehow softened significantly. At least the surrounding men, including Eric, all felt she looked much gentler.

That seemed to be a classic case of opposites attracting.

Nodding in satisfaction, Eric closed the suitcase resting on his knees and told Katherine, "You should look like this moving forward. It's so much better -- don't always give off the vibe that makes people want to jump off a bridge. Smile a bit."

Katherine obediently nodded, cracking a very standard smile.

But then everyone felt unsettled.

Waving his hands, Eric said, "Never mind, don't smile. I can now assure you that the serious face you had in the interview was definitely an act. Forget it, today's matters end here. You can go back and tell Cindy I'll come see her once I finish up in a few days."

Katherine bid Eric farewell and turned to leave.

...

It wasn't until the rhythmic sound of her high heels had completely faded that Payne finally snapped to attention, his mouth half-open as if to make a joke but then swallowing his words.

Just as Katherine left, Payne's assistant quickly approached with a thick stack of documents, shattering the odd atmosphere.

Receiving the folder from the assistant to pass it to Eric, Payne then asked, "How come Anna and the others haven't shown up yet?"

The assistant carefully glanced at Eric before answering, "Miss Kournikova just had a disagreement with Mr. Esemberd. He wants her to return to Florida for training, but she wants to take a vacation in the Caribbean. Ms. Davenport sprained her ankle during the match, and since she has another match next week, she was just urgently taken to the medical center following the event."

Payne's expression darkened as he said, "You need to bring Anna over; she must greet Mr. Williams."

The assistant acknowledged him and hurried away from the training ground.

As Eric flipped through the documents in his hand, he heard Payne's exchange with the assistant and simply smiled. Once the two finished speaking, he pointed to the empty space beside him, signaling Payne to sit down.

Payne sat beside Eric, glancing at the materials in Eric's hands. "Our talent scouts recommend many kids every year, but the truth is, very few can become top competitors. Even when they have good potential, most youngsters struggle to endure the monotonous and demanding training over time. So even among the students we sponsor directly, the number that grows into top professionals is very low; getting two or three out of a hundred is considered good. Anna comes from a family of Russian athletes and started playing tennis at five, which explains her current success."

Listening to Payne's words, Eric merely nodded and continued to take his time flipping through the documents.

From what Payne indicated about Anna Kournikova's contract duration, he recalled that another female tennis star began shining just as Anna's contract expired.

Given IMG's stronghold in the industry, along with the timing, Eric was almost certain the other player was also an IMG talent.

Moments later, with the documents barely a third of the way through, Eric stopped, pulled out a specific file from the thick stack, examined it closely, and handed it to Payne.

Payne received the document, puzzled, and glanced at it to find that the girl was also from Russia, named Maria Sharapova.

"Mr. Williams, what is this?"

As Eric flipped through more pages, he casually replied, "Get her the best team. Whether she becomes Anna's successor depends entirely on her own effort. Also, she needs braces; her teeth don't look great right now, and I don't like metal braces. Ideally, she should go for invisalign."

Payne immediately remembered some things about Eric; the girl named Gisele IMG had sent him was now a top supermodel, and later Eric even funneled another girl into IMG through Cindy Crawford.

However, as he thought about it, Payne's face showed no signs of surprise. He earnestly nodded, saying, "I'll make arrangements."

Looking back at the information about the girl named Sharapova, who was just twelve years old and had a few freckles on her face, she was indeed a promising beauty. Surely, if IMG treated her like a little princess, she would soon grow into a true beauty.

Eric offered no explanations; he had no particular fascination with the child. He was just interested in talent development, but some people seemed to have already made certain conclusions. Any explanation would likely complicate matters further.

While discussing with Payne, Eric's mobile phone suddenly rang.

...

Seeing the caller ID was Ian Gurney, the CEO of Yahoo, he picked it up casually, saying, "Ian, it's me."

On the other end, Ian spoke rapidly, and while Eric listened patiently, his expression darkened.

It turned out that during negotiations for a settlement with the Department of Justice, Microsoft had unexpectedly sent word that the Washington office raised concerns regarding the browser pre-install agreement signed with Yahoo, requiring Ian to go to Washington for a consultation to explain the implications of potential monopolistic practices.

Though it was a request from the Department of Justice, Ian's explanation quickly made Eric realize that this might be a small move orchestrated by Microsoft out of dissatisfaction.

*****

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