American Gossip King

Chapter 127 Agreement Reached

The negotiations lasted for about three hours.

Ultimately, both parties reached a preliminary cooperation agreement—a performance-based agreement was acceptable, but the details of the agreement still needed to be discussed at the board meeting.

With the general direction settled, the two sides drank and chatted happily.

Just then, Lena rushed in, excitedly hugging Ian and saying, "Ian, everyone's talking about you! The Wall Street Journal has listed you as the most promising young talent of the year, and even said you should win the Pulitzer Prize!"

She spoke excitedly, holding a copy of the Wall Street Journal.

Ian laughed, "Those guys always praise without any principles; they create news when they don't have any. As for me, I'm essentially a businessman, not a journalist, so winning awards doesn't matter to me."

As a pragmatist and action-oriented person, Ian despises news production methods that rely solely on empty talk.

"Okay, I knew you'd say that," Lena laughed.

Then she threw herself into Gaskell's arms: "Are you done talking?"

"That's about enough, baby," Gaskell replied gently.

"Then come with me." Lena pulled her husband along. "The Colemans are here. They want to see you and check on your health."

Gaskell reluctantly stood up and smiled at James Peley and Ian, saying, "You two chat, I'll excuse myself for a moment."

The old man left with his wife's support.

James Peley personally poured Ian a glass of wine.

He glanced at Ian, then at Lena, leaning against the bar, and suddenly said, "You slept with her, didn't you?"

Ian looked at James Peley with surprise.

James Perry chuckled, "Don't underestimate the discerning eye of a seasoned womanizer... It's unbelievable that you slept with Gaskell's wife, yet he lent you money. He knew that, didn't he?"

Ian chuckled softly, offering no response.

It's best not to reply to this kind of question.

"You're a charming young man with unlimited potential. I wish us a successful collaboration." James Perry raised his glass.

"I wish you success in your collaboration!" Ian replied with a smile.

------

Time flies, and three weeks have passed in the blink of an eye; it's already late August.

The partnership with CBS is still in the negotiation stage. Both sides are satisfied with the performance-based agreement, but are also struggling with the specific base figure and the standards for improvement.

Sometimes, it's easy to discuss the general direction, but difficult to handle the details.

Countless details, every single point is a source of profit!

The more eager you are, the less eager the other person will be.

Watching the group of old guys on the CBS board of directors negotiate at a leisurely pace, Ian felt like he couldn't take it anymore—there were too many people and too much time involved, and his left eye was useless unless he was willing to strain it to the point of blindness.

Time is running out!

CBS headquarters building.

In the magnificent conference hall, a group of people were sitting at a long table talking.

At the top center is James Peley, below him are members of the CBS board of directors, each a big shot.

Ian, also seated at the table, stated directly, "Using WND's traffic as the benchmark for improvement will not change. As for a 100% compound annual growth rate, I must say that's not just an excessive demand, it's a shameful one. WND already has over a million registered users and over two million daily visits. At that rate, that's 120 million visits. The entire United States only has 300 million people! If I had that many users and that much traffic, I could be valued at 10 billion!"

James Perry chuckled, "Don't worry about it, Ian. You know, CBS will also direct traffic to WND, and there are international users too."

Ian scoffed, "How many users does CBS have? Do you even have eight million paid subscribers yet? WND already has three million users."

One board member said, "But the user value is different; WND's users are all free users."

Ian held up a finger: "Value is discovered gradually! We need to acquire users first, and then we can extract money from their pockets. Getting users to spend money is your job, and my job is to turn the masses into our users!"

He paused for a moment, then said, "I've already signed a bunch of contracts in Hollywood, and there's also GG in Ankang... I can share these businesses with CBS. In the future, we will become one of the biggest distributors in Hollywood. Don't forget that before this, CBS couldn't even get involved in this area."

Everyone nodded in unison.

This is true.

Hollywood marketing is a lucrative business—not just because of the money, but because, among all good-looking content, film and television good-looking content is the most popular kind of good-looking content among readers.

High-quality romance novels can keep readers engaged... If you're reading romance novels, who wouldn't want something interesting and fun?

Not to mention that film and television can also carry soft advertising, resulting in excellent collaboration effects.

Therefore, there have indeed been people on the CBS board who have wanted to sell CBS to Viacom, since Viacom owns Paramount!

But this time it's different for Ian. He has made an agreement with Sony that allows him to take over Sony in the future, which means that Ian can gain a deeper foothold in Hollywood.

All of these are Ian's assets!

Ian said, "I have shown tremendous sincerity. I can bring you not only news, but also clients and a lot of business... and my news is not just valuable in the United States, but worldwide."

Under Ian's manipulation, the news of the Palos Bank and Dandy Tower case has become a world-class explosive story, but other news has paled in comparison.

Unfortunately, Ian's media presence internationally remained limited, so while these two news stories brought him significant recognition, Ian felt he hadn't truly unlocked much of their value. To maximize the value of these stories, he was forced to grant them broadcasting rights.

To him, this was the price of gold sold for garbage.

This is why Ian was so eager to take over CBS.

CBS can maximize its news value.

In just two weeks, something big will happen. If we miss this opportunity, it will be hard to have such explosive news again. Even the news of the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, or the 08 financial crisis, only had a long-lasting impact. In terms of the explosiveness and sensation of a single event, they cannot compare to the September event.

This is a super event destined to influence a century, and will have a far-reaching impact on future international relations and the growth of the nation... More people died than in a small-scale war!

In the next twenty years, no event will surpass 9/11 in terms of sheer explosive impact!

However, the board members were all determined, and while they were indeed willing to make concessions, the concessions were too small.

I can understand, after all, they can't imagine the big events that will happen next.

