Chapter 240: America Online

In the evening, at the Roosevelt Hotel, Arthur was chatting with Christiana Reali and Goldman Sachs' co-chairman Robert Rubin.

"Mr. Rubin, are you going to Washington, D.C., to serve as the White House economic advisor?" Arthur inquired.

Robert Rubin nodded, "I have previously served as a federal senator, the governor of New Jersey, then became the senior co-partner and co-chairman of Goldman Sachs. The president valued my experience!"

It was clear that Robert Rubin was first appointed as Clinton's economic advisor. Two years later, he was expected to replace the current U.S. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen; Lloyd Bentsen was appointed by Bush two years ago.

Clinton had received considerable support from Jewish capital, and Robert Rubin, being Jewish, was certainly going to be part of Clinton's cabinet!

"After I leave Goldman Sachs, Stephen Friedman will still manage the company as chairman. The cooperation between Goldman Sachs and Galaxy won't change," Robert Rubin chuckled.

Arthur nodded, but inwardly he was indifferent since Galaxy was not short of willing investors and funds.

"Excuse me for a moment," Arthur suddenly noticed his head of security, Carl Anderson, looking for him.

Arthur brought Christiana to Carl Anderson, "Is there something?"

Carl Anderson nodded, "The Beverly Hills police have investigated. That guy is just a thief with a long criminal record. This time he will be directly sent to prison. We searched his residence, and he has been frequently in contact with a Hollywood actor, James Caan."

"James Caan?" Arthur furrowed his brow as if understanding something, "I had a run-in with James Caan at David Geffen's Warner estate. Is this guy seeking revenge?"

James Caan had quite the nerve.

"Boss, rest assured, with us around, no one can pose a threat," Carl Anderson reminded, "According to the phone records, James Caan resides in the Pico-Robertson area of Beverly Hills."

Pico-Robertson is a Jewish community in Los Angeles, and James Caan is also Jewish.

"Alright, let the police handle it first. Also, keep an eye on James Caan and look into his detailed information," Arthur wasn't worried about such a minor individual and planned to find time to deal with this jerk.

Carl Anderson nodded and quickly returned to his post.

"Arthur, is something the matter?" Christiana seemed a bit concerned.

Arthur smiled, "What could it be? They just caught a thief with a criminal record near my place this morning."

At that moment, Arthur's assistant approached, handing him a portable phone, "It's Mr. Jim Colt calling from Vienna, Virginia."

Arthur took the call, "Jim, what's up?"

"I spoke with Steve Case. He is willing to sell a percentage of AOL for $65 million, a roughly 50% premium!"

America Online (AOL), an internet service provider that just went public this year, has a market cap of around $400 million. Arthur knew very well how aggressive AOL's growth would be in the coming years, profiting greatly before the tech bubble burst.

"$65 million?" Arthur thought for a moment, "Agree to it right away. Once this is settled, head to Boston and touch base with William Johnson, the owner of the Ritz-Carlton. Galaxy has some interest in this hotel brand."

"Got it!" Jim Colt had no objections to Arthur's interest in acquiring a hotel brand, considering that the Ritz-Carlton had only started expanding in recent years.

"Arthur, good evening," just after hanging up, Arthur heard a call and saw a beaming Mario Kassar approaching.

"Good evening," Arthur smiled, greeting him with Christiana.

Carolco's Basic Instinct, released this year, grossed $100 million in North America, and $350 million globally. Although it didn't surpass The Bodyguard, with its $120 million North American gross and $400 million global, it was still quite a success!

"Arthur, has James Cameron's Spider-Man script really been shelved?"

Mario Kassar's Carolco couldn't match Arthur Smith's Galaxy, but considering it was a James Cameron project, he didn't want to give it up easily.

Arthur shrugged, "20th Century Fox has a director's agreement with him. There's no way around it. Besides, I heard that James Cameron is teaming up with Arnold Schwarzenegger to develop a big-budget action film for 20th Century Fox! So, any thoughts from Cameron about Terminator 3 yet?"

Mario Kassar reluctantly replied, "You're talking about the big spy film with a budget over $100 million, True Lies, right?"

"Terminator was released under your Orion Pictures, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day just came out last year. With a seven-year gap in between, who knows how many more years for Terminator 3?"

Mario Kassar would love to work with James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger again, but the opportunity wasn't there!

Arthur smiled, "How about Basic Instinct? This thriller, erotic, crime, and psychoanalytic film was a hit. Doesn't Carolco plan to prepare a sequel?"

"The script is hard to adapt, and director Paul Verhoeven doesn't want to develop a sequel so soon. More importantly, we can't find the right male lead," Mario Kassar didn't hide anything.

Basic Instinct's production cost was already $49 million. Developing a sequel would definitely increase the cost further.

As for the female lead Sharon Stone, she couldn't be replaced. Even if the director could be changed, male lead Michael Douglas got a lot of flak for the film's explicit content and directly refused to do the sequel.

Currently, Carolco couldn't find any big-name male stars willing to star in Basic Instinct 2. Without a script and director, they had to wait.

Actually, Arthur was aware that among Carolco's films released this year, only Basic Instinct was noteworthy. The rest were not worth mentioning.

Presently, in Hollywood, Galaxy Films had become the undisputed king among independent film companies. Even MGM found it hard to keep up. This year's market share easily surpassed Universal, one of the big six, and it was neck-and-neck with Paramount.

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