Bab 360: Chapter 361: But he's a lunatic
[Chapter 361: But he's a lunatic]
Faced with Eric's sudden assertiveness, Robert Shea's expression darkened, but his momentum weakened a bit. Reluctantly, he questioned, "Eric, you at least have to tell me what you plan to do with this money, right?"
Eric shook his head without hesitation. "Sorry, Robert, I can't say."
Robert Shea's jaw twitched in frustration before he quickly added, "Eric, if you insist on this, my next film might need some outside investment."
"That's fine."
Eric readily agreed. Robert Shea, driven by the same thoughts when he established Black Ant Productions, wanted to use Firefly's distribution channels to earn more profit. The so-called outside investment would likely be mostly just Robert Shea's personal funds anyway.
It seemed that the box office success of Sleeping with the Enemy inflated Robert Shea's ego even more. But that was alright; Eric had already made up his mind to get rid of Robert Shea by the end of the year. Even if he utilized Firefly's channels this one time, it wouldn't happen again, especially considering whether it could actually turn a profit was another story.
Hearing Eric agree so readily made Robert Shea hesitant. He quickly added, "Of course, Firefly still has to participate in some investment. I wouldn't want our company to take a loss."
Eric scoffed internally; Robert Shea still had a bit of self-awareness. Claiming he wouldn't let the company take a loss mostly indicated that he didn't want the film entirely severed from his involvement. If it was a hit, the credit would fully belong to Robert, and if it failed, Robert Shea could find a convenient excuse.
Still, Eric nodded again. "That works too."
"Then it's settled. I'll get back to work," Robert Shea said, casting a significant glance at the Firefly CFO, Carolyn Elliott, who had been waiting nearby. He stood up and left the conference room.
...
"Eric, are you really going to pull all the company's money out?" Now that it was just the two of them in the conference room, Carolyn Elliott pushed her glasses up and asked uncertainly.
Eric nodded and inquired, "How much is in the company account now?"
Carolyn Elliott handed over a file folder. "A total of $149.5 million."
Eric opened the folder, mumbling, "Why so little?"
Carolyn Elliott rolled her eyes. Little? Even the major studios didn't usually have such a large cash flow.
"Eric, that's a lot. This is still because the $75 million box office share from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came in at the start of the month. Otherwise, we'd only have over $70 million. Sure, there were big earnings from several films last year, but just in April, we had to pay $150 million in taxes. Plus, with funds tied up in projects like Ghost, Sleeping with the Enemy, The X-Files, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the company's channel expansion costs, video distribution expenses, and the withdrawals you've been making for Black Ant Productions, Pixar, and Digital Domain, that we still have nearly $150 million left is practically a miracle."
Eric quickly looked through the detailed income and expenditure report and realized Carolyn Elliott was speaking the truth.
Firefly was in a rapid development phase, and like many companies in such stages, it was consuming funds at a great rate. If Eric's films hadn't performed at the box office, Firefly would have inevitably needed to seek outside financing.
"Let's leave $9.5 million as liquid capital. Transfer the rest to the designated account and wait for my instructions," Eric said, closing the report.
Carolyn Elliott hesitated. "Eric, $9.5 million isn't enough. The second season of Friends is already in production. Based on the monthly production of eight episodes at $1 million each, it will need $8 million alone, and the company has other expenses to cover too."
The first season had gained success, and the cost for the second season skyrocketed to $1 million per episode.
Thinking about the sweet face he hadn't seen in a long time, Eric briefly showed a hint of hesitation but quickly added, "It's just one month, Carolyn. Besides, we can't go a month without any income, right? The tapes for those movies released at the end of the year are already on the market, aren't they? Also, you could negotiate with Fox to see if we can advance a portion of the advertising revenue from Who Wants to be a Millionaire. If that doesn't work, we can pause."
Carolyn Elliott pushed her glasses up once more, frowning slightly. She wanted to say something but looked at Eric's expression and swallowed her words.
Having finalized the funding matters, Eric quickly boarded a flight to New York.
...
The headquarters of Firefly Investment Company was located in a Manhattan skyscraper. The company's main asset was a 23% stake in Cisco, and Chris was also responsible for managing Eric's personal wealth.
Even though he'd already received a phone notification, Chris was surprised for him to arrive in New York before noon Eastern Time.
Once they reached the office together, Eric pulled out the newspapers he had organized the night before and pushed them in front of Chris, sharing his ideas concisely.
As Chris listened to Eric's somewhat amateur yet pointed analysis, he nodded occasionally. Once Eric finished speaking, he said, "Eric, due to the situation in the Middle East, oil futures have been on the rise. If you're interested, you could invest $20 million or so."
"Chris, do you think I rushed to New York just for fun?"
Chris's demeanor changed as he sat up straight, a bad feeling growing in his gut.
Eric pressed his arms down on the table, leaning slightly forward. He looked at Chris seriously. "Chris, before I came here, I contacted all of Firefly's, Pixar's, and Digital Domain's liquid funds. The specific numbers are still being tallied, but I estimate it'll be about $200 million. For the next month, I will continue gathering funds."
"So?" Chris replied with uncertainty in his tone.
"I want to go big," Eric answered, "I want to put $200 million into oil futures!"
"Eric, I think you need to cool down. Have you been swayed by someone else's ideas?"
Chris reached for a newspaper Eric had handed him and pointed to a data article on the financial page. "Look, over the past three months, the price of oil has risen from $14 per barrel to $18. Most statistical agencies predict that even if the Middle Eastern situation escalates, the price of oil is unlikely to surpass $20 a barrel. If you had entered the market three months ago, you'd have made a fortune. But nobody can predict the future. Oil is already at $18, and it's going to fluctuate between 18 and 20. The risks are immense."
"But what if a war breaks out in the Middle East?" Eric shot back.
Chris recalled Eric's earlier comments and then understood: Eric had been implying through these newspapers that renewed conflict in the Middle East could be on the horizon.
"That makes it even less likely, Eric. Who would go to war?" Chris countered. "The military strength of those Arab countries in the Middle East is generally low. Take Saudi Arabia, for instance: with millions of square kilometers of land, they only have 70,000 troops. Countries like Kuwait, the UAE, and Qatar are almost negligible. And the most likely instigator, Iraq, just finished an eight-year war with Iran and is on the brink of economic collapse. Saddam isn't foolish. Though he looks tough against Kuwait and the UAE, accusing Kuwait of stealing Iraqi oil, he's mostly just trying to extort some benefits."
"Saddam might not be stupid, but he's a lunatic. Chris, think about it: what would happen if Iraq invaded Kuwait?"
*****
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