Chapter 452: The Human Elite Conference

[Chapter 514: The Human Elite Conference]

At the Athena Plaza Hotel on East 64th Street, nestled between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue, Arthur Smith talked about future investments with Edward Johnson III, the chairman of Fidelity Investments.

In recent years, Fidelity's growth was remarkably fast, especially with its Magellan Fund standing out.

"General Electric, IBM, Microsoft, Walmart -- they're all blue-chip stocks," Arthur laughed.

Larger companies made it easier to get things done. Hollywood's Disney and Time Warner had stakes in some of these.

Edward Johnson III took a sip of his wine. "Arthur, the stadium in Tampa is under construction; I just came from there!"

The stadium for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was actually sponsored by Fidelity.

Was that a hint for him to pay attention to the sports business?

Arthur shrugged. "The NBA's labor negotiations are underway. They just reached an agreement, but it's pretty rough!"

"Arthur, I know the sports business is just a small part of your career, and I didn't mean anything by it," Edward Johnson III shook his head. "I meant to say, you can leverage the sports industry's influence to increase your capital. The sports sector can significantly boost political power. Especially the NFL, where there are many old powers -- maybe it can help you with your CBS acquisition!"

Arthur nodded. "I've been involved with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for too short a time. And right now, the sports market doesn't impact the bigger picture enough."

Arthur owned teams from the NBA, NFL, and NHL, but his influence was still mostly concentrated in Southern California!

Edward Johnson III smiled. "Fidelity has some investments in energy too; we might continue our collaboration there. I've always been interested in energy and manufacturing..."

...

After leaving Athena Plaza Hotel, Arthur met Winona Ryder at the Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue following the wrap party for My Best Friend's Wedding.

"What's up? You look down," Arthur noticed her frown when she got in the car.

My Best Friend's Wedding had already grossed over $110 million in North America, with overseas earnings also surpassing $100 million.

"Nothing. I'm just surrounded by too many reporters these days," Winona shook her head and hugged Arthur. "How about we take a walk in Central Park? Let the bodyguards leave for a bit."

Arthur nodded, stopping the car on Fifth Avenue and leading Winona into Central Park.

Near the ice skating rink, they found a quiet spot to sit.

"Dear, is there something you want to tell me?" Arthur held her close.

"Yeah," Winona wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.

As he caressed her neck, Arthur eagerly returned the kiss!

"I think I want to take a year off. I feel like I've spent too much time on work," Winona said, nestling against him to express her thoughts.

Arthur smiled. "So what? If you want to take a break, go ahead. No big deal."

Leaning back in his chair, he looked at the scattered crowd on the ice rink. "You could spend some time with your parents, or travel -- whatever you like."

"Too bad you're too busy," Winona sighed. "I'm planning to stay at a country house in the Cotswolds for a while and then settle at my ranch in Carmel Valley!"

"Don't worry; I'll come to Carmel Ranch to see you often," Arthur assured her with a smile.

Arthur understood that Winona was struggling with her sudden fame; she had become a hot commodity.

With successes like The Crucible, Little Women, and My Best Friend's Wedding, she was increasingly experiencing media anxiety!

"I have to promote My Best Friend's Wedding at the Venice Film Festival soon; I'll head straight to England afterward," Winona kissed him gently on the cheek. "Recently, there've been a lot of newspaper articles about Galaxy's acquisition of CBS. Are you facing trouble?"

"Not really. I'll handle it. It just takes some time since CBS is a nationwide network valued at billions of dollars..."

...

The next day, Winona boarded a plane to Italy, heading to Europe!

As September rolled in, Arthur saw a headline: India joined the WTO.

However, the Indian government put forth a shocking condition: "To protect the medication rights of our 800 million people, we want the right to license, replicate, and produce any expensive, effective international drugs. The reason? We have many poor people, and most can't afford expensive medication!"

In the MGM office, Arthur tapped his desk, realizing that India's legal framework for generics began with its WTO membership.

Initially, the serious violation of patent principles shocked Western pharmaceutical institutions. They were firmly against it, believing it contradicted the spirit of fair trade.

But India insisted, which became a headache for the West. Ultimately, Americans stepped in to resolve the issue, agreeing to let India use the WTO's "remedy" mechanism to allow generics.

However, they were not permitted to formally export these generics to other countries!

...

At the same time, Arthur received an invitation from the Gorbachev Foundation funded by the U.S. for an elite conference at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco at the end of the month.

The conference aimed to discuss global overpopulation!

The initiator was Zbigniew Brzezinski, a Polish-American and former national security adviser to President Carter, who was known for his hardline stance on the Soviet Union and his expertise in international politics and geopolitics.

"Wow," Arthur gasped, realizing that the Fairmont Conference invited 500 key politicians, economic leaders, and scientists.

The discussion focused on creating a divide between 20% of the global elite and 80% of the 'useless' population, advocating to discard and isolate the impoverished from mainstream civilization.

Brzezinski's reputation as a hawk revolved around maximizing U.S. strategic interests and ensuring control over Eurasia.

My, this was the infamous Human Elite Conference, a meeting dominated by Anglo-Saxons and Jews!

Brzezinski's concept of "pablum" was indeed the topic of discussion.

"Compared to these folks, I'm downright compassionate!" Arthur grimaced.

*****

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