Faced with this situation, Ian sneered at James Paley and said, "Mr. Paley, do you remember what I told you last time?"

Paley nodded: "Of course, the problem is you can't prove it."

"No, I can prove it now." Ian said, taking out a voice recorder and starting to play the recording.

The English in the recording is somewhat distorted.

"Everything is ready, and the goods will be delivered on time."

"Is anyone on your end paying attention to you? You mentioned a reporter last time?"

"It's nothing, just a chance encounter. I checked him out; he is indeed a journalist named Butterfly, and he harbors serious grievances against the United States. I was thinking perhaps we should have him accompany us. In our final moments, let him broadcast our great and glorious deeds. That would make the whole thing more meaningful!"

"No, you can't do that, it's too risky."

"I don't need to tell you the specific plan. I can find an excuse to get him on the plane. He's dying, he's not afraid of death, he just wants good news, I'm pretty sure of that, after all, that's what he did before."

"Sure, once it takes off, everything will be easy."

"May Allah protect us."

"God above."

Everyone was stunned by the conversation.

One of the directors looked at Ian: "You mean..."

Ian nodded. "As you know, someone's trying to cause trouble. My men have already made contact with one of them."

One of the board members stood up: "The FBI should be notified immediately."

But everyone remained silent.

James Peley said in a deep voice, "Brad, I know you have a sense of justice, but don't act like a child."

The director named Brad took a deep breath: "Okay, I understand."

His last shred of justice was extinguished by a single sentence from James Peley, and he obediently sat back down.

"Hijacking?" James Perry asked.

Ian nodded: "Probably."

The latest novel is first published here!

One director said, "The news of the hijacking isn't small, but it's not that sensational either."

Ian laughed, "But the on-site reporting is different, and this will be even more explosive than Palos Bank! Besides, I don't think it's a hijacking; they might be planning to bomb...and more than one!"

The group looked at each other.

Someone said, "Are you sure? They didn't mention that in their conversation."

Ian nodded. "I'm sure. Oh, has anyone ever told you that recordings can be edited?"

Everyone fell silent.

This recording wasn't actually from Ata. To ensure the plan was in order, Ian wouldn't have allowed Leso to eavesdrop on Mohammed Ata, so he fabricated one himself.

But what does it matter?

Because it's fabricated, I can deny everything in the future.

Anyway, you've never heard Ata's voice!

Furthermore, the current conversation is insufficient to serve as evidence against Ian in the future, but he still wants to drag these people down with him—once the incident occurs, everyone is in the same boat, and with hypnosis, he can easily extricate himself!

James Perry asked, "What time? What place? What's the other person's name?"

Ian shook his head: "Butterfly is doing all this. Everything I know is what he told me. You know he's dying, and he wants to finish his most glorious news story in his final moments, so he won't let anyone stop him. Even if you notify the FBI now, you won't be able to find him, and neither will I. Of course, the FBI can issue an alert, but there are hundreds of terror alerts every year. It's pointless, it won't stop him, and it will only make us miss our best opportunity!"

Brad laughed and said, "That makes my conscience feel much better."

The board of directors became excited.

They were discussing it animatedly:

"This would be huge news, and we need all the inside information."

"Exclusive news, only we have it!"

"Let's cooperate, Ian Karl, you will become an excellent member of us."

"Wait, if the butterfly dies, Ian, won't you have no more butterflies?"

Ian smiled: "The butterfly is an organization. Only one dies, but new butterflies will soon appear. The storm will always exist, and the butterfly will never die! And we are those who stand in the eye of the storm!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Then it's settled!"

"We must prepare beforehand."

"By the way, it's best to avoid flying during this period, and remind your family as well."

"But don't warn anyone else; if the news gets out, we'll be in trouble."

What about the stock market?

"Of course we should short it!"

"We need to find some specific targets; we can't short the market, otherwise the FBI will be watching us."

"Of course, an airline is the best option. Ian, do you need one?"

Ian shook his head: "I can't do that. You get that portion of the profits, and I need a deal that satisfies me. Otherwise... you'll get nothing... If Butterfly warns them, things might change!"

As a participant in the entire process, Ian is not suited to short selling, and he also doesn't have enough funds to do so—the Italian lira is declining, and Ian's account balance is starting to increase.

Therefore, he was willing to give up this part of the profit, but in return, he had to get concessions from the other party in the agreement.

The board members nodded in agreement:

"certainly!"

"Don't worry, buddy, nobody wants to turn down money!"

With the release of this bombshell, the board's attitude towards Ian changed drastically.

At that moment, they colluded and watched the disaster unfold, like vultures feeding on carrion.

Even so, the two sides continued to negotiate on various details.

After several more days of effort, the two sides finally reached an agreement.

Ian Carl will merge WND into the CBS television network and directly acquire 2% of CBS's shares.

At the same time, Ian Carr will share all exclusive news with CBS and has set agreed-upon user base tiers for growth. For each tier reached, Ian will receive 2 points of CBS insider stock, for a total of six milestones, with a maximum additional 12 points, for a total of 14 points.

Although the shareholders will have to sell some of their shares, they will also buy some back from the market themselves—which would mean huge profits if Ian can deliver on his promises.

On September 9th, knowing he couldn't delay any longer, Ian activated his left eye's hypnotic function again, exhausting himself to the point that his left eye swelled up.

The two sides finally reached a comprehensive agreement.

The following day, June 10nd.

Ian Carr signed an agreement with the CBS board of directors to acquire 2% of the shares, officially becoming one of CBS's shareholders.

To this end, they hosted a dinner exclusively for those in the know.

At the banquet, everyone raised their glasses in celebration.

"For the sake of the news!"

"For the truth!"

"Cheers to those who are about to die in this disaster!"

(End of this chapter)