I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1163: WM]

Though it was Saturday, Carmen Kass woke up early because Eric promised he would go check out WM today.

She slipped quietly out of the man's embrace, got dressed, and started preparing breakfast. Recently, after talks with Paul Roland, Carmen successfully bought 30% of WM, becoming a major shareholder of this relatively well-known modeling agency in New York. Eric also privately acquired another 10% stake.

The scale of WM was far from comparable to industry giants like Elite or IMG, but thanks to Paul Roland's years of management, it had built significant foundations. The company boasted a roster of over 300 signed models in North America and Europe, with profits ranging between $5 million and $7 million in recent years.

Considering the potential boost the Firefly System could provide to WM's further development, Paul Roland agreed to Carmen and Eric's investment proposal without hesitation, valuing WM at $60 million at a price-earnings ratio of 10 times.

With a $60 million valuation, the price for a 30% stake was $18 million.

Carmen's current contracts featured a five-year endorsement deal with Victoria's Secret worth $10 million and a five-year endorsement for Dior's J'adore fragrance worth $5 million. For a model like her, who had just begun to rise and hadn't even officially hit the Victoria's Secret runway yet, both contracts were undoubtedly generous.

However, even if those payments all landed, after deducting hefty taxes and her agency's cut, she would only bring home about $8 million.

Clearly, $8 million wasn't enough to cover the cost for 30% of WM. Yet, she had no intention of seeking help from Eric, even though $18 million was inconsequential to him. She still negotiated a staggered payment plan with Paul Roland.

Thus, by signing her name on the equity transfer document, she felt a bit more reassured. Even if he lost interest in her later, both emotionally and materially, she'd still have a safety net. After all, modeling wasn't a career that one could pursue for too long.

She always believed that even if she couldn't receive abundant love, having abundant money was also good.

One shouldn't be too greedy.

While busy in the kitchen, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind. She halted her actions, turning her head to kiss the man and said, "I made ham sandwiches."

Eric rested his chin on her shoulder and replied, "Let me try."

He took a piece of freshly cut ham from her hands.

Eric took a bite, savoring it and said, "Is it just ham?"

She smiled, "Nope."

"Then never mind," he said, appearing easy-going as he kissed her cheek, stepping out of the kitchen without bothering her further.

After a while, she presented the breakfast she'd made. He was already seated in the dining room, reading the newspaper.

He had a hearty breakfast, while she had just a fruit salad, though he poured her a glass of milk.

Arranging both plates, she sat down across from him, watching as he set down the newspaper and began eating. For some reason, she felt a sense of home and gently asked about his work, "Is that tech stock plunging badly lately?"

Eric instinctively took a sip of the milk next to him, nodding as he replied, "Yeah, I only have $450 billion left now. In two weeks, I lost what amounts to Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined."

She knew who Bill Gates and Warren Buffett were and understood that Eric's worth had plummeted by over $170 billion in just two weeks.

$170 billion was enough to buy Estonia, or more accurately, several Estonias.

Privately, she felt a twinge of sympathy for the sudden loss and imagined how she would spend that much money, but couldn't come up with an answer.

Imitating him, she lifted the milk and took a sip, saying, "That's still a lot of money. You could never spend it all in a lifetime."

While Eric listened to her, he suddenly realized she rarely called him by name directly. Whenever she spoke to him, she either referred to him as "you" or merely looked at him without any terms of endearment.

Noticing the expression in his eyes, she curiously asked, "What's wrong?"

"I just noticed something," Eric chuckled, "What should you call me?"

She misunderstood his meaning, her cheeks flushing as she rifled through familiar terms of endearment, finally stuttering, "Uh, Eric."

Eric nodded, prepared to reply, when he suddenly realized he seemed to have the same dilemma.

It seems in private, he also wasn't keen on calling people by their names or adopting affectionate titles either.

Noticing Eric gently shake his head, she felt a bit anxious and quietly inquired, "Eric, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, I just realized we share this similarity," Eric noted her expression and clarified, then said, "Hurry up and eat. We're heading to WM soon."

...

WM's headquarters was located in the East Village of Downtown Manhattan.

Even though it was the weekend, the WM headquarters appeared much livelier than usual. The other partners of the company, who rarely showed up, were all present today, and the office buzzed with excitement. Paul Roland had gathered all the models of WM he could muster, even those who were abroad had hurried back to New York.

Aside from a few company partners and executives, everyone was still unaware of what was happening. Carmen's investment in WM had not been officially announced yet.

Thus, when Eric and Carmen appeared at WM, it caused a minor commotion.

Upon entering, they bumped into Karolina Kurkova and Eugenia Volodina, a few girls who were close to Carmen, and Eric initiated greetings with them.

The other girls were clueless about the situation, initially appearing reserved. Even though they had heard rumors about Carmen Kass enjoying a boost due to Eric Williams's fame, the presence of this super-rich individual at their company remained hard to fathom.

After watching Eric be so 'down-to-earth' in front of Karolina and the others, they grew bold, seeking autographs, introducing themselves, and some even attempting to flirt, which led to utter chaos.

...

Paul Roland rescued Eric from the frenzy of bewitched girls and ushered everyone into a meeting room. He also ran outside to shoo away nosy girls before returning, apologizing to Eric, "I'm sorry, Mr. Williams. They didn't know you were coming today."

Eric, helplessly glancing at his shirt with a missing button, could only smile and shake his head, telling everyone, "It's fine, please sit down."

Paul Roland then formally introduced Eric to the other partners and executives of WM before they all sat down together.

Carmen quietly sat beside Eric, noticing the slumped sleeves of his shirt, which she found amusing yet worrisome. On every front, he was an extremely attractive man, and compared to him, she didn't feel she had any advantage that would keep him anchored.

