Chapter 1017: Feasibility of the program

In general, the proposal given by John Mark is equivalent to a stock underwriting contract. From this point of view, John Mark is still quite aggressive.
Investment banks are responsible for underwriting customer stocks in two ways, one is underwriting and the other is consignment.
Under the underwriting model, the underwriters need to ensure that all the shares entrusted by the customer are completed. If there is any surplus, the underwriters will be required to contribute the remaining part, so the underwriters will have to bear a lot of risks. In comparison, consignment does not need to guarantee the share of the stock, and how much is sold. Similarly, this sales model, the proportion of commissions that underwriters can get, is usually only half of the underwriting model.
Of course, these two methods are usually new shares issued by underwriting companies. This time, John Mark intends to underwrite all the existing AOL shares in Eric, and the value of this stock is unprecedented.
In the program, John Mark proposed that Morgan Stanley use its own stock sales network to underwrite all AOL stocks in the hands of Firefly. Firefly investment requires a 5% sales of Morgan Stanley as a commission. At the same time, in order to cooperate with Morgan Stanley's sales, firefly investment also needs to give a relative concession and must also be a fixed price that is not affected by the market share price fluctuations, which is similar to the issue price of the enterprise IPO.
Since 1992, Firefly Investment Co., Ltd. first acquired 30% of AOL's shares for US$60 million. Until the beginning of the year, in order to strengthen control, it absorbed large amounts of AOL stocks. The total amount of capital used in the firefly system was 1.5 billion. A million dollars, a large part of which is spent on the absorption from the end of last year to the beginning of this year.
However, according to Eric's plan, only 3.1% of the shares held by the Clover Fund will be sold in the next year when AOL's share price is higher, which is enough to recover all the capital paid by the Firefly system over the years. 32.6% of AOL shares in Firefly Investment Company, regardless of how much it sells, can be considered a net profit for Eric.
According to yesterday's closing price, Firefly invested 32.6% of AOL stocks held in the hands of a total of $14.2 billion.
What does $14.2 billion mean?
At the beginning of the Forbes list of the world's richest people, the Mars family, which controls the famous Mars Food Company, ranked 10th in the rankings, and the family wealth was only 13.5 billion US dollars. If you don’t consider the capital gains tax that you need to pay for the time being, just $14.2 billion in cash is enough to get a person into the top of the global rich list.
If it can be successfully fulfilled according to the current stock price, even if it can not be compared with the giants such as GE and Wal-Mart, Eric will definitely become the world's most cash-strapped individual, and the amount far exceeds all other rich people in the world.
No one knows more about the bubble content in AOL's stock than Eric. His original plan was to use the time before the Internet bubble burst to sell as many US online stocks as possible, and to cash out one or two billion dollars. The funds come out.
Once the Internet bubble bursts, even if the remaining stocks in the hands still maintain a very high face value for a short period of time, in reality, there will never be investors who will buy them easily.
Therefore, if it can be fully realized in a short period of time, the bag is safe, even if AOL's current market value is far lower than the highest point in Eric's memory, he did not resist the proposal given by John Mark.
However, after carefully reading the proposal given by John Mark, Eric looked up and asked: "John, involving more than $10 billion in capital operations, how confident are you to complete this plan?"
"According to the information I have recently collected, international hot money has begun to withdraw from Southeast Asia on a large scale. Some hedge funds have also begun to turn their targets to the Russian ruble. They may even launch an attack on the ruble this month. Once launched, I think the ruble is absolutely John Mark didn't answer Eric's question directly. He had a faint confidence in his tone and said: "So, Eric, I now agree very much with the point you said last time, Nasdaq. 2000 is just the beginning. For this program, Morgan Stanley will release a series of analysis reports that the Nasdaq index will continue to rise, stimulating investor confidence. In this regard, I hope that the Firefly Group will Can also give certain media resources to cooperate."
The official economic analysis report of several major investment banks on Wall Street has a very strong influence, and in many cases may even affect the economic data of some countries.
The subprime mortgage crisis was caused by the fact that Wall Street's major investment banks repeatedly advocated the safety and return rate of high-risk housing mortgage loans by publicly publishing a series of economic data, which made the investors who bought the relevant bonds in large numbers lose their money. Misleading investors, including European financial giants such as Deutsche Bank, can see the powerful influence of Wall Street investment banks.
As the Nasdaq index broke through 2000 points, many investors who realized that the technology stock bubble began to become more cautious. However, if a Wall Street investment bank giant like Morgan Stanley makes a clear endorsement of the Nasdaq index, a large number of investors will be affected.
When John Mark said this, he already made clear his confidence and expenditure on the plan.
Eric thought about it and asked a question he was concerned about. "So, how long do you need?"
John Mark has obviously considered this aspect of detail and replied decisively: "For three months, Morgan Stanley needs a month to issue relevant economic predictions to make a stalwart. If the Russian economic crisis breaks out as scheduled, we It will be more certain. A month later, Morgan Stanley will be able to sell AOL shares to our affiliates."
"In this case," Eric leaned back to the sofa and looked at John Mark. "What do you think, what should I do with the plan I said at the video conference?"
At the video conference in New Zealand at the end of June, Eric strongly demanded that other shareholders of AOL buy 10% of AOL stocks in the hands of fireflies in a month, otherwise the firefly investment would choose to sell to the open market.
At this time, the time given by Eric has passed for nearly half a month, and he naturally cannot easily disappear.
John Mark suddenly found himself still negligent. From yesterday afternoon to the present, he almost naturally felt that after he came up with this very secure plan, Eric would definitely not stick to the original plan.
After Eric finished, he paused for a moment, and without waiting for John Mark to speak again, he said, "John, let me talk about my thoughts."
