Chapter 77: The Plan Succeeds

Apple's shareholders were, of course, opposed to the idea. After all, they were the ones who had kicked Steve Jobs out of Apple in the first place.

Gilbert understood this well. Before investing, he had asked David to explain the background of Steve Jobs' ousting from Apple.

Today, he just casually brought it up as a test, giving the shareholders a heads-up.

If he ever really brought Steve Jobs back, it would be better if the shareholders weren't too resistant.

After the shareholders' meeting, Gilbert made a special trip to Emeryville.

At this time, the now somewhat famous Pixar Animation Studios was located there.

In 1986, Steve Jobs had bought the computer animation division of George Lucas' company for $10 million, becoming the owner of Pixar Animation Studios.

After being ousted from Apple, Steve Jobs focused on developing Pixar and also founded a small tech company.

At Pixar, Gilbert met the legendary Steve Jobs from his previous life.

"I heard you bought shares in Apple for $26 million and became a member of the board?" Steve Jobs asked straight away.

For someone as confident and arrogant as Jobs, playing tricks or being indirect wouldn't work, so it was better to be straightforward.

Gilbert admitted candidly, "Yes, I invested in Apple because of you, Mr. Jobs."

"Me?" Jobs was a bit surprised. "I've been out of Apple for almost ten years now."

Gilbert didn't hide his intentions and said directly, "To put it simply, Mr. Jobs, I believe in Apple's future potential. But the person leading it must be you."

"Oh?" Jobs was even more surprised. "So you want to bring me back to Apple?"

"That's right."

"Is this your idea or the board's?"

"My personal idea."

Steve Jobs laughed, "Gilbert, you should know I was kicked out by the board. Do you think they'll agree to let me come back?"

"Based on Apple's current situation, if things keep going like this, bankruptcy isn't far off," Gilbert said, pointing to Jobs' chest. "Apple is your creation. Surely, you don't want to see it close down."

"Wait for the opportunity, Mr. Jobs. One day, you'll have the chance to return to Apple."

After Gilbert left, Steve Jobs fell into deep thought.

Gilbert was right. Jobs had, of course, been keeping an eye on Apple's condition and knew it wasn't doing well.

But he was a proud man and couldn't bring himself to return to Apple voluntarily.

Only by achieving something great would he allow Apple to invite him back.

Gilbert had promised his support, which gave Steve Jobs a confidence boost.

For now, the priority was to make Pixar a success.

Thinking this over, Jobs opened John Lasseter's proposal for a 3D animated movie titled *Toy Story*.

Jobs personally had high hopes for this project. Maybe it could lead Pixar to go public, giving him the capital he needed to return to Apple.

With most of his money tied up in Apple and stocks in companies like Microsoft, Cisco, and Oracle, Gilbert had put his plan to buy a new house on hold.

So for the time being, he still lived in his apartment.

With his father out of town in New York, Gilbert decided to host a party at his father's house to reward his team.

Sofia Coppola brought along a young Scarlett Johansson, who was in high spirits lately.

Her scenes in *Speed* had not been cut and were kept intact, giving her some bragging rights among her peers.

As soon as she saw Gilbert, she expressed her thanks.

"Gilbert, thank you for letting me be in the movie. This is my way of thanking you," Scarlett said, handing over an ice cream cone she'd already eaten half of.

"Scarlett," Gilbert said, holding the ice cream she'd licked, "You're only thanking me with half an ice cream?"

"No," the girl said, her eyes still on the ice cream in Gilbert's hand, as if she wanted more. "It was a whole one, but I couldn't resist..."

Her words made both Gilbert and Sofia laugh.

Gilbert handed the ice cream back to Scarlett, patted her head, and said, "Don't eat too much, or you'll get a stomach ache."

"Got it!" she said happily, continuing to lick the ice cream.

"Gilbert," Cameron Diaz called, leading a tall girl dressed in tight jeans that showed off her long legs. "Let me introduce you to Charlize Theron, a friend I met in acting class."

Cameron introduced the two. "Charlize, this is Gilbert, the director."

"Hello, Ms. Theron." Having met plenty of stars, Gilbert remained calm when faced with any future celebrity.

But Charlize Theron, who had just arrived in Los Angeles, was excited to meet the rising young director.

"Gilbert, I watched your movie *Speed* and loved it."

She shook Gilbert's hand and didn't let go.

"Thank you. Please, come in, Charlize."

"Call me Charlize, like Cameron does."

"Alright, Charlize, welcome to the party."

As they went inside, Cameron gave Gilbert a wink and glanced at Charlize's figure. Leaning in, she whispered in Gilbert's ear, "Nice feel, huh?"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. What did she mean by that? Was she trying to set him up? Did she think of him as some sort of playboy?

Since everyone at the party was close friends, there was no need for social pleasantries, and everyone could relax.

There was no shortage of barbecue and beer, and knowing that Gilbert didn't like marijuana or cocaine, no one brought any drugs to the party.

Matt Damon entertained everyone with the latest Hollywood gossip, his excitement showing as he was still relatively new to the scene.

Sofia, meanwhile, teased Gilbert, "Gilbert, I heard you lost money on your stock investments."

"Oh, so everyone knows about that?"

"Who doesn't? Apple's market value has dropped to $1.8 billion. If it keeps going, it's headed for bankruptcy," Sofia said with a roll of her eyes.

Gilbert flipped a chicken wing on the grill and handed it to Scarlett to chew on.

He shrugged and said, "Let them say what they want. In ten years, they'll be calling me a genius investor."

"A genius?" Sofia clearly didn't believe it. "Just don't lose all your movie money."

For Gilbert, his investment in Apple was far from over. Next, he would focus on bringing Steve Jobs back to Apple.

Later, when Apple needed funding after Jobs' return, he would invest again.

After that, Gilbert planned to look for other yet-to-rise tech companies.

Amazon and Google seemed to have been founded in the 1990s.

Gilbert had already asked his stockbroker David to establish an investment company, so all future investments would go through it.

But he couldn't openly discuss these business moves with his friends, since they didn't know the future like he did.

Perhaps once he made some real progress, people would finally realize just how sharp Gilbert's instincts were.

.....

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