Paul Roland, however, was clearly excited. As long as Eric Williams was here, it was a tremendous opportunity for WM.

For a modeling agency to grow, it ultimately boils down to expanding resources and connections.

To promote the models under its wing, they needed resources and connections within the media industry. To find jobs for signed models, they required branding resources and contacts from various businesses.

The Firefly System, in both areas, was undoubtedly a formidable ally.

In terms of model promotion, the media resources within the Firefly System could easily overshadow WM.

Besides the super promotional platform represented by Victoria's Secret -- where a single runway appearance could earn models brand contracts -- the extensive television, internet, and associated print media networks of the Firefly System could make any model WM wanted to promote a household name given a slight opportunity.

On the other hand, the Firefly System could provide WM with countless job opportunities.

Paul Roland had been worried that Eric would seem disinterested because WM was just a small fish compared to the Firefly System. However, upon noticing Eric attentively listening to him outline WM's general situation, Paul became more earnest, even divulging some operational details he initially intended to keep from Eric.

Paul astutely sensed that being candid in front of this young man who controlled a vast empire would elicit greater trust.

However, when Paul mentioned that over a quarter of the 300 signed models under WM lacked work visas and were thus considered 'illegal workers,' a concerned expression appeared on Carmen's face.

Having been in the industry for a while, Carmen knew some of the rules. She just hadn't expected the issue to be so severe at WM, even thinking she might have been deceived.

Noticing the glint of worry in the girl's eyes as she looked at him repeatedly, Eric reassuringly patted her leg and said, "Do you know how many work visas the U.S. issues each year?"

Carmen shook her head. As a special trainee of WM, she received her work visa with their assistance before coming to the U.S., so she wasn't aware of such issues and hadn't paid much mind to her peers' situations.

"Approximately 200,000. Each year, the U.S. only issues around 200,000 work visas to foreign laborers," Eric said, shifting his gaze to Paul Roland, "Isn't that right?"

Upon hearing Eric state this figure, Paul Roland realized that Eric had clearly done his homework regarding WM's situation. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been inquiring about U.S. work visas for no apparent reason.

Relieved by his honesty today, Paul smiled and nodded, then turned to Carmen to explain, "Carmen, that's precisely the case. But that's not the key issue. The U.S. only issues 200,000 work visas each year. However, the total number of non-permanent residents and even illegal immigrants without visas who are residing in the U.S. exceeds 50 million. A significant portion of these individuals needs jobs to support themselves. Thus, the number of illegal workers in the U.S. surpasses the government's officially issued work visas by over 200 times. Moreover, the federal government has tacitly acknowledged this reality, resulting in no significant trouble. Most modeling agencies in the industry, even Elite, are in a similar position to ours."

After hearing Paul Roland's explanation, Carmen turned to Eric. Once she saw him nod in agreement, she felt a bit more reassured.

Illegal labor was indeed a significant issue in American society and had formed an accepted existence that the government tacitly acknowledged.

Relative to the already heavy labor costs for domestic workers, illegal laborers not only didn't add to the burden of America's already substantial social welfare system but also provided a wealth of cheap labor. Many small businesses in the U.S. extensively utilized illegal labor as long as there were no consequences involved.

If the federal government were to seriously confront the issue of illegal labor, it could lead to various sectors lacking sufficient labor, triggering a chain of social problems.

The modeling industry, in particular, was a sector with a significant concentration of illegal labor issues.

Compared to overseas talents with higher education, it was exceedingly challenging for young women possessing only attractive looks to secure work visas. Additionally, the majority of these girls were often too young to qualify for legitimate work visas.

Thus, many models only entered the U.S. on travel visas while launching their careers. Such short-term visas were relatively easy to obtain between Western nations. The catch, however, was that they needed to return to their home country every three months to renew the visa. Even if the Immigration Department uncovered this nuance, they typically turned a blind eye.

While holding a stake in WM might be the most inconspicuous investment in Eric's vast portfolio, he was still thorough in ensuring a detailed inquiry into WM's condition, ensuring there would be no issues with the company.

Since the use of illegal labor was an unspoken rule in the industry, Eric saw no cause for concern. He adhered to the principle that "clear waters do not breed fish." Even if the issue were brought to light by those with ulterior motives, it wouldn't have any repercussions for him.

...

After discussing WM's operational issues, the conversation shifted towards the company's future development.

In the modeling agency business, two operational models typically emerged at the peak of growth. One model persistently focused on maximizing the modeling economy, while the other gradually diversified its operations.

Elite and IMG were the pinnacle representatives of these two models.

Elite held the largest pool of thousands of signed models in the industry, continuously scouting new talent worldwide through events like the Elite Model Look competition. This company had truly taken the single modeling agency business to its zenith, with about 90% of its annual income derived from the commissions of its models.

On the other hand, IMG maintained a relatively small roster of around 300 signed models, which was comparable in size to WM.

However, IMG operated on an elite route, and the overall quality of those 300 models was far beyond what WM could compete with. Furthermore, modeling had become merely a branch of IMG's operations, with that segment comprising only about 10% of the company's overall business.

Beyond the modeling economy, IMG also represented a wide array of sports stars and pop singers. It had IMG Media, which produced hundreds of fashion and sports documentaries annually, as well as IMG Academy, handling numerous events across various universities and corporations worldwide.

This integrated operational model undoubtedly maximized the benefits of the talent teams at their disposal. The reason IMG could pursue the elite route was that it had the abundant channels to offer ample promotion for its diverse array of artists.

When comparing the two models, it was apparent that the latter had a more stable outlook for development, which Eric personally favored.

*****

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