John Mark didn't think about it for a while, and when he heard Eric's words, he nodded subconsciously.
"In fact, everyone knows that other shareholders, including Morgan Stanley, are not too resistant to buy the 10% of the stocks, you are just worried that the firefly investment will put the rest of the stock on you."
Eric said here, paused a bit and continued: "However, your plan solves the problems that everyone faces. In this case, I can make some concessions a little, and that 10% of the stocks are still Committed by AOL shareholders, the price is calculated based on the $4 billion I originally gave. Next, Firefly Investment gives Morgan Stanley 15% of AOL's underwriting rights at a price of $6 billion. At the same time, Firefly Investment is publicly guaranteed. Within a year, the remaining stocks in the hands will no longer be reduced."
John Mark had a surprised look on his face. He didn't think that it was only for such a short time. Eric made such a big change to his plan.
However, in detail, John Mark has to admit that Eric's modification plan is undoubtedly the most beneficial for firefly investment.
A total of 25% of the shares are sold for a price of $10 billion. According to the current US online market value, Eric probably gave out a benefit of $900 million. But in fact, this price is comparable to the offer at Eric's video conference at the end of June.
At the same time, the transaction was divided into two parts, 10% of which were under the same scheme as Eric's original proposal, and were accepted by other shareholders of AOL. The firefly investment did not need to pay Morgan Stanley's 5% commission.
The other 15% of the shares are underwritten by Morgan Stanley. Compared with the original large-scale underwriting plan, this will undoubtedly greatly increase the success rate of sales and reduce risks. At the same time, firefly investment can also recover funds in the shortest time.
If you only underwrite 15%, Morgan Stanley is absolutely not required for three months.
Selling 25% of the stock, the firefly investment still holds 7.6% of the stock.
The shareholding ratio has fallen below 10%. Although it is still a major shareholder, the firefly investment can no longer have a big impact on AOL. Together with the promise that Eric will not reduce its holdings in the last year, AOL’s share price will be completely eliminated. Firefly investment may reduce the shadow of the moment, and return to the overall trend of the rapid rise of the entire market.
Finally, retaining 7.6% of the stock, once the US online market value continues to rise, firefly investment in the future can still get a certain return from the stock price increase.
However, in this way, Morgan Stanley's income will be much lower.
According to the original underwriting plan, although the risk is somewhat large, once successful, Morgan Stanley will receive a commission income of 600-700 million dollars according to the 5% commission rate. Only this project will bring the equivalent of Morgan Stanley. Danli has a profit of around 25% for the whole year.
But now, with a $6 billion underwriting plan, Morgan Stanley can only get a commission of $300 million, more than double the original plan.
For a time, John Mark suddenly developed a feeling of marrying others.
If Eric can see through John Mark's mind, he will definitely admire the other party's intention to analyze all of his intentions in such a short period of time.
Selling 25% of the stock at a time, in fact, the share of AOL shares held by Firefly Investments and Shamrock Funds still stands at 10.7%. However, the shareholding ratio of firefly investment on the open floor has dropped to 7.6%. Such a shareholding ratio is enough to let the market put down concerns about firefly investment.
As for the 25% of AOL stocks, the price is only $10 billion, which is much lower than the value of the US online market capitalization 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 removing the invisible ‘ree’ from the Firefly investment on AOL, AOL’s share price will be able to follow the overall trend of the Nasdaq market in the next year, just like a wild horse. Otherwise, AOL will only be shrouded in the shadow of firefly investment, and Eric will not be able to abandon the holding of AOL stocks. Otherwise, this wealth will only disappear with the Nasdaq index crash. .
In memory, this time next year, the Nasdaq index will also break through the 3000 mark. At that time, watching the continued outbreak of technology stocks, not just Wall Street, investors all over the world will be completely plunged into the madness of total loss of reason.
By then, the firefly investment and the clover fund will continue to reduce their remaining US online stocks, which will not only cause too much negative reaction, but will even be robbed by investors.
Seeing that John Mark was silent for a while, Eric had to take the initiative to say again: "John, I believe that the 5% commission rate you just gave is definitely there is room for bargaining. However, as long as Morgan Stanley cooperates with me, The plan, I can now guarantee that the firefly investment entrusted to Morgan Stanley's 15% of the stock, according to the 5% commission ratio, what do you think?"
John Mark hesitated for a moment, and the face that remained as calm as possible was still a faint smile. At the same time, I was somewhat impressed by Eric’s keen business vision. He came directly to Los Angeles to meet Eric, instead of first contacting Eric’s agent, Chris Hansen, who was still wearing some Persimmon's thoughts. At this point, I understand that my own small abacus is completely wrong.
Moreover, now he does not agree how to do it.
There are no restrictions on patents in business solutions. If you disagree, Eric can now cooperate with companies such as Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. Once this happens, it is estimated that Morgan Stanley's competitors must be awakened to dream, and several major investment banks on Wall Street have always wanted to take the super-big customer of fireflies away.
Without hesitation, John Mark quickly reached out to Eric and said, "So, I wish you a happy cooperation."
Eric reached out and shook hands with each other, smiling and nodding: "Happy cooperation."
Eric will be involved in the filming of Gravity on Monday. The details of the cooperation will be handed over to Chris, who is in New York.
After discussing this matter, the two talked about the issue of the $2 billion bond issue of the Firefly Group. The sale of the bond began last week.
Although the firefly investment is expected to have a large amount of money, Eric has not terminated the firefly group's bond issuance plan. Not only because this plan has already been promoted, it is impossible to temporarily withdraw it, and the appropriate liabilities can also play a role in tax relief for the Firefly Group.
At noon, John Mark took lunch at the Sharp Point Estate and sent him away in the afternoon. Eric took Aniston to the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California for the weekend.